12.6M Crypto Visits Dropped From Europe’s High-Reach News Sites Between July and September, Per Outset PR Data

Image sourced from Outset PR

That leaves little room for cushioning when search demand cools or reader habits change. Referrals and social together barely cleared 10%, and paid traffic was close to zero.

Big, multi-topic news sites have a different setup. Referrals alone made up over 12% of their traffic, giving them more flexibility when one channel softens. Crypto-native outlets don’t have that luxury.

Where AI Began to Show Up

In that setting, AI-driven discovery became visible, not because it was large, but because everything else slowed down.

During Q3, AI tools sent about 510,000 visits to Europe’s crypto-native publishers, representing just 0.76% of total traffic. On volume alone, that’s negligible.

Inside referrals, though, AI accounted for more than 13% of all incoming referral traffic. That share wasn’t spread evenly. Only 41% of crypto-native outlets recorded any measurable AI-driven visits at all. For most publishers, AI barely showed up.

But among certain mid-tier and niche outlets, AI tools made up a sizable slice of referrals – sometimes 25–35%, sometimes 40–50%, and in a few cases over 60%. These were almost always outlets with smaller overall traffic bases, where even modest referral streams can look large in percentage terms.

The common thread was content type. AI referrals clustered around evergreen analysis, explainers, educational material, and structured reference content, which are all formats that are easy for AI systems to surface when users ask questions.

What This Quarter Actually Proved

By the end of the summer, it was easier to tell how Europe’s crypto media really works. Traffic started thinning out first at the biggest, most visible sites, and it became clearer which publishers were still being found easily and which ones weren’t.

With fewer spikes and a quieter flow of news, small things started to stand out. AI referrals didn’t suddenly become big, but you could actually notice them in the data in a way you couldn’t earlier in the year.

Put next to Outset PR’s earlier research, the picture lines up. Crypto audiences are still around, but getting in front of them now depends much more on where content lives and how people usually arrive there.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.