For years, the world's leading tech publications built much of their audience on Google, publishing news, analysis, comparisons and tutorials that ranked at the top of search results and drew millions of visits every month. However, a recent analysis published by Growtika reveals a worrying reality: this model is changing fast.
The drop isn't limited to one or two specific sites. On the contrary, it's a widespread trend hitting some of the best-known names in the tech industry.
Among the most striking cases is Digital Trends, which reportedly lost around 97% of its organic traffic, ZDNet with a 90% drop, and widely recognized outlets such as The Verge and How-To Geek, both down by roughly 85%.
Even the publications that have weathered the shift better have seen significant losses. CNET, Tom’s Guide and Wired show declines ranging from 47% to more than 60% of their organic traffic.
Most of this decline reportedly took place in the second half of 2025, coinciding with the rollout of artificial intelligence features in Google.
Today, many informational searches no longer necessarily end in a website visit. With AI Overviews, Google can generate complete answers right on the results page, letting users get the information they're looking for without clicking a link.
This shift hits sites that publish educational content, tutorials, product comparisons and answers to common questions especially hard, which is exactly the kind of content that has historically driven much of SEO traffic.
Another key factor is the growing prominence of platforms like Reddit in search results. Google has increasingly started to favor real user opinions and experiences, especially for searches about recommendations, products or practical solutions. As a result, many queries that used to be dominated by expert articles now surface conversations and discussions from online communities.
For traditional publications, this means competing not only with other content sites, but also with thousands of users sharing their experiences in real time.
Perhaps the deepest change is in people's behavior.
More and more users are turning directly to AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity to answer questions, research products or learn about a specific topic. Instead of running multiple searches and browsing different pages, they get consolidated answers in a single interaction.
This reduces the need to visit websites during the early stages of research and discovery, directly affecting those who relied on the traffic those queries generated.
Although the analysis focuses on tech publications, the effects don't seem to be limited to this industry.
The study also identifies significant drops in other sectors. Sites specializing in personal finance, health and informational content have seen major declines in organic visibility, suggesting we're facing a broader transformation of the digital ecosystem.
The main takeaway is that relying solely on organic traffic from Google no longer looks like a sustainable long-term strategy.
Organizations that produce content will need to start diversifying their audience sources, strengthening owned channels such as newsletters, communities, social media and loyalty programs. At the same time, they'll need to evolve from traditional SEO toward strategies that account for visibility in generative engines and AI systems.
Rather than the end of SEO, what we're witnessing is a redefinition of how people discover and consume information online. Sites that manage to adapt to this new landscape will have a better chance of staying relevant in an environment where traditional search is no longer the only gateway to content.
The question is no longer whether artificial intelligence is transforming web traffic, but how quickly companies and publications will be able to adapt to a new reality.
