AI chatbot referrals are reshaping how people discover content online. In May 2025 alone, platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini sent millions of users directly to YouTube. With nearly 38 million visits from AI chatbot referrals in one month, YouTube is emerging as the biggest winner in this new AI-driven traffic race.
According to new research from Similarweb, YouTube attracted nearly 38 million visits from AI chatbot referrals in May 2025—more than Facebook, Wikipedia, and Reddit combined.
Why AI Chatbots Keep Referring Users to YouTube
When someone asks an AI chatbot, “How can I learn Photoshop?” or “What’s the best way to cook pasta?”, the response often includes a YouTube link.
Here’s why:
- Visual learning is more effective: Tutorials and demonstrations offer more value than plain text explanations.
- AI-friendly structure: Clear titles, transcripts, and timestamps make YouTube easy for AI to analyze and recommend.
- Unmatched content library: With over 14 billion videos, YouTube has content for almost every question imaginable.
In short, chatbots prefer sources that provide clear, engaging, and actionable answers—and YouTube fits that perfectly.
What This Means for You (and Your Brand)
AI chatbots are becoming discovery tools that drive traffic in ways traditional search cannot. To capitalize on this trend, focus on:
- Optimizing YouTube SEO: Use descriptive, keyword-rich titles and clear video descriptions.
- Producing concise, value-driven videos: Quick tutorials and explainers align well with the questions chatbots answer.
- Creating conversational content: Frame topics in a way that reflects how people naturally ask AI-driven questions.
Tip: While click-through rates from chatbots (0.33%) are lower than Google Search (8.63%), video recommendations significantly improve user engagement.
Other Platforms Benefiting from AI Referrals
YouTube may be leading, but it isn’t alone:
- Facebook: 10.9 million visits, mostly driven by business support-related queries.
- Wikipedia: Continues to attract traffic for factual and educational queries (10.1 million referrals).
- Reddit: With its massive library of discussions, it has become a go-to resource for AI-driven answers (9.6 million referrals).
Even Amazon’s AWS pages are seeing chatbot-driven visits, highlighting how AI-driven discovery favors problem-solving and educational content.
How to Stay Ahead
AI referrals are expected to grow rapidly. Here’s how to prepare:
- Build trusted content: Ensure your site has well-structured, accurate, and easy-to-read resources.
- Target AI-optimized keywords: Focus on long-tail, question-based keywords like “how to…” and “what is…”.
- Invest in video content: Since AI chatbots frequently favor YouTube, producing videos can dramatically increase visibility.
Key Takeaway
AI chatbots are reshaping how people find answers online. While search engines are still dominant, AI-powered discovery is becoming a critical traffic driver.
If you want to stay visible in this new landscape, you need to adapt your content and video strategy to align with AI-driven referrals. The brands that embrace this shift early will have a clear advantage as AI continues to reshape online discovery.
