The study examined 16 million URLs and found the following 404 rates:
- ChatGPT: 1.01%
- Perplexity: 0.31%
- Copilot: 0.34%
- Gemini: 0.21%
- Claude: 0.58%
- Mistral: 0.12%
- Google: 0.15%
Overall, AI assistants are directing searchers to broken or fabricated links at a 2.87 times higher rate than a regular Google Search.
While this is a problem for people using AI to write their content, it can be a bit of a benefit for the companies still capturing that 404 traffic. Instead of chasing traffic, improve your 404 page to inspire those sent there accidentally to stay and search for what they need on your page.
