AI Bots Are Replacing Human Traffic on Publisher Websites: What Tollbit’s Latest Report Reveals

Human traffic to publisher websites is declining, while generative AI bots are rising fast. 

Tollbit’s State of the Bots report reveals a 9.4% drop in human-originated visits between April and June this year, with AI bot requests now accounting for one in 50 visits.

Have you noticed how fewer people click through to original articles since AI-generated summaries started appearing at the top of search results? 

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Instead of visiting multiple publisher websites, users often settle for the AI’s neatly packaged answer. 

But what happens when the balance tilts so far that publishers lose the human audience they depend on? 

Tollbit’s latest findings suggest that shift is already underway and accelerating.

Human Visits Down, AI Bots Rising

According to Tollbit, which tracked activity across 400 partner websites spanning consumer lifestyle, news and niche publications, human page requests fell by 9.4% from April to June 2025 compared with the previous quarter. 

At the same time, AI bot traffic surged, representing one in 50 visits, up from one in 200 at the beginning of the year.

On the surface, one in 50 might not sound catastrophic. But step back. 

That is a 300% increase in bot-driven activity in just six months. 

If this trajectory continues, publishers could see a future where bots not readers are their dominant audience. 

And unlike readers, bots do not click ads, subscribe or build loyalty.

Why It’s Happening: AI Summaries Replace Clicks

Generative AI systems are scraping publisher websites in real time, then serving condensed answers directly inside search engines or chatbot interfaces. 

Users no longer need to click on the source — they get the summary immediately.

This echoes what many publishers already suspected: AI is substituting visits rather than supplementing them. 

The ten blue links model of Google Search that used to funnel traffic to publishers is being displaced by AI Overviews, chatbots and other walled interfaces.

Tollbit’s report crystallizes what we have felt intuitively, the web’s value exchange is shifting. 

Publishers supply the content but fewer humans arrive at their sites to read it.

Google at the Center of the Storm

Unsurprisingly, Google sits at the heart of this shift. Since the global rollout of AI Overviews in October 2024, multiple studies have shown referral traffic to publishers declining. 

Tollbit adds another layer: Googlebot requests have sharply increased since AI Overviews launched.

Why? Because summarization requires real-time scraping. 

Google’s AI systems need to fetch fresh content continuously to generate accurate answers. 

That means more bot activity, less human engagement.

From Google’s perspective, this is innovation. From a publisher’s perspective, it feels like giving away content for free while receiving less traffic in return.

In a recent court filing on September 5, 2025, Google openly admitted something it had long denied: “the open web is already in rapid decline.” 

That statement is more than candid but a chilling confirmation of what many feared.

Economic Harm to Publishers

A 9.4% drop in human traffic in one quarter is not a blip but a trendline. 

If sustained, this could translate into tens of millions of lost ad impressions, subscriptions and reader interactions across the industry annually.

For publishers operating on already thin margins, this is existential. The substitution effect from AI summaries represents direct economic harm at scale.

And unlike social media referral declines (which publishers have faced before), this one cuts deeper because it undermines search, historically the most consistent source of publisher traffic.

Are AI-Powered Walled Gardens Replacing the Open Web?

Tollbit’s report does not just highlight present risks; it foreshadows the longer-term transformation of digital behavior.

Already, one-third of our online time is spent inside algorithm-driven social platforms. 

Add to that the rapid rise of AI assistants, natural language interfaces that fetch, summarize and even act on our behalf and the open web risks becoming an afterthought.

Instead of visiting 10 websites, tomorrow’s user may ask a single AI interface for an answer and never see the source. 

The future looks less like open browsing and more like AI-powered walled gardens.

For publishers, that means the question is no longer just how do we grow traffic? but how do we stay visible when traffic itself may no longer exist in the traditional sense?

Regulatory Scrutiny and Legal Action

The tension between Google and publishers is not just commercial but legal. 

Publishers argue they are being forced into an arrangement where granting access to their content for AI is tied to visibility in search and Discover.

This raises competition concerns already under regulatory review in the UK and elsewhere. 

But regulation moves slowly and as the report notes, “much harm may be done before interventions are made.”

In other words, publishers may bleed audiences and revenue while legal battles drag on.

Strategies for Publishers: Adapting to the AI Era

So what now? Publishers can’t simply block AI crawlers without sacrificing visibility. 

But they can adapt. Tollbit’s report hints at strategies that may help:

1. Sharpen the Brand – Stronger publisher brands create direct loyalty, making readers seek them out instead of passively relying on AI summaries.
2. Produce Rich, Human Journalism – Content with humor, analysis and personality is harder to replace with an AI summary. Think expert columns, investigative reporting or opinion-driven features.
3. Innovate in Formats – Multimedia, podcasts, video explainers engage audiences in ways plain text cannot.
4. Pursue Licensing Models – Some publishers are already exploring licensing their content to AI providers, ensuring at least partial compensation for use.

But beware: licensing can introduce intermediaries that risk eroding future revenue if not balanced carefully. 

Publishers must weigh immediate gains against long-term sustainability.

Key Takeaways: SEO Lessons from the Decline of the Open Web

• Open Web Decline as a Keyword – Terms like “decline of open web” and “AI vs publisher traffic” will trend; publishers should build content around them.
• AI Assistants Reshape Search – Optimize for AI search visibility with structured data, citations, and licensing.
• Human-Centric Content Wins – Expert-driven, opinion-rich and creative content ranks better because AI can’t replicate it.
• Direct Audience Matters – Strengthen brand searches and owned platforms to reduce reliance on AI-mediated traffic.