Short answer: Open GA4's Traffic acquisition report and filter to the AI Assistant channel, which Google added in May 2026 for visits from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot. Add a custom channel group as a backup for assistants GA4 doesn't recognize. Google's own AI Overviews and AI Mode aren't in that channel — they count as Organic Search, so check Search Console for those.
Key takeaways
- GA4's built-in AI Assistant channel groups visits from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot, and Grok, and sets the medium to ai-assistant.
- Google's own AI Overviews and AI Mode are excluded from that channel. They count as Organic Search in GA4 and are mixed into Search Console's Web totals.
- Some AI visits arrive with no referrer and land in Direct, so GA4 undercounts AI traffic. Treat its numbers as a minimum.
- A custom channel group with a source regex catches assistants GA4 doesn't recognize, including newer and smaller ones.
- Traffic is only half the picture: many AI answers mention you without sending a click, so pair GA4 with an AI visibility tracker.
What does GA4 count as AI traffic?
GA4 counts a visit as AI traffic when it comes from an AI assistant on its list. Google describes the AI Assistant channel as “the channel by which users arrive at your site from sources like ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Copilot, or Grok.” When the referrer matches, GA4 sets the session medium to ai-assistant and the campaign to (ai-assistant).
The channel arrived in May 2026 and rolled out gradually, so some properties may not show it yet. Before it existed, AI visits landed mostly in Referral.
Two things are not counted as AI Assistant traffic: clicks from Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, which count as Organic Search, and AI visits that arrive without a referrer, which count as Direct.
How to see AI traffic in GA4, step by step
Seeing your AI traffic takes five steps.
- Open Traffic acquisition. Go to Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition. Result: sessions by channel.
- Find the AI Assistant row. Make sure the primary dimension is Session default channel group. If there's no AI Assistant row, either the rollout hasn't reached your property or you had no AI visits in the date range. Result: total AI sessions.
- Add Session source. Add it as a secondary dimension to see which assistant sent each visit, such as chatgpt.com or gemini.google.com. Result: AI traffic by tool.
- Check landing pages. Open the Landing page report and filter for Session default channel group equals AI Assistant. Result: the pages AI assistants send people to.
- Compare conversions. Mark your important actions as key events and compare the AI Assistant channel's key event rate with your other channels. Result: whether AI traffic is worth more or less than the rest.
How to build a custom AI channel group
A custom channel group catches AI tools GA4 doesn't recognize and gives you a channel you control. It takes four steps.
- Copy the default group. Go to Admin, then Data display, then Channel groups, and create a new group based on the default one.
- Add an AI channel. Name it “AI (custom)” and set the condition to Session source matches regex, using the expression below.
- Move it above Referral. GA4 assigns each session to the first channel it matches, so AI has to come before Referral.
- Save and report on it. Choose the new group as the primary dimension in Traffic acquisition.
A starting regex, to extend as new assistants appear:
Check Google's own documentation for how a new channel group applies to the data you already have before you rely on it for past months.
Which AI referrers should you track?
The table below lists the main AI assistants and how they usually appear in GA4. Source values vary, so confirm them in your own Session source report.
Source: Google Analytics Help: Default channel groups. Google introduces its list with “sources like,” so assistants it doesn't name may still be recognized — a custom channel group covers them either way.
What GA4 misses
GA4 undercounts AI traffic in four ways.
- Google's own AI features. Clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode count as Organic Search, not AI Assistant.
- Visits with no referrer. AI apps and desktop clients often pass no referrer, and GA4 counts sessions with no referral information as Direct.
- Links that carry a source but no medium. ChatGPT appends utm_source=chatgpt.com to links it shares. Open your Session source / medium report and check where those chatgpt.com sessions actually land in your property before you trust a single channel total.
- Mentions without clicks. Many AI answers name your brand and answer the question in full, so nobody clicks. Analytics never sees those mentions at all.
