How to track AI traffic in GA4: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude

To track AI traffic in Google Analytics 4, create a custom channel group with an “AI assistants” channel that matches session sources such as chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com and claude.ai, and place it above Referral. It takes about ten minutes and works on past data too.

AI assistants now send real visitors. Position Digital’s 2026 compilation of industry studies shows that AI referral traffic grew almost tenfold in 19 months, and that these visitors view about twice as many pages as the average visitor. But by default GA4 hides them inside “Referral” or “Direct”. This guide shows you how to pull them out into their own channel.

What you need

• Editor or Administrator access to the GA4 property.
• About ten minutes.
• The regular expression below, copied exactly.

The AI source regex

Copy this pattern. It matches the main AI assistants and their older domains:

.*(chatgpt\.com|chat\.openai\.com|openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|bard\.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|edgeservices\.bing\.com|claude\.ai|chat\.deepseek\.com|meta\.ai|you\.com|poe\.com).*

Each part in brackets is one source. The \. means a real dot, and the | means “or”. If a new assistant starts sending you traffic, add its domain inside the brackets in the same style.

Step 1: Create a new channel group

1. In GA4, click Admin (the gear icon, bottom left).
2. Under Data display, open Channel groups.
3. Click Create new channel group and name it something clear, such as “Channels with AI”.

GA4 copies the default channels into the new group, so you only need to add one channel.

Step 2: Add the AI channel

1. Click Add new channel and name it AI assistants.
2. Click Add condition group.
3. Choose the dimension Source (session source), the operator matches regex, and paste the regex.
4. Click Save channel.

Step 3: Move it above Referral

GA4 checks channels from top to bottom and assigns each session to the first match. If Referral sits above your new channel, ChatGPT visits will still be counted as Referral.

1. Click Reorder.
2. Drag AI assistants above Referral.
3. Click Apply, then Save group.

Step 4: Check that it works

1. Open Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
2. Click the dimension drop-down above the table (it says “Session default channel group”).
3. Choose your new group, Channels with AI.

You should now see AI assistants as its own row. If it shows zero but you know you have ChatGPT visits, the channel is probably below Referral. Go back to Step 3.

Step 5: See which AI tool sent each visit

To split the AI channel by tool, add a secondary dimension:

1. In the Traffic acquisition report, click the + next to the first column.
2. Choose Session source.

Now each row shows the channel and the exact source, such as chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai. To see which pages AI visitors land on, open Reports > Engagement > Landing page and add a filter for your AI channel.

Faster option: a free-form exploration

If you only want a quick look, skip the channel group:

1. Go to Explore and start a Free form exploration.
2. Add the dimensions Session source and Landing page, and the metrics Sessions, Engaged sessions and Key events.
3. Add a filter: Session source matches regex, then paste the same pattern.

This gives you the numbers in a minute, but the channel group is better for regular reporting.

How to read the data correctly

Treat the AI channel as a minimum, not the full picture. Real AI influence is larger, because many people read an AI answer and then search for your brand by name. Watch branded searches in Google Search Console alongside this channel.

What to do with the numbers

• Find your AI pages. The landing pages that AI tools send visitors to show which content AI trusts. Keep those pages accurate and updated.
• Compare quality. Check engagement rate and key events for the AI channel against organic search. In most accounts AI visitors are fewer but more engaged.
• Fill the gaps. If AI only sends visitors to one or two pages, use our AEO and GEO checklist to make more of your pages easy to cite.
• Report it monthly. Add the AI channel to your regular report so trends are visible over time.

Frequently asked questions

Can GA4 show traffic from Google AI Overviews or AI Mode?

Not separately. Clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode arrive from google.com and are counted as normal google / organic traffic. Use Google Search Console for Google’s own AI features.

Why does ChatGPT traffic sometimes show as Direct or Unassigned?

Links opened from apps, copied links and some privacy browsers send no referrer, so GA4 records them as Direct. ChatGPT also adds utm_source=chatgpt.com without a medium, which GA4 can file under Unassigned. The regex in this guide uses session source, so it catches those visits as long as the source is present.

Will a custom channel group change my existing reports?

No. Your default channel group and existing reports stay exactly the same. The new group is an extra view you can switch to, and it also works on past data, so you can see AI traffic from before you created it.

Which AI tools send the most traffic?

ChatGPT sends by far the most. Previsible’s 2026 data, compiled by Position Digital, puts ChatGPT at over 90% of AI referral traffic, with Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude sharing the rest.

How often should I update the AI regex?

Check it every few months. New AI assistants launch often, and existing ones sometimes change domains, such as chat.openai.com moving to chatgpt.com.

Sources

• Google Analytics Help: custom channel groups
• Position Digital: AI SEO statistics 2026 (Previsible and Similarweb referral data)
• Discovered Labs: tracking ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews traffic in GA4

New to analytics? Start with our guide to GA4 for SEO, then come back and add the AI channel.