Measuring Traffic From AI Search in Analytics
AI referrals are trackable if you know where to look, and most sites are not looking.
AEO & AI Search
Where it shows up
Perplexity, Copilot, and some ChatGPT browsing sessions send identifiable referral traffic. It appears in your referral report under those domains. Volume is usually small but growing and often unusually high-intent.
Setting up tracking
Create a segment or channel group for AI referral sources. Track sessions, conversion rate, and revenue separately. AI-referred visitors frequently convert at higher rates because they arrive pre-qualified by the assistant's recommendation.
What you cannot measure
Citations without clicks. If a model recommends you and the user acts on it later through a branded search, attribution breaks entirely. Watch branded search volume as a proxy signal alongside direct referral data.
Key takeaways
- Perplexity and Copilot send identifiable referral traffic
- AI-referred visitors often convert at above-average rates
- Create a dedicated channel group to track them separately
- Watch branded search volume as a proxy for uncredited citations
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