How to track Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
You can't separate them cleanly. In GA4, their clicks count as Organic Search. In Search Console, Google has said that “Data from AI Mode is now counting towards the totals in the Search Console Performance report,” inside the Web search type, with no filter to isolate it.
The practical approach has two halves. In Search Console, watch the pages and queries most likely to trigger an AI answer — “how,” “what,” and “best” questions — and track their impressions and clicks over time. Alongside that, use an AI visibility tracker that covers AI Overviews and AI Mode to see whether you're actually cited in those answers.
Which AI traffic reports should you build?
Five reports cover what most teams need.
For the visibility side of reporting — mentions, citations, and share of voice — see AI Share of Voice.
How to connect AI traffic to AI citations in Eclincher
GA4 shows who clicked. Eclincher AI Visibility shows which prompts mention you and which of your pages AI engines cite, including answers that send no click at all. There's no GA4 integration — you read the two side by side, in five steps.
- Track your key prompts. Add the questions buyers ask to AI Visibility, along with your competitors. Result: mentions, citations, and share of voice by engine.
- List your cited pages. Open each prompt's sources to see which of your pages are cited. Result: the pages AI engines trust.
- Match them in GA4. Compare those cited pages with your AI Assistant landing pages. Result: which citations send traffic and which don't.
- Act on the gaps. If a page gets AI traffic but isn't cited for your tracked prompts, add those prompts. If competitors are cited instead of you, work Prompt Gaps by opportunity score. Result: a clear next step per page.
- Report both monthly. Pair AI sessions and key events from GA4 with mentions and share of voice from AI Visibility. Result: a complete AI performance report.
AI Visibility Standard costs $249/month, billed monthly, with a 14-day free trial. It tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini with 100 unique prompts, 3,000 responses a month, and up to 5 competitors. Enterprise tracks all 11 engines, with 300 prompts, 9,000 responses a month, up to 10 competitors, 3 personas, and SSO.
FAQ
How do I track ChatGPT traffic in Google Analytics 4?
Open Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, and look for the AI Assistant channel, which GA4 added in May 2026. Add Session source as a secondary dimension to see ChatGPT separately, and build a custom channel group as a backup.
What is the AI Assistant channel in GA4?
It's a default channel that groups visits from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot, and Grok. GA4 sets the medium to ai-assistant when the referrer matches its list. Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are not included.
Why does some ChatGPT traffic show as Direct?
Visits from AI apps and desktop clients often arrive without a referrer, and GA4 counts sessions with no referral information as Direct. That means GA4 undercounts AI traffic, so treat its numbers as a minimum.
Can I track Google AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic?
Not separately. GA4 counts clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode as Organic Search, and Search Console includes AI Mode data in its Web totals without a filter. An AI visibility tracker shows whether you're cited there.
How do I track Perplexity traffic in GA4?
Look for perplexity.ai in the Session source report. Google doesn't name Perplexity among the examples in its AI Assistant description, so add it to a custom AI channel group to make sure it's counted with your other AI traffic.
Does AI traffic convert better than other traffic?
It depends on your site. Mark your important actions as key events in GA4 and compare the AI Assistant channel's key event rate with Organic Search and Referral over the same period.
Why do AI tools mention my brand but send little traffic?
Many AI answers fully answer the question, so users don't click. Analytics can't see those mentions. Track them with an AI visibility tool alongside your GA4 reports.
Conclusion
GA4's AI Assistant channel makes AI traffic easy to see, but it misses Google's own AI features, referrer-less visits, and mentions that never become clicks. Use the built-in channel, add a custom channel group as a backup, check Search Console for Google AI, and pair your traffic data with AI visibility tracking. Run a free AI visibility audit or start a 14-day free trial of Eclincher.
Related reading
Sources: Google Analytics Help: Default channel groups · Google Analytics Help: Traffic sources · OpenAI: publisher and developer documentation · Search Engine Journal: AI Mode in Search Console (June 2025)
