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Use UTM tags to track AI chatbot-driven visits in GA4.
Segment AI traffic for deeper insights into user behavior and conversions.
AI bots often show as "Direct" traffic—proper tagging avoids misclassification.
AI-powered chat apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can drive traffic to websites through generated links. However, tracking this traffic in Google Analytics (GA4) can be challenging, as it may appear as unclear or mislabeled as ‘Direct’ traffic. Let's explore how to effectively track and analyze traffic from these AI-driven sources in GA4.
Here is how to find, group, and improve data to get a good idea of how much traffic these AI tools bring.
AI tools typically do not send referral headers, which makes them invisible in traditional analytics setups. As a result:
Most traffic appears under “Direct” (no referral info).
Source and medium statistics for a session may be missing or wrong.
Users miss the chance to learn how AI affects real user trips across the web.
Clear UTM settings should be added to any link to your site, whether it's in an AI bot, an email, a comment, or an embed.
This can be used for:
Demo replies
Tools that are shared
ChatGPT Add-ons
Citations for Gemini articles
In Admin > Custom Definitions, create dimensions like:
utm_source
utm_medium
utm_campaign
So, AI data can now be filtered in reports.
Open GA4
Go to Explore > Blank Report
Set a filter: Session source = chat gpt or gemini.google.com
Displayed next:
Time on site
Conversions
Pages viewed
Bounce rate for AI-specific traffic
Use AI referral UTM values to build audiences:
ChatGPT Visitors
Gemini AI Users
AI Traffic – All Sources
These can be retargeted in Google Ads or used to compare behavior with organic traffic.
Link naming is not possible with all AI systems. For straight travel that isn’t labeled, look for patterns:
A lot of people go straight to long URLs.
Referrals that go up for no reason after a link is mentioned in a forum, on Reddit, or an AI platform
Date and time stamps should match known AI link shares.
Use server logs to help GA find traffic trends that it might miss. Tools like Loggly or Matomo can help.
What to look for:
Referrer fields
IP ranges (some AI bots use known IPs)
Browser labels that don't match how people normally act
As AI tools become more common in research, it is important to track how they affect business performance. It is possible to gain insight into how platforms like ChatGPT or Gemini influence content strategy by using UTM parameters, creating custom GA4 reports and analyzing session trends.
Do not let AI-driven leads go unnoticed—enhance analytics today and start making data-driven decisions.
Also read: Google Gemini 2.0: What's New and How It Stacks Up to ChatGPT
