Meta Dominates AI Agent Traffic as Sector Grows 45% in Q2 — DataDome Solutions, Inc.

Event summary

AI agent traffic surged 45% QoQ to 17.7 billion requests in Q2 2026.
Meta's AI agents now dominate DataDome's network, growing +74% (Meta-ExternalAgent) and +163% (Meta-WebIndexer) QoQ.
ChatGPT-User traffic declined 6% but maintains 80–88% of all AI referrals, growing +17% QoQ.
54% of DataDome customers have implemented agent trust policies.

The big picture

AI agent traffic is evolving rapidly, with Meta emerging as a dominant player. The sector is shifting from generic bot management to nuanced agent trust policies, reflecting the growing complexity of AI interactions. As AI agents become more purposeful and varied, organizations must adapt their infrastructure and access controls to balance business value with cost management.

What we're watching

Market Dominance: Whether Meta can sustain its rapid growth in AI agent traffic and maintain its lead over competitors.
Referral Value: How ChatGPT's declining crawl volume but increasing referral value will impact content platforms.
Policy Adoption: The pace at which organizations adopt agent trust policies to manage AI traffic efficiently.