Cloudflare CEO says people aren't checking AI chatbots' source links NewsiOS 26WWDC 2025Nintendo Switch 2AIAppsComputingEntertainmentMobileScienceSocial mediaSpaceStreamingTransportationReviewsSmartphonesLaptops and PCsGamingHeadphonesWearablesAudio gearPhotographyTabletsHomeBuying guidesBest VPNsBest laptopsBest headphonesBest smart homeBest gamingBest health and fitnessBest accessoriesBest lifestyle techGamingNintendoPC gamingPlayStationXboxPlaydateBig techAmazonAppleGoogleMetaMicrosoftSamsungElon MuskDealsApple dealsDeals under $50EntertainmentTV and moviesMusicStreamingYouTubeScienceSpaceRoboticsCybersecurityVPNMore GuidesBest streaming servicesBest wireless earbudsBest laptopsBest power banksBest robot vacuumsBest Mint alternativesPrime Day 2025Amazon Prime Day: Everything you need to knowSectionsAdvertisementPrime Day 2025: The best early dealsIs the Trump Phone really US-made?Proton VPN review 2025Tesla's robotaxi: Only 10 cars to startHow to buy the Nintendo Switch 2Read full articleCloudflare CEO says people aren't checking AI chatbots' source linksHe's encouraging publishers to make sure they're fairly compensated by AI companies taking their content.mariella moonContributing ReporterFri, Jun 20, 2025, 6:00 AM·2 min read0 Noam Galai via Getty ImagesCompanies that develop generative AI always make it a point to say that they include links to websites in the answers that their chatbots generate for users. But Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has revealed to Axios that search traffic referrals keep plummeting. Publishers are facing an existential threat, he said, because people aren't clicking through those chatbot links and are relying more and more on AI summaries without digging deeper.Prince told Axios that 10 years ago, Google sent a publisher one visitor for every two pages it had crawled. Six months ago, the ratio was one visitor for every six pages, and now it's one for every 18. OpenAI sent one visitor to a publisher for every 250 pages it crawled six months ago, while Anthropic sent one visitor for every 6,000 pages. These days, OpenAI sends one visitor to a publisher for every 1,500 pages, whereas Anthropic sends one visitor for every 60,000 pages.People have come to trust AI chatbots more over the past few months. The problem for publishers is that they don't earn from advertisements if people don't click through links leading to their websites, and that's why Prince is encouraging them to take action to make sure they're fairly compensated. Prince said Cloudflare is currently working on a tool to block bots that scrape content for large language models even if a web page already has a "no crawl" instruction. If you'll recall, several outlets had reported in 2024 that AI companies have been ignoring websites' Robots Exclusion Protocol, or robots.txt, files and taking their content anyway to train their technologies.ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementCloudflare has been looking for ways to block scrapers since last year. But it was only in March when Cloudflare officially introduced AI Labyrinth, which uses AI-generated content to "slow down, confuse, and waste the resources of AI Crawlers and other bots that don’t respect 'no crawl' directives." It works by linking an unauthorized crawler a series of AI-generated pages that are convincing enough but don't actually have the contents of the site the tool it's protecting. That way, the crawler ends up wasting time and resources."I go to war every single day with the Chinese government, the Russian government, the Iranians, the North Koreans, probably Americans, the Israelis, all of them who are trying to hack into our customer sites," Prince said. "And you're telling me, I can't stop some nerd with a C-corporation in Palo Alto?" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement , Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince speaks with Sara Fischer onstage at an Axios event in Cannes. Photo: Anthony Bourgeois on behalf of Axios Publishers face an existential threat in the AI era and need to take action to make sure they are fairly compensated for their content, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told Axios at an event in Cannes on Thursday., But Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has revealed to Axios that search traffic referrals keep plummeting. Publishers are facing an existential threat, he said, because people aren't clicking through .