From Impressions to Influence

From Impressions to Influence: Rethinking Measurement in the Age of AI

WE’RE LIVING THROUGH A MEDIA CORRECTION:

years in the making,

now accelerated by generative AI

Marketers and communicators have long chased attention through metrics that misled. And earned media specifically stayed tethered to inflated proxies through topline volume metrics. But GenAI is now forcing a reckoning. Not because it is changing the value of earned, but because it’s helping us bring a sharper focus to that value.

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The decline of UVMs: A correction, not a collapse For years, impressions and Unique visitors per month (UVMs) stood as proxies for earned impact. Now, one ChatGPT prompt replaces multiple clicks.

THE RESULT: In the last 12

months, top publishers have lost almost a fifth of their UVMs

In this new normal, UVMs may drop, but every visit represents something deeper: intent, investment, and attention. And importantly, this isn’t a zero-sum game; the audience isn’t vanishing, it’s evolving, with growth showing up in new behaviors and platforms beyond publishers alone.

For marketers and communicators, this shift should prompt a recalibration of benchmarks. UVM drops are not failures; they’re the start of a more honest accounting.

Top Publishers' UVMs Decline As ChatGPT's UVMs Rise

99.5%

12.0M

70M

11.5M

65M

11.0M

60M 55M

10.5M

18.9%

10.0M 9.5M

50M 45M 40M

9.0M

35M

8.5M

30M

8.0M

25M Jul-24

Aug-24 Sep-24

Oct-24

Nov -24 Dec-24

Jan-25

Feb-25 Mar-25

Top Publishers

Apr-25 May-25

Jun-25

Jul-25

ChatGPT

SOURCE: SIMILARWEB Metric: Estimated unique visitor data (monthly) from chatgpt.com; Estimated unique visitor data (monthly) from Top 200 News and Media publishers during the period of July '24 - July '25, US Note: Annualized growth rates were derived using linear regression of monthly unique visitors (ChatGPT and Top 200 Publishers). Top 200 Publishers were selected based on total unique visitors (7/24 – 7/25), excluding any domains with missing data.

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Like it or not, Everyone is media now Research from Evertune shows that over a third of top LLM responses draw on realtime web search across a wide range of sources. We know traditional journalism is an essential part of the mix, but it also brings in Reddit threads, YouTube videos, Indeed postings, ResearchGate papers, and GitHub snippets. In short: everyone is media now: influence can come from anywhere if it’s well-structured, well-cited, and welltimed.

ChatGPT Outgoing CODING TOOLS 2% Traffic Top 50 REFERENCE & Domains: ENCYCLOPEDIAS 4% Industry SOV

And what these LLMs influence in return is just as striking.

For the Top 50 outgoing domains for ChatGPT,

E-Commerce makes up 1/5th of the websites.

AI isn’t just reshaping information flows; It’s reshaping purchase journeys. For communicators, ignoring this shift doesn’t just mean missing out. It means fading out.

DESIGN 2%

HOUSING & REAL ESTATE 4%

GOVERNMENT 2%

SHOPPING & E-COMMERCE 24%

JOBS & CAREERS 6%

HEALTH 8%

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION 12% NEWS & MEDIA 20%

SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE COMMUNITIES 16%

SOURCE: SIMILARWEB Metric: Estimated outgoing traffic data for chatgpt.com (U.S.), May 2024 – July 2025.

Note: Analysis based on the Top 50 outgoing domains (categorized by Weber Shandwick) from chatgpt.com. Domains associated with AI platforms, Google, Microsoft, and Bing were excluded from share-of-voice (SOV) calculations.

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Making media discoverable to machines The relationship between humans and LLMs is dynamic: as we change how we ask, they change how they answer. This feedback loop is reshaping both search behavior and the media strategies needed to meet it.

Unlike traditional search, where visibility was tied to ranking and clicks, LLMs reorganize information based on user intent.

