Rank trackers and ChatGPT referrals skewed this month: check before reporting

Key points

Nozzle says 8.0% of 17.8 million tracked Google pages from Sept. 13 to Oct. 9 were missing most usual sites, versus 0.17% in late August.
ChatGPT sessions in GA4 fell about 45% on sites Graphite tracked; Adobe's Cedric Huesler places the tagging bug between Oct. 8 and 15.
Bing added a beta Topics Portfolio to its AI Performance report, grouping cited queries and listing opportunity queries as ranges.
Google job listings describe teams recommending and generating AI content for Discover, with no timeline or share of the feed given.

Why it matters for marketers: Several core reporting numbers shifted for measurement reasons, so marketers should check rank trackers against Search Console and ChatGPT lines against Direct before explaining dips to clients.

Two common metrics looked off this month. Rank-tracking company Nozzle reported that 8.0% of the Google results pages it could compare against keyword history, out of 17.8 million collected through automated searches, were missing most of a keyword's usual sites. Nozzle attributes the pattern to Google's response to AI scraping. The report does not include a statement from Google.

ChatGPT referrals also dipped. Graphite CEO Ethan Smith wrote that sessions fell about 45% on tracked sites, with untagged visits possibly landing under Direct. Adobe's Cedric Huesler said OpenAI confirmed a known bug on October 14 and began deploying a fix on October 15. SEO consultant Glenn Gabe said he had not yet seen the change, and OpenAI's release notes did not mention the bug.

Reporting tools in AI search are changing too. Google is moving inline links higher in more AI Mode and AI Overviews responses, though Search Console still assigns each link the overview's single position. Bing's beta Topics Portfolio groups cited queries into topics and shows opportunity queries, but Microsoft says to treat the metrics as directional. Separately, Google job listings describe teams working on AI-generated content for Discover, without a timeline.

For now, annotate reports covering mid-September through mid-October. Compare rank-tracker drops against Search Console impressions and clicks for the same query and page, and check Direct traffic alongside ChatGPT lines for the Oct. 8 to 15 window. Use Bing's opportunity list to spot topic gaps, and filter out competitor brand terms.