How do I measure visitors who come from ChatGPT and other AI assistants?
Classify each visit by its referrer and its utm_source: a visit from chatgpt.com, claude.ai, gemini.google.com or perplexity.ai, or tagged utm_source=chatgpt.com, came from an AI assistant. Count them per page. Google Analytics does this in its AI Assistant channel; AI Overviews clicks arrive as Google search and are counted in Search Console instead.
Facts
- Google Analytics' default channel group has an AI Assistant channel for arrivals from sources like ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Copilot or Grok, excluding Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. (Google Analytics Help: Default channel group)
- Google counts visits from AI Overviews and AI Mode in the Search Console Performance report, under the Web search type. (Google Search Central: AI features and your website)
- OpenAI's ChatGPT-User agent fetches a page when a user's request needs it, separately from OAI-SearchBot, which builds ChatGPT search. (OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers)
- easyIndex counts visitors from AI assistants per page and AI crawler reads, and costs US$ 30 per website a month, with a 7-day free trial. (easyIndex)
How is a visit from an AI assistant recognised?
By two pieces of evidence on the first page view: the referrer host and the utm_source parameter.
| Assistant | Referrer host | Other evidence |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | chatgpt.com, chat.openai.com | utm_source=chatgpt.com |
| Claude | claude.ai | None documented |
| Gemini | gemini.google.com | None documented |
| Perplexity | perplexity.ai | None documented |
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | google.com, like any search | Search Console, Web search type |
How do I see it in Google Analytics?
Open the traffic acquisition report by session default channel group and look at the AI Assistant channel. To see the hosts yourself, filter session source with a regular expression like this one:
chatgpt\.com|openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|claude\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|meta\.ai|grok\.com|mistral\.ai|deepseek\.com
What will the numbers miss?
Referral counts are a floor, not the whole picture:
- Citations that were read and never clicked leave no visit
- Some assistant apps open links without a referrer, so the visit arrives as direct
- Clicks from AI Overviews look like any Google search click
- An assistant that reads your page live to answer leaves a crawler hit, not a visit
How does easyIndex measure AI traffic?
easyIndex's script records the path, the referrer and utm_source on each page's first view, without cookies, personal data or IP, and classifies the visit against its list of AI assistant domains, per page. Search engines are left out on purpose, because a referrer cannot tell an AI answer from a normal result; unclassified referrers are listed so a new assistant shows up. A small forwarder on your server adds AI crawler reads, including live fetches such as ChatGPT-User.
Step by step
- Install a tracking script. One that keeps the referrer and utm_source of the first page view, on every page.
- Classify by referrer and utm_source. Match the referrer host against the assistants' domains, and utm_source when the referrer is missing.
- Report per page. Which pages assistants send visitors to, not just a site total.
- Log AI crawler reads. Forward requests from bot user agents to see which pages assistants read and fetch live.
- Add Search Console. For Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, which arrive as search traffic.
- Review unknown referrers monthly. A new assistant appears there before any list includes it.
Common mistakes
- Counting Google search visits as AI traffic: a referrer cannot tell an AI Overview from a blue link.
- Stripping utm_source on redirect, which loses ChatGPT's tag when the referrer is empty.
- Reading only the site total, so you never learn which page assistants cite.
- Treating zero referral visits as zero citations.
How easyIndex solves it
easyIndex has your coding agent install its script and crawler forwarder over MCP, verifies both on the live site, and shows visitors from AI assistants per page and AI crawler reads on one dashboard, with a 7-day free trial.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see which question someone asked ChatGPT?
No. The referrer and utm_source say where the visitor came from, not what they asked.
Why do I see visits from chatgpt.com but none from Claude?
Each assistant links and shows sources differently, and some apps send no referrer, so counts differ by assistant.
Does this tracking need a cookie banner?
easyIndex's script sets no cookies and stores no personal data or IP; check your own legal requirements for your market.
Are AI crawler visits real visitors?
No. They are machines reading the page, counted apart from people; a live fetch shows an assistant used the page to answer someone.
Continue reading
- How does easyIndex work, what do I need, and how long until results?
- How much does easyIndex cost?
- How do I know if AI assistants cite my company?
- Which AI crawlers exist and how do I allow them in robots.txt?
- How do I get my company recommended by ChatGPT?
- How long does GEO take to show results?
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