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# How much traffic does ChatGPT send you? How to measure it in GA4 > GA4's AI Assistant channel misses part of your ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity visits. See where they go and how to build a channel group that counts them. URL: https://geosnap.ai/en/blog/traffico-da-chatgpt-come-misurarlo-google-analytics-4 Language: English Version IT: https://geosnap.ai/blog/traffico-da-chatgpt-come-misurarlo-google-analytics-4 Author: Rinald Sefa, CMO Geosnap · Category: Guides Publisher: Geosnap (Maind Group S.r.l.), https://geosnap.ai ## In short Since May 2026 Google Analytics 4 has an AI Assistant channel, but some visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude still land in Referral, Unassigned or Direct. A custom channel group based on source recovers almost all of them, including in past data. - According to a study of over 100,000 websites, AI assistants drive 0.32% of visits, but those visitors stay on site much longer. - GA4's AI Assistant channel is automatic, but it does not recognize every assistant and cannot be edited. - ChatGPT adds utm\_source=chatgpt.com without a medium, so part of its visits ends up in Unassigned. - A custom channel group with a regular expression on source captures AI traffic and also applies to past months. - AI app visits without a referrer land in Direct: inner pages with direct traffic spikes are a hint worth checking. Written by the Geosnap AI agent, reviewed and approved by Rinald Sefa. Translated from the Italian original. [Read the original](https://geosnap.ai/blog/traffico-da-chatgpt-come-misurarlo-google-analytics-4) Do you know how many visits ChatGPT sends you each month? Many companies don't, even after years of running Google Analytics 4. Since May 2026 GA4 has a channel dedicated to AI assistants, but on its own it is not enough: part of the traffic still lands in Referral, Unassigned or Direct. This guide covers how much AI traffic is worth today, what the new channel does, where visits get lost and how to build a channel group that catches them all in about ten minutes. ## How much traffic actually comes from AI assistants On average it is still small, but it is growing fast and it is worth more than the raw numbers suggest. An [SE Ranking study of 101,574 websites](https://seranking.com/blog/ai-traffic-research-study/), based on Google Analytics data from January 2025 to April 2026, estimates that in 2026 AI assistants generate 0.32% of all visits: roughly one visit in every 312. In 2024 the figure was 0.02%. The same study shows how that traffic splits: | Assistant | Share of AI traffic in 2026 | | --- | --- | | ChatGPT | 74.78% | | Gemini | 11.56% | | Perplexity | 7.23% | | Copilot | 3.51% | | Claude | 2.62% | For marketers, another figure matters more: according to SE Ranking, visitors referred by an AI assistant spend 68% more time on site than visitors from Google organic search (9 minutes 19 seconds versus 5 minutes 33 seconds). These people have already asked questions, compared options and clicked a specific source. The authors note that the results describe their sample and may not hold for every industry, which is why you should measure your own numbers rather than rely on averages. ## What GA4's new AI Assistant channel does The AI Assistant channel automatically separates chatbot visits from ordinary referral sites. Google added it to the default channel groups in May 2026, as [Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-analytics-adds-ai-assistant-as-default-channel-group/) reported, and it needs no setup. The rule is described in the [Google Analytics documentation](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9756891): when a visit's referrer is on a list of AI assistants, GA4 sets the medium to `ai-assistant` and the campaign to `(ai-assistant)`, and the session goes into the AI Assistant channel. Google gives ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot and Grok as examples, but does not publish the full list of recognized sites. To find it, open **Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition** and look at the "Session default channel group" dimension. If you see an AI Assistant row, the data is already there. Default groups cannot be edited, though: if an assistant is missing, you cannot add it yourself. ## Why the AI Assistant channel is not enough The default channel undercounts AI traffic, for three separate reasons. - **The same assistant lands in different channels.** GA4 assigns the channel from source and medium together. An [analysis by Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ga4s-ai-assistant-channel-undercounts-your-ai-traffic-how-to-build-one-that-doesnt/580133/) shows ChatGPT visits split across three rows: `chatgpt.com / ai-assistant` in the right channel, `chatgpt.com / referral` in Referral and `chatgpt.com / (not set)` in Unassigned. - **Some assistants are not recognized.** According to the same analysis, Perplexity and Claude end up in Referral instead of AI Assistant. - **Some visits carry no referrer.