Track Your AI Traffic With GA4 AI Referral Traffic Report Builder

With AI platforms rapidly transforming the digital landscape, tracking traffic from these sources is no longer optional — it’s essential. Staying ahead of the curve requires clear visibility into which AI platforms are driving visitors to your site. Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up a dedicated channel for AI platform traffic and unlock valuable insights into your site’s growing AI-driven audience.

Create AI Platforms Channel

STEP 1: In GA4, click on the Admin wheel at the bottom left and then click on Channel Groups under Data Display.

STEP 2: Click Create New Channel Group to create a new group.

STEP 3: Click Add New Channel and name it something like “AI Platforms”.

STEP 4: Click + Add Condition Group, select Source, click + Add a Condition, select matches regex and enter this into the box, then click Apply.

^.*ai|.*\.openai.*|.*copilot.*|.*chatgpt.*|.*gemini.*|.*gpt.*|.*neeva.*|.*writesonic.*| .*nimble.*|.*outrider.*|.*perplexity.*|.*google.*bard.*|.*bard.*google.*|.*bard.*|.*e dgeservices.*|.*astastic.*|.*copy.ai.*|.*bnngpt.*|.*gemini.*google.*$

*Note: This is not an exhaustive list - feel free to add others.

STEP 5: Click Save Channel at the top right.

*Note: To ensure accurate reporting, we need to reorder our channel list so that the new AI Platforms traffic is correctly classified. Since GA4 assigns traffic to channels in a top-to-bottom order, moving the AI Platforms channel higher in the list will ensure this traffic is captured in the correct channel first.

STEP 6: Click Reorder (next to the Add New Channel button).

STEP 7: Scroll to the bottom, then use the “rectangle dots” to the left of the AI Platforms channel to drag it above the Referral channel.

STEP 8: Click Apply, then click Save Group (at the top right).

You can now access any of your Acquisition reports, click the dropdown arrow to view the list of dimensions, and see your custom channel group included in the available dimension options.

STEP 9: Change the dimension to your custom channel, and you should see if you already have website traffic from AI Platforms.

The numbers may be small now, but the trend line tells a different story — this is just the beginning. AI is poised to become a significant source of traffic, and it's never too early to start tracking it!

GA4 Explore Report

Another method for tracking traffic from AI tools in GA4 is by leveraging a regex formula to analyze traffic source data within an Explore report. Here’s how to do it:

STEP 1: Create a new Exploration report and name it something like “AI Platform Insights”

STEP 2: Set the dimensions to Session source/medium, select Confirm. Set Sessions or Views as the primary metric.

○ For deeper insights, consider adding Engaged sessions and Key events to the metrics field.

STEP 3: In the Segments section, create a new session segment. Name it something to reflect AI or LLM traffic like “AI Traffic,” and apply the following regex as a filter on the Session source > Matches Regex and click Apply.

^.*ai|.*\.openai.*|.*copilot.*|.*chatgpt.*|.*gemini.*|.*gpt.*|.*neeva.*|.*writesonic.*| .*nimble.*|.*outrider.*|.*perplexity.*|.*google.*bard.*|.*bard.*google.*|.*bard.*|.*e dgeservices.*|.*astastic.*|.*copy.ai.*|.*bnngpt.*|.*gemini.*google.*$

STEP 4: Under Settings, select Session Source/Medium as the dimension under Rows. Add Sessions in the Values section.

○ You can choose either the Table or Line Visualization depending on personal preferences.

*Note: Be sure to monitor your traffic sources regularly and update your regex patterns as new AI traffic sources emerge.

As AI tools like ChatGPT continue to influence how users interact with websites, tracking this traffic has become essential for businesses seeking deeper insights into their audience. By setting up Google Analytics 4 to monitor AI referral traffic, you can gain a clearer understanding of how these tools drive engagement and conversions on your site.

Following the steps outlined — creating custom dimensions, using UTM parameters, and building tailored reports will equip you to analyze this emerging traffic source with precision. Remember to periodically review and refine your tracking settings as AI tools evolve to ensure accuracy.