In testing query behavior and LLM responses, we’re seeing two clear patterns emerge:

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Broad, awareness-focused queries that are about understanding big-picture information (e.g., “what’s a good skincare routine”) often stay contained within AI responses.

Here, influence must become both mission and metric— shaping how answers form, even when clicks don’t follow.

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Deeper, more specific queries that move toward decisionmaking (e.g., "best sunscreen for sensitive skin in humid weather") are more likely to push users to external sources—but only if the content is visible, credible, and abundant. The bar on quality and quantity is higher than ever.

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Earning your way in, through culture This much is clear: in the AI-shaped media network, influence is not paid, it’s earned.

You get surfaced because you’re the most relevant to the query, the moment, and the culture.

For marketers, this starts with carving out a clear role in culture; one that is: • • •

Repeatable in how it shows up, Valuable in what it contributes, and Intuitive to your brand and to the people it’s meant for

A new measurement mandate: from impressions to influence The irony is that while GenAI has disrupted traditional metrics, it has also given us the tools to replace them. Impressions and UVMs were never great indicators of engagement or influence; they just happened to be available at scale.

The industry must stop asking, “How many saw it?” and start asking, “Did it land? Did it spread?

Did it stick?”

And AI allows us to track cultural penetration, narrative uptake, and intent signals – markers that truly reflect attention.

In the end, this correction isn’t about loss; it’s about clarity. Impressions aren’t falling short as a metric because of AI — they were falling short all along. AI just finally made it impossible to ignore.

Now, we can do better.

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Similarweb is a market intelligence company that uses a combination of various public and private sources for its data estimations. See https://support.similarweb.com/ hc/enus/articles/360001631538-Similarweb-Data-Methodology for more information. All data, reports and related materials provided or made available by Similarweb are intended for informational and research purposes only. They are based on data obtained from third parties, including estimations and extrapolations based on such data, and are not warranted for accuracy or completeness.

Evertune is the Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform that helps brands improve visibility in AI search.

See www.evertune.ai for more information. Data is based on analysis of 16 million prompt responses from ChatGPT and Gemini across 12 verticals, from consumer goods to fintech to healthcare, tracking which responses pulled from real-time sources versus the AI’s built-in knowledge base. Data is intended for informational and research purposes only.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Ridhi Malhotra

Colin Morabito

CHIEF DATA & ANALYTICS OFFICER WEBER SHANDWICK

MANAGER, ANALYTICS + INTELLIGENCE WEBER SHANDWICK

RMalhotra@webershandwick.com

CMorabito@webershandwick.com

Ridhi Malhotra is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Weber Shandwick, an IPG communications agency.

With nineteen years in the analytics industry and fourteen in marketing and communications, Ridhi is a seasoned leader and strategic thinker for all things data.

Joining the Weber team in 2022, Ridhi is leading the integrated worldwide practice of data and analytics professionals that informs our clients’ decisions based on a deep understanding of their target audiences. Her team is responsible for driving optimization strategies using data throughout project lifecycles and creating scalable solutions tailored to Weber’s fast-paced clients.

Prior to joining Weber, Ridhi worked in Zenith, GroupM and American Express, where she received multiple awards recognizing her work and value addition to the business.

Ridhi is a member of the 4As measurement committee and Gartner’s New York CDAO Community.

Ridhi received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Delhi University and her master’s in Mathematics from IIT Delhi. Outside of the office, Ridhi loves to travel the world, watch sci-fi films and is a mental health advocate.

Colin Morabito is a Manager on the Analytics + Intelligence team at Weber Shandwick, an IPG communications agency. With 5+ years at the crosssection of analytics, digital publishing, and social media, Colin is using his experience across marketing disciplines to explore new opportunities for growth, optimization, and social influence across culture.

Joining Weber Shandwick in 2024, Colin has brought clients access to data across important social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit – incorporating socially relevant data to measurement, reporting, and strategic planning. He has helped incorporate practical use-cases for AI at Weber and shares knowledge on how teams and clients can incorporate emerging technologies and tools to improve their workflow and measurement.

Colin received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University.

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