The New Gatekeepers of the Web
Yesterday I spent a chunk of my day exploring OpenAI’s newly released GPT-5; the much-hyped “do it all” model that removes the need to choose between reasoning, research, or image-specific tools. It’s a milestone in the race toward AGI and the dominant conversation in tech right now.
But while everyone debates whether AI will replace jobs, become your therapist, or manage your shopping list, a bigger story has been quietly unfolding; AI is dismantling the way the internet has worked for 30 years.
At its core, the internet has been a vast network of content, and Google has been the kingmaker, driving about 67% of all referral traffic to websites. That dominance meant publishers lived or died by their search rankings.
Now that entire ecosystem is crumbling.
From Search King to AI Middleman
When we built websites for clients at SPARK6, success was often measured in Google referrals. Rankings, backlinks, SEO tweaks; it was all part of the game. But the game board has changed.
Today, fewer people are clicking through to the source. Whether it’s Google’s AI summaries or GPT-style chat responses, more of the internet’s value is being captured at the point of question, not the click.
That shift doesn’t just affect publishers; it reshapes how commerce, influence, and information flow online.
The Story as Told by the Data
In 2014, publishers got about 1 visit for every 2 pages Google crawled.
By late 2024, it was 1 visit per 6 pages.
As of mid-2025, 1 visit per 18 pages.
Around 90% of searches may now end without a click to an external site.
ChatGPT referrals have collapsed from ~1 per 250 pages used to ~1 per 1,500.
Cloudflare’s CEO warns that could plunge to 60,000:1 as AI platforms keep users in-platform.
90% of searches don't end up with a click. Let that sink in. Do you remember when Google used to be useful when looking for something? You'd ask a question and go click some little blue links in search of deeper answers.
Today, the little Gemini summary at the top satisfies most users so well that all the paid links and clutter below get barely 10% of their attention.
What to do about it?
Maybe you have a business on the internet, or maybe you don't care about this stuff at all. But I bet you're only one degree away from somebody whose entire world is changing now.
What exactly does the future hold? Nobody really knows, but if you or a friend are freaking out over this, here are five things to start thinking about today:
Design for Zero-Click: Create content that delivers standalone value even if the user never leaves the search or AI result.
Make Your Data LLM-Ready: Structure and label content so it’s more likely to be cited by AI models.
Build Direct Channels: Email lists, private communities, and owned platforms are the new insurance policy.
Think AI-Native Commerce: Envision how your product could be discovered and purchased through an AI conversation.
Track Your Exposure: Monitor how often your content is surfaced inside AI tools versus clicked.
The GPT-5 release will dominate headlines, but the bigger story may be how AI is quietly re-platforming the internet. The old traffic economy is fading, replaced by an attention economy where answers are given instantly, and your website might never get the visit.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.”
If you want to survive the shift, start planting now.
Find your next edge,
Eli
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