AI Search Sends Users to 404 Pages Nearly 3X More Than Google
A new Ahrefs study of 16M URLs reveals AI assistants, led by ChatGPT, generate broken links far more than Google.
2 min readHighlights
ChatGPT generates fake URLs at the highest rate among AI assistants.
Ahrefs study reveals AI search leads to broken links nearly 3X more than Google.
Google advises improving 404 pages instead of chasing accidental AI-driven traffic.
Source: Image created by Martech Scholars_AI search often generates fake links leading to 404 errors, nearly three times more than Google.
Artificial intelligence may be reshaping how people search, but new data suggests it comes with a major flaw: sending users to broken web pages at far higher rates than traditional search engines.
A recent Ahrefs study analyzing 16 million URLs confirms what many experts feared — AI-powered assistants hallucinate links, often creating web addresses that never existed. The results show that AI search engines direct users to 404 “page not found” errors nearly three times more often than Google Search.
ChatGPT Leads in Broken Links
Among all AI platforms tested, ChatGPT ranked worst for hallucinated URLs. The study found that 1% of all clicked links from ChatGPT led to 404 pages, compared to just 0.15% with Google.
When looking at every URL mentioned — not just clicked ones — the problem grew. 2.38% of ChatGPT’s suggested links were fake or broken, while Google’s top search results contained only 0.84% errors.
Other AI tools also struggled:
- Claude: 0.58% broken links
- Copilot: 0.34%
- Perplexity: 0.31%
- Gemini: 0.21%
- Mistral: 0.12% (lowest error rate, but also sends the least traffic)
Why AI Creates Fake URLs
The study points to two main causes:
- Outdated URLs – AI sometimes pulls from older data, suggesting pages that once existed but were later deleted or moved.
- Invented URLs – AI models often generate links that look plausible but were never real.
Ahrefs even shared examples from its own site where AI “imagined” blog pages such as “/blog/internal-links/” and “/blog/newsletter/.” These pages looked credible but did not exist.
How Much Does It Really Matter?
For most websites, the impact is still small. According to Ahrefs, AI assistants drive only 0.25% of website traffic, compared to Google’s massive 39.35%.
While fake links are an annoyance, they currently affect a tiny share of online traffic. Still, as AI adoption grows, the issue could scale. Complicating matters further, the study found that 74% of newly published pages already include AI-generated content. If that content contains fake links, it risks being indexed and spreading further across the web.
Google’s Prediction Comes True
Back in March, Google Search advocate John Mueller warned of a coming “uptick in hallucinated links.” His advice was not to panic but instead to:
- Improve 404 pages to help lost visitors.
- Redirect only meaningful fake URLs instead of chasing every accidental one.
- Collect data before making drastic changes.
So far, Ahrefs’ findings validate Mueller’s guidance. The traffic impact remains small, but webmasters should prepare for potential growth of the problem.
Looking Ahead
For now, most site owners should focus on user-friendly 404 error pages and smart redirects. The issue is real but not devastating — at least not yet. As AI platforms refine their models, the rate of hallucinated links may shrink.
Until then, site owners should treat AI-driven traffic with caution while continuing to rely on Google as their primary source of reliable clicks.
