Google’s AI search is rapidly becoming the default, new data shows

While AI citations don’t always lead to users clicking through to a destination, the number of AI responses that include a citation has risen more than fivefold during the past year, Similarweb’s new report says.

Still, just 6.8% of U.S. ChatGPT desktop queries included citations as of May 2026, despite this growth. (Some industries fare better, with travel, retail, and sports queries generating cited responses more frequently than others.)

There is some hope for publishers, however. In terms of ChatGPT at least, U.S. desktop referrals have improved after a May 7 search update, which saw the proportion of visits landing on webpages more than double from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026.

This suggests that users are taking advantage of the more prominent blue links within AI-driven search results when they’re available.

Even with these improvements, the larger AI search trend remains unchanged, as Google transforms itself from a gateway to the wider web into a destination in its own right.