- Category
- AI search
- Level
- Intermediate
- Found in
- Analytics referral reports
- Common sources
- chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com, claude.ai
- Check it free
- AI Visibility Check
What is AI referral traffic?
When someone clicks a cited link in an AI answer, their browser usually tells your site where they came from. In Google Analytics 4 these visits appear as referrals from the assistant's domain.
Some AI traffic isn't labeled that way. Desktop and mobile apps sometimes don't pass a referrer, so those visits show as direct traffic.
How to track it
- In GA4, open Traffic acquisition and filter the session source for AI domains.
- Better, create a custom channel group called "AI assistants" matching those domains, so the traffic is reported on its own.
- Track conversions from the channel, not only visits.
Why it matters
AI referral visits often come from people who asked a specific question and were pointed to you as an answer, which can make them highly qualified. Watching this channel grow is one of the clearest signs AEO work is paying off.