# Meta’s AI bots drain publisher pockets with 9 billion Q2 2026 requests at host expense while returning ZERO traffic — as ChatGPT claims 88% of AI referrals

> DataDome analysis claims agentic traffic has surged by 45% in Q2 2026Meta AI bots have grown over 163% on the previous quarterThe analysis was conducted by bot management and agent control platform DataDome If you run a…

- **Source:** [TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/pro/metas-ai-bots-drain-publisher-pockets-with-9-billion-q2-2026-requests-at-host-expense-while-returning-zero-traffic-as-chatgpt-claims-88-percent-of-ai-referrals?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6a5a9a6f92382b3d3dfe32af)
- **Published:** 2026-07-17
- **Category:** AI & Bots
- **Tags:** #google #chatgpt #openai #ai
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6a5a9a6f92382b3d3dfe32af

---

_GearOpen's distilled summary. The full original article is published at TechRadar (source link above); GearOpen does not republish the source's full text._