Recently, SEO agency Growtika tracked search traffic to 10 major tech publications and showed they’ve lost a combined 58% of their Google traffic since 2024.
This may not surprise you given the rise of AI overviews (AIOs) and consumers’ shift to AI search engines like ChatGPT and Gemini, but what does this mean for tech companies?
Below we explore the implications of this report and how tech companies can respond decisively to grow their share of voice and remain relevant.
LLMs Cannibalize Search, But Favor YouTube
What tech companies lose in search traffic to LLMs, they can gain in YouTube views thanks to these same tools.
Per BrightEdge, AIO coverage grew by 58% from Feb. 2025 to Feb. 2026, and increasingly, AIOs are citing YouTube. What BrightEdge discovered is that YouTube averages “20% citation share across AI platforms,” making it the most-cited video platform with 200x more citations than any other video platform, including Vimeo, TikTok, Dailymotion, and Twitch, which each have less than 0.2% citation share.
In addition to AIOs, eMarketer reported last year that YouTube is the top recipient of AI chatbot referral traffic with more than 3x the monthly referral traffic compared to Facebook, which ranked No. 2.
The reason YouTube fares well in this new landscape is due to intent. When people search on LLMs, they often want to learn something new, find instructions to complete a task, dive deep on a topic they care about, or make a plan. These types of searches lend themselves well to video content.
So tech companies would be wise not only to increase their investment in YouTube content, but they must also consider audience intent in their video strategies so they can grow their viewership. (Sidenote: A thumbnail strategy would also help).
How To Generate Awareness With Less Earned Media
With tech news sites losing a sizable percentage of their audience as search traffic erodes, expect many of these sites to reduce staff and limit their coverage. This will impact tech companies’ ability to generate awareness via earned media.
The silver lining is that journalism is frequently cited by AI, accounting for 20-30% of AI citations over any period, according to Muck Rack. But if fewer people click on the links provided by ChatGPT, Gemini, or AIOs (see below), the long-term sustainability of these news sites is at risk.
Tech companies can act preemptively by building a video strategy, including producing their own IP, to grow their audiences, increase distribution, rank for niche search queries, and build a defensible moat against their tech competitors who may be late to the game.
How To Build Your Video Strategy
The fate of many tech news sites may be in limbo, but tech companies can still capture attention and market share if they make smart video investments now.
For more resources, see below:
- Begin with a video audit
- 5 reasons to invest in long-form videos for YouTube
- The shifting influence of video content
- 3 video shifts every tech company needs to win
- 3 myths about using video to grow your tech company
- Video is the No. 1 driver for B2B marketing
If you’re struggling on where to start relative to your video strategy, schedule a free consultation with us.
