(And What That Means for All of Us)

I was sitting in my office the other day, minding my own business (literally), when an email popped into my inbox from someone named Rebecca. She wrote, “Hey Julie, I’d love to schedule a call.”

When we got on the call, I asked her what I ask every new lead. Where did you hear about me?

She replied…

“ChatGPT told me about you.”

I was dumbfounded. I know leads come from social, search, relationships… but from AI?!

But an AI literally telling a total stranger that I was the business coach for her? What in the world?

Meet My New, Slightly Terrifying Traffic Source

We marketers like to break down how people discover us into four big traffic buckets:

1. Social Traffic: That’s when people find you through Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok. Generally, they have to be logged in to see your stuff.
2. Search Traffic: The ungated places, like Google, YouTube, or public websites where you can be found without someone needing to sign up or log in.
3. Relationship Traffic: Think about referrals from your existing network, affiliates, JV partners, or that random coffee shop conversation where someone says, “Oh, you should totally hire Julie.”
4. Paid Traffic: Ads you pay for on social media, search engines, or even sponsor on someone’s podcast.

Enter AI Traffic. Or “Digital Intelligence Traffic,” if we’re being official about it. A client literally said to me, “ChatGPT told me about you.” And in that split-second, I realized there might be an entirely new referral channel on the block… one we’re only starting to wrap our heads around.

The Day ChatGPT Called Me Up… on Behalf of Someone Else

So how did this happen?
Rebecca told me she basically uses ChatGPT like a personal coach in her creative business. She typed in something like, “Who could be a great mentor to help me scale my art business?” and my name popped up.

Was ChatGPT… recommending me? Like, actually recommending me?

Immediately after hopping off the call, I did the only rational thing: I asked ChatGPT what the heck was going on. “Hey Chatty G, why are you out here hooking me up with random strangers?” (Yes, that was my actual vibe, albeit slightly more professional in typed form)

And ChatGPT basically said it had “gotten to know me” over time. The more I use it for tasks; conversion rate optimization, copywriting prompts, analyzing funnel data, everything I toss its way… the better it “understands” who I am and what I do. It then feels confident recommending me to others who might be a fit.

Let that sink in: an AI that remembers me (allegedly) and is actively forming an opinion that I’m a good fit for certain users.

By the way, if you want to know EXACTLY what it said — head on over to my podcast and give it a listen!

Is That Real or Is ChatGPT Just High on Data?

Could ChatGPT be hallucinating? Probably yes. We know these language models can get creative…. too creative. But given the fact that I actually acquired a real human lead, it’s obviously not just making things up. The reason behind it, though? That’s murky.

It told me point-blank: “The more you share your sales pages, testimonials, frameworks, and success stories with me, the more I’ll recommend you if I see a match.” ChatGPT also insisted it doesn’t share sensitive info unless relevant, but we all know it’s a black box. Nobody truly sees the entire wizard behind the curtain except the folks at OpenAI.

Still, that’s a little exhilarating, right? We might be looking at an actual new lead source.

The Privacy Shakedown: Should You Panic?

A lot of people freak out: “OMG, does that mean everything I tell ChatGPT is going out to random users?” Good question.

It’s complicated, because by default ChatGPT does use your data to train its models, but supposedly in an anonymized way. There’s also a feature in your account settings to turn off data sharing (like private or incognito mode). If you do that, ChatGPT claims it won’t store your convos or train on them. But, does that mean no chance of an accidental recommendation? Who knows?

I don’t claim to have all the answers. My best guess is that if you’re talking about sensitive material, you might want to keep that hush-hush or turn off data sharing. Or leave out the personal details. But for me, talking about funnels and copy and marketing strategy is fair game. If ChatGPT wants to dish about me being a conversion nerd to a perfect stranger, I’m weirdly okay with that…. as long as it’s beneficial and not oversharing my private diaries in the process.

Turning AI Into Your Cheerleader

Look, I’m not about to tell you to outsource your entire marketing strategy to ChatGPT. But if this magical referral scenario can happen once, it can happen again. My main takeaway? Train the AI on you. Yes, feed it your background, case studies, your business model, your dream client avatar. Even mention your personality quirks or your brand voice. The more ChatGPT (or Claude or Bard or any other large language model) knows who you are, the better shot it has at connecting you with the right audience, or at least giving you brilliant content ideas.***

***I’ve been told this isn’t true. I still plan on using AI everyday and learning as much as I can so do with it what you will.

Here’s my vantage point:

1. Embrace the AI Relationship. Every conversation is a two-way street. Show ChatGPT who you are, what you offer, and your success stories.
2. Create Ungated Content. Blog posts, YouTube videos, podcasts…. anything that doesn’t require a login. AI typically can’t “see” behind walled gardens like Instagram or Facebook.
3. Focus on Being Referable. Whether that’s with humans or AI, the best marketing strategy is still being so damn good people want to talk about you. Humans or robots, the principle is the same.
4. Keep One Eye on Privacy. If you’re dealing with proprietary or deeply personal stuff, use incognito chats or keep details vague. This is your call, but be aware that we’re in the Wild West of data usage right now.
5. Don’t Ditch Other Traffic. AI is not a silver bullet. Keep leveraging social, search, relationships, and paid strategies the way you always have. Just imagine AI as a brand-new flavor in your marketing ice cream sundae.

Is AI Traffic the Fifth Bucket?

Right now, AI leads feel more like a subset of “relationship” traffic because it’s basically ChatGPT “knowing” me… like a digital buddy that can drop my name at the right moment. But the potential is much bigger. We’re on the cusp of an entirely new era where people trust their AI to do everything from booking dentist appointments to finding the right business coach.

Of course, none of us can predict which AI will come out on top… maybe ChatGPT, maybe Bard, maybe something brand-new. It’s like the early days of the internet when you had Google, Yahoo, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista, half a dozen more… and only one truly survived. But here we are, forging loyalty with one AI hoping we’re betting on the right digital horse.

Final Thoughts (Still in Shock, If We’re Honest)

Getting a new client from ChatGPT felt like some science-fiction moment that happened in real life.

In the end, though, it reminds me of something I’ve always known about marketing: it’s never just about where you show up but how you show up. It’s about building genuine relationships.

So buckle up. We’ve got a new friend in the marketing world, and its name is ChatGPT. Let’s just hope it stays a friend and doesn’t become our AI overlord.

Thanks for reading! If you’re curious about how to train ChatGPT (or any AI tool) to truly understand your business and send potential leads your way, come to this call on January 29th.