FootnotelyHow to see ChatGPT and other AI traffic in Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 now has a built-in channel for visits from AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini. Here's where to find it, how to catch the assistants it doesn't name, and why the number you see will always be lower than the real one.
Updated October 20, 2026 · By the Footnotely team
The short answer
In GA4, open Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition and look for the AI Assistant row in the default channel group. Google describes it as visits "from sources like ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Copilot, or Grok" (Google's channel definitions). To see which assistant sent each visit, change the table's dimension to Session source.
Two things that page doesn't include: clicks from Google's own AI Overviews and AI Mode, which Google counts as Organic Search, and any assistant that isn't on Google's internal list. Both are covered below.
How GA4 decides a visit came from an AI assistant
Per Google's definition, when the referrer matches its list of AI assistants, GA4 sets the medium to ai-assistant and the campaign to (ai-assistant), and the visit lands in the AI Assistant channel. You don't need to set anything up. Google only names the examples above; when we checked, its downloadable spreadsheet of channel sources didn't include the AI assistants.
ChatGPT also tags its own links. OpenAI's publisher FAQ says: "ChatGPT automatically includes the UTM parameter utm_source=chatgpt.com in referral URLs." So ChatGPT visits usually show up with the source chatgpt.com.
| Where the visit came from | Where it shows up in GA4 |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek, Grok | AI Assistant channel (named in Google's definition) |
| Perplexity, Claude and other assistants | Not named by Google. Check whether they appear under AI Assistant or Referral in your own property |
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Organic Search, mixed in with regular Google results |
| Any AI link opened with no referrer and no tag | Direct |
Catch the assistants Google doesn't name
Look at Traffic acquisition with Session source / medium as the dimension and search the table for perplexity or claude. If they sit under Referral, you can group them yourself with a custom channel group. Google walks through an AI example in its custom channel groups help page. The short version:
- Go to Admin → Data display → Channel groups and click Create new channel group. It starts as a copy of the default group.
- Click Add new channel and name it something like "AI assistants (all)".
- Add a condition: Default channel group exactly matches
AI Assistant. Then add a second condition group (OR): Source matches regex:
.*(chatgpt|openai|perplexity|claude|copilot|gemini|deepseek).*
- Click Reorder and drag your new channel above Referral. GA4 puts each visit in the first channel it matches, so order matters.
- Save, then pick your new group as the dimension in Traffic acquisition.
Why the .* at each end: GA4 regex is full match by default, so without it the rule would only match a source that is exactly one of those words (Google's regex notes). Check the rows it catches once: a short word like "gemini" could also match an unrelated site's name.
Standard GA4 properties can have 2 custom channel groups besides the default one, per Google's help page.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google says sites shown in AI Overviews and AI Mode "are included in the overall search traffic in Search Console" and reported "within the 'Web' search type" (AI features and your website). In GA4 they land in Organic Search. There's no separate AI channel for them in either tool, so you can't pull those clicks out on their own.
Why your AI number will be too low
- Missing referrers. A link pasted into Slack or email, opened in some apps, or opened with the referrer stripped arrives with no source. GA4 counts it as Direct.
- Tags can change. In October 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported that ChatGPT links briefly arrived with no UTM tag and no referrer, so those visits showed as Direct. The analyst who spotted it later said it was a bug and the tags came back. If your AI traffic suddenly drops while Direct rises on the same pages, this is the first thing to check.
- Mentions without clicks. The biggest gap: when ChatGPT recommends you and the person just remembers your name, nothing reaches your analytics at all. Analytics measures clicks, not mentions.
A second signal: your server logs
Your hosting or CDN logs can show ChatGPT-User and Perplexity-User requests. OpenAI says ChatGPT "may visit a web page with a ChatGPT-User agent" when a user asks a question (OpenAI's crawler docs), and Perplexity describes Perplexity-User the same way (Perplexity's crawler docs). These aren't visitors, but they show which pages assistants read while answering. If you see none at all, make sure those bots aren't blocked: the free AI crawler checker tests robots.txt and live access in one go.
What to do with the numbers
- Look at which landing pages get AI Assistant visits. Those are the pages assistants already cite; keep their facts and prices current.
- Compare key events (signups, trials) for the AI channel against your other channels instead of judging it on visits alone.
- For the mentions that never turn into clicks, ask the questions your buyers ask and count how often you're named. Our guide on checking if ChatGPT mentions your brand shows a free way to do it.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help: Default channel group
- Google Analytics Help: Custom channel groups
- Google Analytics Help: About regular expressions
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- OpenAI Help Center: Publishers and Developers FAQ
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers
- Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers
- Search Engine Roundtable: OpenAI drops UTM parameters from ChatGPT results (Oct 14, 2026, updated as a bug)
Checked October 20, 2026. Menu names in GA4 change from time to time; the linked help pages have the current steps.
FAQ
Why does some ChatGPT traffic show up as Direct?
If a visit arrives with no referrer and no UTM tag, GA4 has nothing to go on and files it as Direct. That happens with links copied into another app, some in-app browsers, and any time a link is opened without passing a referrer.
Does utm_source=chatgpt.com prove the visit came from ChatGPT?
OpenAI says ChatGPT adds it to links from ChatGPT search results. It's a strong hint, but a tagged link copied and shared elsewhere keeps the tag, so treat it as very likely rather than certain.
Can I see clicks from Google AI Overviews or AI Mode separately?
Not in GA4's default channels. Google puts them in Organic Search, and Search Console counts them in the Performance report under the Web search type, together with regular results.
Will a custom channel group fix my past reports?
Google's docs say custom channel groups can be applied to your reports retroactively, so you can build one today and look back at earlier weeks.
Does a visit from ChatGPT-User in my server logs count as a visitor?
No. ChatGPT-User and Perplexity-User are fetches the assistant makes while answering someone's question. They're a useful sign your page is being read, but they aren't people on your site, and GA4 doesn't record them.
Track it every week instead of checking by hand
Footnotely asks your buyer questions on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini several times per run and shows the mention rate with its sample size, the raw answers, and who gets named instead of you. Free plan, then from $29/mo.