- 1Peyree: LLM referrals are very high-intent consumers and growing
- 2They remain a materially small share of LendingTree's overall consumer base
- 3The company is interested in testing advertising on LLMs like ChatGPT
LendingTree CEO Scott Peyree used the company's Q4 earnings call to back a conclusion that rival NerdWallet has also voiced: referrals from large language models convert better than ordinary search referrals.
Where the traffic stands
Peyree said LendingTree is working on several fronts. One is SEO, getting referenced by LLMs so they send consumers to its site. He said that effort continues to grow and that the visitors it brings are “very high-intent consumers,” as he had said on earlier calls. He cautioned that LLM referrals remain, materially, a pretty small percentage of the overall consumer base, though they keep growing.
Paid LLM advertising
LendingTree signaled an opportunity to capture more LLM traffic through paid advertising, but it could not say how large that would be in 2026. Peyree said some LLMs, ChatGPT among them, are looking to begin testing ads, and the company is “excited about participating.”
Source reporting: deBanked.
