Key facts
- Most AI tools pass a referrer when people click a cited link.
- Some visits arrive with no referrer and show as Direct.
- A custom channel group keeps AI visits separate from other referrals.
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode clicks appear as Google organic search.
Set it up
- 1In GA4, go to Admin, then Data display, then Channel groups, and create a new channel group.
- 2Add a channel called AI assistants.
- 3Set the condition: Source matches regex, using the pattern below.
- 4Move the AI assistants channel above Referral, so it is matched first.
- 5Save, then use the new channel group in your Traffic acquisition report.
Pattern: ^(.*\.)?(chatgpt\.com|openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|claude\.ai|copilot\.microsoft\.com|chat\.deepseek\.com|grok\.com|meta\.ai)$
What to report
- Sessions from AI assistants, by source, each week.
- Engagement rate and conversions compared with other channels.
- The landing pages AI sends people to, which shows the pages AI cites.
Limits to know
- Visits from apps and some browsers may arrive without a referrer and land in Direct.
- Many people see your name in an answer and come back later by searching for you, which GA4 counts elsewhere.
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode cannot be separated from Google organic in GA4.
Put this into practice with Variask AI traffic and crawlers and Variask AI visibility. See Variask pricing or read the Variask FAQ.