How to see ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude traffic in your analytics
In GA4, open Traffic acquisition and read the default AI Assistant channel. In any other tool, filter referrers for the assistants and utm_source for tags such as chatgpt.com. Either way, treat the number as a minimum: some assistants open links without a referrer, so part of their visits lands in Direct.
By Adrien Pennetier, maker of Globatics. Globatics appears near the end, so this page is not an independent review. Google facts checked on Google's help pages on 1 November 2026.
Which signals do AI assistants leave?
Two: a referrer, when the assistant sends one, and a UTM tag, when it adds one. Neither is guaranteed.
How do you see AI traffic in GA4?
Use the default channel first. Google now lists an AI Assistant channel in its default channel group, for visitors from sources like ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Copilot or Grok. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode are not in it: they count under Organic Search.
If you need your own grouping, create a custom channel group:
- Go to Admin, then under Data display choose Channel groups. You need Editor access or higher.
- Add a channel with a source condition that matches the assistants you care about.
- Test the rule on your own referrers before trusting it.
A standard property can hold 2 custom channel groups and a 360 property can hold 5, in addition to the predefined group. Google says they "can be applied to your reports retroactively."
A starting pattern, to adapt to the hostnames you really see:
chatgpt\.com|perplexity\.ai|claude\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|copilot\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com
Where do Google's AI answers show up?
In Search Console, not in the AI Assistant channel. Google says sites in AI features are "included in the overall search traffic in Search Console", within the Web search type. Its Generative AI performance report shows impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, device and country. Google says it rolled out to "all websites worldwide" as of 31 August 2026, and that the report can be missing when a site has too few impressions in these features.
Why does some AI traffic show up as Direct?
Because a visit with no referrer and no tag looks like someone typing your address. Some assistants open links without a referrer. We found no vendor statement that says how often.
Globatics' own AI report carries this warning: since October 2026 some assistants open links without a referrer or UTM tags, "unconfirmed by the vendors".
A dip in AI traffic can therefore be a tagging change, not a real drop. Compare it with Direct on the same pages before you draw a conclusion.
Can UTM tags help?
Only when the assistant adds them. You don't control the links an assistant writes, so you can't tag them yourself. What you can do is keep query strings working, so a tag such as utm_source=chatgpt.com isn't lost in a redirect. Then filter for it in your reports.
Can you estimate the hidden part?
Roughly. Look at Direct sessions that land on deep pages, the kind nobody types by hand, and that AI assistants also send visitors to. This is an upper bound, not a measurement. Globatics' AI report shows this estimate and labels it as one.
What does a dedicated AI channel show?
We make Globatics, so read this as a vendor description. It detects assistants "by referrer and UTM" and gives them their own report, separate from Referrals. You see visitors per assistant, the pages they land on, and how they behave compared with other visitors. That report, available from Starter, also shows revenue per assistant. The full Revenue report, from Pro, breaks revenue down by channel, page, country and AI assistant.
GA4 now does the basic job for free, so you may not need another tool for this alone. Globatics fits if you also want each visit on a live globe, without cookies by default. It has no free plan: you get a 5-day trial with no card, then plans from €9 a month excluding VAT.
What can no tool measure?
- Answers that mention you when nobody clicks.
- Visits that arrive with no referrer and no tag, one by one.
- What people asked the assistant. No referrer carries the prompt.
To see whether assistants mention you, ask them the questions your customers ask and note the sources they cite. It is slow and it is a sample, but analytics cannot show it.
Questions people ask
Does GA4 track ChatGPT traffic automatically? Yes, through the default AI Assistant channel, when the visit carries a signal GA4 can match.
Why is my ChatGPT traffic in Referral? Check which channel group the report uses. Google's default list now has an AI Assistant channel, but a custom group follows its own rules.
Is Google AI Mode in the AI Assistant channel? No. Google puts AI Overviews and AI Mode under Organic Search.
Do AI crawlers count as visitors? They should not. A bot fetching a page is different from a person clicking a link. Check how your tool filters bots.
How this page was checked
We read Google's help pages on 1 November 2026. Found an error? Write through the contact details on our legal notice page. Changelog: 1 November 2026, first version.
Sources: GA4 default channel group · GA4 custom channel groups · AI features in Search · Generative AI performance report · Globatics plans.