Wikipedia ‘human pageviews’ drop ~8% YoY as AI search answers change behavior
Wikipedia ‘human pageviews’ drop ~8% YoY as AI search answers change behavior Wikipedia is seeing fewer direct visits from people. Recent reporting and Wikimedia updates indicate that “human pageviews” are down by roughly 8% year over year, a change largely attributed to AI-generated answers in search and increased information consumption on social platforms without clicking through to source pages. What changed — and why it matters Behavior shift: Users increasingly get quick answers from AI summaries on search engines or from short-form social posts, reducing the need to open the underlying article. Measurement clarity: Wikimedia refined bot detection and traffic classification, clarifying the distinction between automated views and human visits. Knowledge impact: Fewer clicks can mean fewer citations and less context for readers, and potentially reduced feedback loops that help…