** Mobile apps, in-app browsers and copied-and-pasted links do not pass the referring address. Those visits land in Direct and no rule can recover them. The `(not set)` case has a precise cause. OpenAI confirms that [ChatGPT automatically adds the `utm_source=chatgpt.com` parameter](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq) to links to websites. The parameter sets the source but not the medium, and without a medium GA4 cannot decide which channel the session belongs to. ## How to build a channel group for all AI traffic The fix is a custom channel group that recognizes assistants from the source alone. You need administrator or editor access to the GA4 property. 1. Go to **Admin > Data display > Channel groups** and create a new group, for example "Channels with AI". GA4 creates it as a copy of the default one. 2. Add a channel called "AI" with the condition **Source** matches the regular expression below. 3. Move the AI channel above Referral, Organic Search and Unassigned: GA4 applies rules from top to bottom and stops at the first match. 4. Save, then pick the new group as the primary dimension in your acquisition reports. ``` .*(chatgpt\.com|openai\.com|perplexity|gemini\.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|claude\.ai|deepseek\.com|grok\.com).* ``` This expression covers the most used assistants. If you spot other AI sources in your reports, add them to the list inside the brackets, separated by `|`. According to Search Engine Journal, a custom channel group also applies to past data, so you can compare the last few months right away. ## Which numbers to watch once it is set up Visit counts are only the start: what matters is which pages attract AI traffic and what those visitors do next. These are the most useful checks: | What to check | Where in GA4 | What it tells you | | --- | --- | --- | | AI channel sessions by source | Traffic acquisition, with the new group | Which assistant cites you most | | Landing pages | Landing pages, filtered on the AI channel | Which content AI uses as a source | | Key events and conversion rate | Traffic acquisition, key events column | Whether AI traffic brings leads or sales | | Direct traffic on inner pages | Landing pages, filtered on Direct | A hint of AI visits without a referrer | Read the last check with care. People rarely type the address of a deep blog article by hand: if an inner page suddenly gets a lot of direct visits, an assistant may be citing it in its app. It is not proof, but it is a good reason to check how AI answers questions on that topic. For example, a travel agency might find that almost all of its AI traffic lands on a single guide and almost none on its package pages. That is exactly what you need to know to decide which pages to strengthen. The next step is to connect this data to what assistants say about your brand: with its [Google Analytics integration](https://geosnap.ai/en/blog/geosnap-integrazione-google-analytics) Geosnap puts AI citations and the traffic they generate side by side, and the [features](https://geosnap.ai/en/features) page covers source monitoring too. ## Sources - [[GA4] Default channel group](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9756891) (Google Analytics Help, 2026) - [Publishers and Developers - FAQ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq) (OpenAI, 2026) - [Google Analytics Adds AI Assistant As Default Channel Group](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-analytics-adds-ai-assistant-as-default-channel-group/) (Search Engine Journal, 2026-05-14) - [How To Track AI Traffic In GA4 Without Undercounting It](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ga4s-ai-assistant-channel-undercounts-your-ai-traffic-how-to-build-one-that-doesnt/580133/) (Search Engine Journal, 2026-07-15) - [AI traffic grew 16x from 2024 to 2026: Here are the top AI search engines driving visits to websites](https://seranking.com/blog/ai-traffic-research-study/) (SE Ranking, 2026-06-18) ## Frequently asked questions ### Why do I see chatgpt.com / (not set) in GA4? ChatGPT adds the utm\_source=chatgpt.com parameter to links but no medium. Without a medium GA4 cannot assign the session to a channel and puts it in Unassigned. A channel group based on source alone fixes this. ### Why don't Perplexity visits show up in the AI Assistant channel? Google does not publish the full list of recognized assistants and, according to an analysis by Search Engine Journal, Perplexity and Claude land in Referral. You can include them with a custom channel group. ### Does a custom channel group apply to past data? Yes, custom channel groups apply across the whole date range. You can see your AI traffic trend for recent months straight away. ### Why does some AI traffic end up in Direct? Mobile apps, in-app browsers and copied links do not pass a referrer. GA4 cannot tell where the visit came from and classifies it as Direct. No rule can recover it, but direct traffic spikes on inner pages are a useful hint.
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