Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are reshaping how people consume news online and the consequences could be devastating for an already fragile digital media industry, a study made by Pew Research Centre.

News publishers are reporting steep declines in web traffic and advertising revenue, as AI-generated summaries increasingly replace the need for users to click through to source articles.

This shift is undermining the core business model of most online news outlets, which rely heavily on page views for both ad impressions and subscriber acquisition.

“The next three or four years will be incredibly challenging for publishers everywhere,” said Matt Karolian, vice president of research and development at Boston Globe Media.

“No one is immune from the AI summaries storm gathering on the horizon. Publishers need to build their own shelters or risk being swept away.”

A recent Pew Research Center study confirms the concern: users are half as likely to click on article links when AI-generated summaries appear in search results. That’s a critical loss of engagement for media sites that depend on visibility to survive.

Compounding the threat, traditional sources of ad revenue had already been weakened by the dominance of tech platforms like Google and Meta.

Many publishers turned to subscriptions in response, but traffic remains a vital pipeline for conversion and generative AI may be closing it.

“These trends will accelerate,” warned John Wihbey, a Northeastern University journalism professor. “Pretty soon we will have an entirely different web.”

Some outlets are experimenting with ways to stay relevant in the AI era. Karolian noted that Boston Globe Media has seen modest success with subscribers who first encountered its content through ChatGPT. But he emphasized that numbers remain small, especially compared to traditional search engines.

Other platforms, such as AI-powered search tool Perplexity, are generating even less return in terms of audience growth.

In response, some newsrooms are pivoting to a new strategy known as GEO Generative Engine Optimization a next-generation counterpart to traditional SEO.

This approach involves producing content in formats and structures optimized for AI models to read, understand, and cite, while also cultivating visibility on forums like Reddit, which are commonly crawled by AI systems.

Still, many publishers remain wary of allowing AI companies to freely scrape their content. “Should you allow OpenAI crawlers to basically crawl your website and your content?” asked Thomas Peham, CEO of optimization startup OtterlyAI.

Increased pushback has led to a wave of blocks on AI crawlers, as publishers seek compensation for the use of their intellectual property. “We just need to ensure that companies using our content are paying fair market value,” said Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance.

Some progress has been made, with licensing agreements between tech firms and news organizations including partnerships between the New York Times and Amazon, Google and the Associated Press, and Mistral and Agence France-Presse. But key legal battles are still unfolding, including the Times’ high-stakes lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.

Blocking crawlers may protect content, but it also limits exposure to new audiences a risk some media outlets are no longer willing to take. “Media leaders are increasingly choosing to reopen access,” Peham observed.

Yet open access doesn’t guarantee influence. According to OtterlyAI, news outlets account for just 29% of citations by ChatGPT, while corporate websites make up 36%. And unlike Google Search, which traditionally elevates established news brands, generative AI tools often lack the same reliability filters.

That discrepancy raises serious questions about information quality and sourcing. The 2025 Reuters Institute Digital News Report found that 15% of people under age 25 now use generative AI as a primary news source a shift that mirrors the earlier disruption caused by social media, with similarly murky standards for credibility.

“At some point, someone has to do the reporting,” Karolian said. “Without original journalism, none of these AI platforms would have anything to summarize.”

Google has begun experimenting with partnerships to integrate original journalism into its AI features a potential path forward. But whether tech giants will move fast enough to support journalism at scale remains unclear.

“I think the platforms will realize how much they need the press,” said Wihbey. “The question is whether that realization comes in time to make a difference.”