AI Search Directs Users to 404 Pages Almost 3X More Than Google

Study of 16 Million URLs Reveals Weakness of AI

The study, which was carried out by Ahrefs, tested 16 million URLs across different search engines. The findings revealed that AI-based helpers tend to send users to nonexistent or removed pages more often than Google.

Google's 404 error SEO impact on the top search results was 0.15%, the lowest among platforms examined. ChatGPT created the appearance of fake URLs in 1% of clicked links; on the other hand. When quantifying all mentioned URLs, not merely the clicked ones, the figure was 2.38%, almost three times the rate on Google.

The other AI platforms were slightly better but still behind Google. Claude found 0.58% faulty links, Copilot 0.34%, Perplexity 0.31%, and Gemini 0.21%. The lowest error rate of 0.12% was in Mistral, although it produces much less traffic than the big platforms.

ChatGPT Tops Hallucinated Links

The research verifies what many SEO experts have long believed: ChatGPT generates the highest number of hallucinated links among all AI assistants ever tested. These "hallucinations" are often genuine-looking URLs but do not actually exist.

As an example, Ahrefs discovered AI assistants fabricated URLs such as "/blog/internal-links/" and "/blog/newsletter/." Although they appear to be valid parts of the Ahrefs website, they were entirely made up.

This activity brings possible crawling issues. When content created with AI and having these links spreads throughout the web, search engines can spend resources crawling and indexing non-existent pages. Eventually, this will result in more extensive SEO problems if not addressed with technical SEO solutions.

Why Do AI Hallucinations Occur?

The research found two key reasons why there are fake URLs on the rise:

• Old Data - AI tools usually use outdated datasets rather than current crawling. If a page previously existed but is now gone, the AI could still suggest it.
• Concocted Patterns - AI models will sometimes create URLs in response to logical patterns. For instance, if a website has "/blog/seo-tips/," the AI will think "/blog/seo-tools/" exists as well.

Constrained But Significant Traffic Influence

Although the figures appear to be menacing, the research implies that the net impact on web traffic remains constrained. Presently, AI assistants account for only 0.25% of web traffic, as opposed to 39.35% from Google.

That equates to most sites not experiencing a measurable effect. But as search grows increasingly AI-fueled, the SEO effect of 404s may grow. If the number of users is large enough, they can find themselves on dead links, bounce rates can rise, damaging engagement metrics that search engines track.

Moreover, with 74% of new web pages featuring AI-created content, artificially generated links could increase and spread further, leading to crawling issues.

Google's Prediction Comes True

The results resonate with warnings issued by Google's John Mueller in March 2024. At the time, Mueller stated that he anticipated a "slight uptick of hallucinated links being clicked" over the next 6-12 months.

He advised webmasters to prioritize SEO site speed optimization and creating friendly 404 pages instead of pursuing errant traffic. His counsel has been true, as the study verifies the problem does exist, but with a negligible traffic footprint.

Mueller also offered that as AI platforms evolve, hallucination rates will decline. Whether that occurs before the issue gets severely worse remains to be seen.

Implications for SEO Professionals

For the moment, the largest learning for site owners is preparation. Although the Google spam update 2025 targets link quality and content authority to a large extent, AI search broken links pose another type of issue.

The following are some important steps SEO experts can follow:

• Create Smart 404 Pages - Because AI traffic might end up on non-existent URLs, useful 404s that help users return to the site are crucial.
• Set Up Redirects Strategically - Don't bother repairing all hallucinated links. Rather, implement technical SEO fixes such as 301 redirects only for URLs that receive measurable traffic.
• Crawl Issue Monitoring - Leverage server logs and Google Search Console to monitor crawl waste from false AI-generated links. This helps maintain crawl budget and site performance protection.
• Prioritize Site Speed - With more wrong requests landing on servers, SEO site speed optimization is even more vital to keep the user experience positive.

Looking Ahead

With the growth of AI adoption, these issues are not likely to vanish in a day. Hallucinated URLs and broken links might just be a hallmark of AI-powered search for the near future. Nevertheless, the net effect on traffic is minimal today. Website owners who are ahead of the game with intelligent redirects, SEO optimized 404s, and good technical SEO practices will reduce disruption.

The bigger risk is reputational: users annoyed at AI driving them to non-working pages might lose confidence in the platforms themselves. Google's strength is in its guarantee of reliably driving users to authoritative sources, a characteristic that makes it the leading search engine.

For SEO technicians, the message is simple. AI search engines are interesting, but not yet dependable traffic sources. Google continues to be the foundation of discoverability, with AI-provided errors contributing noise rather than utility.

Conclusion

The Ahrefs analysis reinforces that AI search directs users to 404 pages almost three times more frequently than Google. ChatGPT is at the forefront of hallucinated links, with smaller AI engines producing inconsistent results.

While the direct SEO effect of 404s is low today because traffic from AI search is so low, the problem foretells a new age of crawling issues and technical issues for website owners.

For now, the smartest move is to prepare: optimize site speed, monitor crawl logs, and build helpful 404 pages. As AI search evolves, these technical SEO fixes will be the difference between lost visitors and retained engagement.