ChatGPT traffic did not vanish: your analytics just missed it
In brief
OpenAI added UTM parameters to ChatGPT links in June. According to Cedric Huesler of Adobe, that tracking vanished in October around the GPT-6 launch, so ChatGPT traffic fell sharply in site stats while visits continued as direct traffic. On 500 pages, two-thirds that lost ChatGPT traffic saw more direct visits; UTMs returned from 15 October, with no explanation from OpenAI.
What it changes for an SME
For an SME, this mainly changes how you read web analytics, not the actual number of visits. A sharp October drop in ChatGPT traffic, especially if direct traffic rose at the same time, may be a labelling gap rather than lost visits. According to Cedric Huesler at Adobe, the extra direct visitors behaved like ChatGPT visitors, showing that some ChatGPT traffic was counted as direct. UTM tracking returned around 15 October according to Huesler, but OpenAI has given no explanation, so this source remains hard to measure reliably.
What you can do
- Check whether an October drop in ChatGPT traffic in your analytics lines up with a rise in direct traffic.
- Do not judge ChatGPT as a traffic source from October volumes alone, because UTM tracking was interrupted.
- Check whether links from ChatGPT include a UTM parameter again after 15 October.
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