CallRail's latest research, based on an analysis of nearly 20 million inbound leads, demonstrates that AI search tools powered by large language models (LLMs) are already influencing which businesses consumers contact. This marks the first large-scale evidence of LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity reshaping the path to purchase for small and mid-sized businesses. In response, CallRail has become the first platform to offer LLM-driven attribution, giving businesses model-specific visibility into leads from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity to better capture high-intent traffic.
Quick Intel
The research highlights how AI assistants are altering customer discovery and lead generation. While the current share of AI-originated calls stands at 0.073%, this translates to millions of high-intent leads at scale and serves as an early indicator of changing buyer behavior. CallRail's new attribution capabilities provide granular insights into which LLMs drive traffic, enabling data-driven strategies to improve visibility and capture in AI search results.
"Understanding how AI search, and how it differs across platforms, is driving leads for your business will be critical over the long term in shaping how your brand shows up and drives revenue," CallRail CEO Marc Ginsberg explained. "Our platform provides marketers with the visibility to make data-driven decisions to ensure they can make the changes now to ensure long term success with this new, and very powerful marketing channel."
Industry-specific patterns reveal distinct preferences among AI tools. ChatGPT leads broadly but performs strongly in sectors requiring quick, direct solutions such as Healthcare and Automotive. Perplexity stands out in complex, research-heavy categories like Travel & Hospitality and Manufacturing, where it accounts for a disproportionately high share of leads. Gemini benefits from its ties to Google services in technical and business-oriented fields, while Claude appeals to users seeking detailed, in-depth information in areas like Marketing Agencies and Real Estate.
"What we are seeing from our CallRail attribution reports is the collapse of the sales funnel as we know it," expressed Will Troup, CEO of LocalSink, a CallRail agency partner. "It's forcing us to rethink the buyer's journey as AI-directed callers have higher sales intent and move faster when compared to traditional inbound leads. With LLMs fast becoming the go-to, having visibility into how AI demand at the top of the funnel translates to revenue will be key to ensuring success."
These findings underscore the need for businesses to adapt marketing approaches to AI-driven discovery. CallRail's attribution tools position customers to track and optimize for this shift, especially as platforms like ChatGPT prepare to integrate paid advertising.
About CallRail
CallRail is the lead engagement platform that makes it easy for businesses to attract more leads, convert more customers, and optimize their marketing. Serving more than 225,000 businesses worldwide, CallRail's AI-powered solutions help businesses attribute each call, text, chat and form to their marketing journey, use insights from their conversations to better understand their buyers, and eliminate missed opportunities with AI that can handle lead interactions 24/7. CallRail has grown from the G2 top-rated inbound call tracking solution to include Form Tracking, Conversation Intelligence®, Premium Conversation Intelligence™, Convert Assist and Voice Assist. CallRail's award-winning platform integrates with dozens of leading marketing and sales software, and offers affiliate, agency, and technology partnership opportunities, helping businesses earn, grow, and build with CallRail.
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