Generative AI is reshaping online information, causing Wikipedia and other publishers to see declining web traffic.
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| The rise of AI-generated summaries is changing how users access information, leading to significant drops in page views for Wikipedia, MailOnline, and other major sites. Image: CH |
Tech Desk — October 24, 2025:
The way people access online information is undergoing a profound transformation. Historically, users would visit multiple websites to gather knowledge. Today, artificial intelligence tools—such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews—aggregate information from many sources and deliver it directly to users, reducing the need to visit original websites.
Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia, illustrates this shift. The Wikimedia Foundation reported an 8 percent drop in traffic compared to the same period last year. Marshall Miller, a spokesperson for Wikimedia, attributed the decline to generative AI and social media, which provide users with direct answers largely sourced from Wikipedia itself.
“People no longer need to click through to sites like ours because search engines and AI tools are giving them the information upfront,” Miller explained.
Other publishers are experiencing even steeper declines. DMG Media, owner of MailOnline and Metro, told the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that click-through rates fell by 89 percent due to Google’s AI Overviews feature. Penske Media Corporation, parent company of Rolling Stone, filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that AI-generated summaries are replacing visits to their articles.
This trend highlights a major challenge for online content creators. While AI makes information more accessible for users, it disrupts traditional revenue models that rely on web traffic. Publishers must now navigate a landscape where their content fuels AI tools that simultaneously reduce their audience engagement, raising questions about sustainable models for the digital media ecosystem.