Brijesh Desai 
AI bots now account for more web traffic than humans, with automated traffic reaching 51% of global web traffic in 2024. Human Security report shows AI traffic surged 187% in 2025-26, growing 8x faster than human interactions as AI agents execute autonomous tasks.
AI bots now account for more web traffic than humans, marking a historic turning point in how the internet is being used. According to a groundbreaking report from cybersecurity firm Human Security, automated traffic has eclipsed human users for the first time, with bots generating 51% of all global web traffic in 2024.
The Numbers: AI Bots Have Officially Won the Internet
Key Statistics from Human Security’s State of AI Traffic Report
“Traffic generated by machines is effectively becoming the primary form of activity on the internet.” — Solomon, Human Security
What’s Driving This Explosion in AI Traffic?
1. Generative AI’s Relentless Data Demand
The surge is being driven by generative AI systems that constantly scrape and process web data. Flare CEO Matthew Prince explained during SXSW:
“Before the generative AI era, about 20% of internet traffic was bot-generated, primarily driven by Google’s web crawler. By 2027, AI bots will surpass human traffic.”
What he predicted for 2027 has already happened in 2024.
2. Major AI Models Powering the Surge
The report identifies advanced language models as the primary contributors:
- OpenAI’s GPTÂ series
- Anthropic’s Claude
- Google’s Gemini
- Perplexity AI
- Various AI chatbots for everyday inquiries
3. Autonomous AI Agents Taking Action
The most shocking statistic is the growth of autonomous AI agents that execute tasks on behalf of users:
This represents a nearly 8,000% increase in AI agents that can:
- Book appointments
- Purchase products
- Execute transactions
- Browse websites independently
- Make decisions without human intervention
Which AI Bots Are Dominating Web Traffic?
Top AI Crawlers and Their Market Share
According to Cloudflare data, Googlebot remains the anchor of AI traffic:
The fastest growth now comes from AI-specific crawlers rather than traditional search engine bots.
The Problem: Google Analytics Can’t Track It
The Visibility Gap
One of the biggest challenges for website owners is that Google Analytics doesn’t capture AI bot traffic. As one SaaS founder discovered:
“I’ve been exploring this topic for a few weeks and noticed something interesting in my server logs: almost a third of the requests are coming from bots like PTBot, PerplexityBot, stack, and metaAgent, but Google Analytics isn’t capturing any of this activity.”
This means:
- Analytics data is misleading (missing 51%+ of traffic)
- Website owners don’t know how much AI traffic they’re getting
- Revenue attribution is broken for AI-driven visits
- User behavior insights are incomplete
How to Track AI Bot Traffic
Since traditional analytics fails, you need specialized tools:
The Breakdown: Good Bots vs. Bad Bots
Not All Bot Traffic Is Malicious
AI bot traffic is divided into two categories:
Bad Bot Growth Is Alarming
The 2025 Bad Bot Report reveals:
- Advanced bad bots: Doubled prevalence over past 2 years
- Simple bad bots: +6% increase year-over-year
- Fraudulent traffic: 32% of global web traffic (up 1.8% from 2023)
Impact by Industry Sector
Which Industries Are Most Affected?
Bot traffic impact varies significantly across sectors:
Gaming sector has the highest concentration of bad bots at 57.2% of web traffic.
Why This Matters: The Implications
1. Websites Are Being “Read” More by AI Than Humans
The internet has fundamentally shifted from human-centric to AI-centric:
- Content is being consumed more by machines than people
- AI is training on your website content
- Search results are being generated by AI, not humans
- Your analytics are broken and misleading
2. Cybersecurity Threats Are Escalating
With bad bots at 32.2% of traffic:
- DDoS attacks are more sophisticated
- Credential stuffing is rampant
- Data scraping is accelerating
- Fraud rates are increasing
3. The “Crawl-to-Click” Gap
Cloudflare’s “Crawl-to-Click Gap” report reveals AI bots are crawling far more than humans are clicking, creating a massive disconnect between:
- Traffic that Google sees (crawling)
- Actual user behavior (clicks)
- Content being indexed vs. what’s being consumed
4. Content Creators Don’t Get Credit
When AI scrapes content:
- No attribution is given
- No traffic goes to the original creator
- AI models get all the value
- Publishers lose revenue and visibility
Expert Predictions: What’s Next?
Matthew Prince’s Forecast
Flare CEO Matthew Prince predicted:
- By 2027: AI bots to completely dominate internet traffic
- Current status: Already happened in 2024 (51%)
- Driver: “The surge of generative AI and its relentless demand for data”
2030 Prediction
According to Reddit discussions:
- 2022: 47% of internet traffic was bots
- 2024: 51% of internet traffic is bots
- 2030:Â Near 90%Â will be AI bots
What Should You Do?
For Website Owners
- Install AI bot tracking tools (Scrunch, Cloudflare)
- Review server logs to identify AI crawlers
- Implement bot management to filter malicious traffic
- Update analytics to include AI traffic insights
- Consider AI traffic monetization strategies
For Content Creators
- Add copyright notices on your content
- Block unauthorized AI scraping if needed
- Monitor AI usage of your content
- Consider licensing for AI training data
For Businesses
- Audit cybersecurity for bad bot threats
- Implement bot detection and mitigation
- Review analytics accuracy regularly
- Plan for AI-first customer experience
The Bottom Line
AI bots now account for more web traffic than humans is not just a statistic—it’s a fundamental transformation of the internet. With 51% of web traffic automated in 2024, AI traffic growing 8x faster than humans, and autonomous agents up 8,000% in a single year, we’re witnessing the birth of an AI-dominant internet.
The implications are staggering:
- Your website is being visited by more bots than people
- Your analytics are fundamentally broken
- Cybersecurity threats are escalating
- Content is being consumed more by machines
- The internet is no longer human-centric
By 2027, AI bots will completely dominate the internet. By 2030, 90% of traffic will be automated. The question isn’t whether this will happen—it’s whether you’re prepared for an AI-first internet.
The internet has changed forever. The age of AI traffic has officially begun