Source: Search Engine Journal
As AI systems train on AI-generated content and search results increasingly surface AI summaries instead of destination links, the feedback mechanisms that made web discovery valuable are breaking down. Sites get less traffic to train future models on, creating a cycle where content quality degrades—but traffic metrics haven't caught up to the damage yet. For publishers and marketers, this means traditional SEO benchmarks (clicks, impressions, rankings) are becoming poor proxies for actual business impact as the distribution model itself hollows out. The practical question: web presence matters only if visitors arrive.