How to Track ChatGPT Traffic with UTM Parameters

ChatGPT sent 243 million visits to websites in a single month in 2025, and that number continues to grow. If your business appears in ChatGPT recommendations, some of those users click through to your website. The good news: ChatGPT automatically adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to most outbound links, making this traffic trackable. The challenge: not all AI platforms add UTM parameters, mobile app traffic often appears as direct, and without proper GA4 configuration, you are likely missing AI referral data entirely. This guide walks through exactly how to set up AI traffic tracking in Google Analytics 4. For the full picture of how ChatGPT finds businesses, see how ChatGPT finds local businesses (/blog/how-chatgpt-finds-local-businesses).

What Does utm_source=chatgpt.com Mean in Your Analytics?

When you see utm_source=chatgpt.com in your analytics, it means someone used ChatGPT, the AI recommended or cited your website, and the user clicked through. ChatGPT appends this UTM parameter automatically to citation links in ChatGPT Search results. This started broadly in June 2025 when OpenAI expanded UTM tracking to links in the More section of search results. Previously, much of this traffic appeared as direct visits with no source attribution.

The parameter appears in two main scenarios: ChatGPT Search (when users search the web through ChatGPT) and ChatGPT with browsing (when GPT-4 browses the web during a conversation). This traffic is valuable. ChatGPT referral traffic converts at 15.9 percent compared to just 1.76 percent for Google organic search, according to industry data. Users who arrive from AI recommendations have higher intent because the AI has already pre-qualified the recommendation.

How Do You Set Up AI Traffic Tracking in GA4?

The most reliable way to track AI traffic in GA4 is to create a custom channel group. This method applies retroactively to historical data and catches all AI referral sources in one view.

Step 1: In GA4, go to Admin → Data display → Channel groups.

Step 2: Click Create new channel group.

Step 3: Add a new channel named AI Traffic.

Step 4: Set the Source condition to Matches regex with this pattern:

```regex

^.*(chatgpt.com|openai.com|perplexity.ai|gemini.google.com|copilot.microsoft.com|claude.ai|anthropic.com)

```

Step 5: Save the channel and drag it above Referral in the channel list. The order matters because GA4 assigns traffic to the first matching channel. If AI Traffic is below Referral, AI visits get classified as generic referrals instead.

Step 6: Use this custom channel group in your Traffic acquisition reports to see AI traffic as its own category alongside Organic Search, Direct, Social, and other channels.

Why Does Some AI Traffic Show Up as Direct?

Not all AI traffic is trackable. Several scenarios cause AI referral visits to appear as direct or unassigned traffic.

Mobile app traffic: When users click links in the ChatGPT mobile app, the referrer header is often stripped, so the visit appears as direct.

Free-tier limitations: Free ChatGPT users may not always generate utm_source parameters on outbound links.

Noreferrer links: Some AI platforms open links with rel=noreferrer, which explicitly removes the referral source.

Perplexity and Gemini: Unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google Gemini do not consistently add UTM parameters to outbound links. Most Perplexity traffic appears as referral from perplexity.ai without UTM tags.

This means your actual AI traffic is likely higher than what GA4 reports. The custom channel group regex pattern catches most sources, but some percentage will always be miscategorized as direct.

How Do You Track Traffic from Other AI Platforms?

Each AI platform handles referral attribution differently.

Perplexity: Traffic appears as referral from perplexity.ai without UTM parameters. Your custom channel group regex catches this. Perplexity's citations link directly to source pages, so the traffic is genuine referral.

Google AI Overviews: These appear as regular Google organic traffic in GA4 because the user is still on google.com. Distinguishing AI Overview clicks from regular organic clicks requires Google Search Console data where you can filter by search appearance.

Copilot: Microsoft Copilot traffic may appear as referral from copilot.microsoft.com or bing.com. The custom channel group catches the Copilot domain.

Claude: Anthropic's Claude web search citations appear as referral from claude.ai. Volume is currently smaller than ChatGPT but growing.

The custom channel group regex pattern provided earlier covers all major AI platforms in a single configuration.

What Should You Do with AI Traffic Data?

Once you are tracking AI traffic, use the data strategically.

Identify your AI-recommended pages: Which pages receive the most AI referral traffic? These are the pages AI platforms are already citing. Double down on keeping this content accurate and up to date.

Compare conversion rates: AI referral traffic typically converts at much higher rates than organic search. If your AI traffic converts well, investing in AI visibility (GEO) has direct revenue impact.

Track trends over time: Is your AI traffic growing month over month? Growth indicates improving AI visibility. Declining traffic might signal that your data sources have become outdated or that competitors have improved their data.

Optimize high-potential pages: Pages that get some AI traffic but not a lot are optimization targets. Improve their structured data, update content for accuracy, and ensure directory listings link to these pages.

For a comprehensive view of how AI platforms see your business, SurfaceLocal's free audit checks your presence across the data sources AI actually uses. Learn more about improving AI visibility (/blog/ai-visibility-local-businesses).