Glasp reports 37x ChatGPT traffic growth

Glasp said on May 23 that it had increased referral traffic from ChatGPT by 37 times over four months, according to a post on X from co-founder Sho Nakagawa. The post presented the result as an answer-engine optimization, or AEO, case study and said the evidence came from server logs rather than screenshots from third-party traffic tools. (x.com) OpenAI says publishers can track inbound traffic from ChatGPT in analytics platforms because ChatGPT search links include the parameter `utm_source=chatgpt.com`. (x.com) OpenAI also says inclusion in ChatGPT search results depends on allowing OAI-SearchBot to crawl a site and ensuring infrastructure permits access from OpenAI’s published IP ranges. (help.openai.com) ### What exactly did Glasp claim? Sho Nakagawa’s May 23 post said Glasp grew ChatGPT traffic “37x in 4 months.” The post framed that change as the result of AEO work and said the proof came from server logs, a format marketers have increasingly used to show AI-referred visits when third-party visibility tools do not capture the full path from answer to click. (x.com) Glasp operates a web-highlighting and knowledge-sharing product and also publishes ChatGPT-related tutorials on its site. One Glasp post published in 2025 showed the company using ChatGPT-oriented educational content as part of its product marketing. (help.openai.com) ### Why do server logs matter more than screenshots here? Server logs record actual requests reaching a website, which makes them useful for confirming whether AI systems or AI-generated links are sending traffic. Industry guides on AI search measurement describe logs as a way to identify crawler access, referral patterns and zero-click or low-visibility behavior that may not show up cleanly in standard dashboards. (x.com) OpenAI’s own publisher guidance supports that measurement approach from the traffic side. The company says publishers can identify ChatGPT referrals in analytics through `utm_source=chatgpt.com`, giving site owners a direct way to separate ChatGPT-driven visits from other sources. (glasp.co) ### What does AEO mean in this case? Answer engine optimization refers to structuring content so it can be surfaced, cited or linked inside AI-generated answers rather than only in conventional search rankings. Marketing publications and software vendors describe the practice as focused on visibility in systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI products. (seodepths.com) OpenAI’s crawler documentation gives part of the mechanical backdrop. The company says OAI-SearchBot is used for search and can be controlled separately from GPTBot, which relates to training, allowing publishers to opt into search inclusion without necessarily opting into training use. (help.openai.com) ### How unusual is rising ChatGPT referral traffic? Semrush said in a May 6 blog post that its analysis of 17 months of clickstream data found outbound referral traffic from ChatGPT grew 206% in 2025. That broader industry data does not verify Glasp’s 37-fold figure, but it does show that marketers and publishers are seeing a larger pool of traffic coming from ChatGPT than a year earlier. (prompts-gpt.com) Google Analytics 4 has also introduced an “AI Assistant” channel grouping, according to an industry roundup published May 22, reflecting demand from marketers to isolate traffic from generative AI platforms. (developers.openai.com) ### What can publishers verify next? OpenAI’s current documentation says site owners that want inclusion in ChatGPT search should allow OAI-SearchBot and confirm their host or content delivery network is not blocking OpenAI traffic. Publishers can then check analytics for `utm_source=chatgpt.com` and compare that with server logs to measure whether AI-answer visibility is producing visits. (help.openai.com) (ignitevisibility.com) (semrush.com)