How do I see AI traffic in GA4?
Short answer: Filter session source for chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot, or build a custom channel group; GA4 has no built-in AI channel.
GA4 does not have a built-in "AI assistants" channel, so you create one. Visits from assistants arrive as referrals with the assistant's domain as the session source, which means a simple filter or custom channel group does the job.
The sources to include:
chatgpt.comandchat.openai.comperplexity.aigemini.google.comcopilot.microsoft.comandbing.comwith Copilot pathsclaude.ai
The quickest view: open Reports, Acquisition, Traffic acquisition, change the dimension to Session source, and filter with a regular expression:
chatgpt\.com|openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|claude\.ai
For something permanent, create a custom channel group (Admin, Data display, Channel groups) with a channel called "AI assistants" using the same regex on Session source, and place it above Referral so it takes precedence.
Three caveats before you draw conclusions:
- Undercounting is normal. Some assistant clicks arrive without a referrer and land in Direct. Treat the figure as a floor.
- Google AI Overviews do not appear as a separate source. Clicks from overviews are reported as google / organic, indistinguishable from classic search.
- Volumes are small but valuable. A few dozen sessions a month from an assistant often convert better than hundreds from a broad search term, because the visitor arrived already recommended.
Seoptist's GA4 integration, included on Growth and above, builds this segment for you and shows AI referral sessions alongside your visibility and share of voice, so you can see whether being mentioned more actually turns into visits.