New BrightEdge data shows new channel of agentic activity equivalent to a third of all organic search traffic to brands
BrightEdge, the global leader in AI-driven organic search, content, and digital marketing automation, released new research showing that AI agents — computers doing work on behalf of a person — are not a future concept. They are already here and rivaling Google in scale. In July alone, agent activity doubled, and AI agents are carving a new lane of traffic that is the equivalent of a third of all organic search traffic coming to brands. BrightEdge data reveals agents are rapidly reshaping the web, crawling and indexing websites across major industries at unprecedented levels, and redefining how businesses must think about search visibility in the AI era.
“AI agents are not coming, they’re here, actively shaping user experiences,” said Jim Yu, Founder and CEO of BrightEdge. “We’re seeing a major shift in how content gets discovered and delivered, as new types of AI agents engage with websites and surface information in real-time conversations. This marks a move from AI assistants to truly agentic systems, an evolution that demands new strategies. Brands that understand this, adapt early and optimize for agent visibility will gain a clear competitive edge.”
Agentic Systems Go Mainstream
On July 17, 2025, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Agent, marking a major leap forward as ChatGPT evolved from a conversational assistant to an autonomous agent. This shift signals the next phase of AI: not just generating answers but doing the work for them. With ChatGPT-5 here, OpenAI is accelerating this transformation. BrightEdge’s latest data gives marketers an early glimpse into the agentic future of search and how to maintain visibility in it.
Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Žilvinas Lešinskas, VP of Product @ Omnisend
Key Insights from BrightEdge Research and ChatGPT
ChatGPT’s Already at Work for Users: BrightEdge data shows the number of pages requested from ChatGPT on behalf of users is already at approximately 33% of the level of actual users going to pages from organic search.
Explosive Growth in Real-Time AI Queries: BrightEdge analysis of ChatGPT’s real-time page requests on behalf of users during July 2025 revealed the ChatGPT User bot nearly doubled its activity, showing that users relying on real-time web searches to answer questions almost doubled within just one month.
ChatGPT’s Web Crawling Rivals Google’s Desktop Activity: BrightEdge data reveals ChatGPT is already actively crawling websites to build its search index at the same level as Google desktop.
Missed Opportunities in AI Responses: For real-time searches, ChatGPT requested non-existent pages approximately 1% of the time, resulting in error pages instead of relevant content, leading to missed chances for brands to appear in AI-driven answers. Unlike Google, which may be patient with slower sites, ChatGPT doesn’t wait—if your website loads too slowly, the opportunity to get in front of an engaged, high-intent user is gone. This underscores the urgent need for strong technical SEO to perform well with both AI and traditional search.
The Need for AI and Agentic Analytics
As AI search continues to grow, blocking AI agents will actually hinder brand visibility on platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. When AI platforms do drive referral traffic, the quality tends to be high, with visitors often being further along in their buying journey and more likely to convert after extensive AI-powered research.
“While blocking AI bots might make sense for publishers who monetize their content, brands outside of those can’t take the risk of shutting the door on agents,” said Albert Gouyet, VP Operations at BrightEdge. “Brands not only need to keep the door open to agents, they need to embrace them.”
The Bright Edge: Leading the AI and Agentic Revolution
As AI agents reshape how people discover content online, it’s no longer enough to optimize for traditional search engines. Brands need to understand how these new systems search, interpret, and rank their specific websites.
BrightEdge is at the forefront of this new path. With AI Catalyst, marketers gain deep, site-specific insights into how AI engines and agents interact with this content. The platform surfaces real-time visibility into what AI sees, and what it doesn’t, offering clear guidance to improve discovery, fix issues that hinder indexing and drive better results in an agent-led world.
Marketing Technology News: The AI Impact on Marketing Teams and Marketing Jobs
Write in to psen@itechseries.com to learn more about our exclusive editorial packages and programs.