476) How much AI traffic are FI websites getting, and is it worth optimizing for yet?

In this episode, Ryan Harmon and I dig into a question we’re hearing more and more from banks and credit unions: how much AI traffic are financial institution websites actually getting and is it worth optimizing for yet?

AI search is projected to overtake Google search within the next few years, and that shift comes with a major implication: the primary users of FI websites won’t just be humans anymore, they’ll be AI agents. The problem is, popular analytics tools like Google Analytics aren’t built to measure this kind of traffic. They’re designed to filter bots out, not help you understand what AI agents are doing on your site.

In this conversation, we break down the difference between AI visibility and AI traffic, explain the three types of AI bots interacting with websites today, and share what we’re learning as we launch a new research study to measure real AI traffic across credit union and bank websites. If you want to understand how the Agentic Web is changing analytics, SEO, and digital strategy for financial institutions, this episode is for you.

00:00 Welcome back and episode overview
01:00 Why AI traffic matters for banks and credit unions
02:30 The difference between AI visibility and AI traffic
04:00 How AI answers questions vs. how Google search works
06:30 Why visibility doesn’t equal traffic
08:30 Why financial institutions started asking for AI traffic data
10:00 What it means when AI agents visit your website
11:30 The three types of AI bots (user, indexer, training)
14:00 Seeing AI agents visit your site in real time
16:30 Why Google Analytics can’t measure AI traffic
18:00 Clicks vs. “intent hits” in the AI era
20:00 Why most AI interactions don’t result in website visits
22:00 How AI agents use content differently than humans
24:00 Long-form content vs. modular content for AI
27:00 The tradeoffs of content structure for AI agents
29:30 What this research study aims to uncover
31:00 How to participate in the AI traffic research study
33:00 Final thoughts and next steps

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