What is AI traffic in GA4?

AI traffic in GA4 refers to user interactions initiated or influenced by AI-driven applications or systems.

These applications or systems could be chatbots, virtual assistants, automated testing tools, or any software that uses AI to interact with web pages, apps, or services.

For example, if a user accesses your website by clicking a link generated by Perplexity AI in a normal browsing session, this would be considered AI traffic.

Why understanding and analyzing AI traffic is crucial?

1. You can personalise users’ experiences by analysing AI’s impact on user preferences.
2. You can improve user journeys by identifying issues and trends in AI interactions.
3. Target ads more effectively with insights from AI-driven traffic data.
4. Assess and enhance AI’s effectiveness in attracting engaged visitors.
5. Anticipate trends to innovate and stay competitive in evolving markets.

By harnessing the power of AI traffic analysis, businesses can unlock a deeper understanding of their users, optimize their offerings, and make data-driven decisions for a thriving online presence.

Overview of AI traffic analysis reports in GA4

To conduct AI traffic analysis in GA4, we will create a new exploration report from scratch. This new report would have nine tabs. 

Each tab would display one sub-report, which measures the performance of your AI traffic.

Following are the nine sub-reports we would create in our exploration report:

#1 Overview – This report provides an overview of each AI traffic source:

#2 Landing Pages – Use this report to measure the performance of landing pages from AI traffic:

#3 Devices – Use this report to measure the performance of different devices (desktop, mobile, smart TV, tablet) which sent AI traffic to your website:

#4 Browsers – Use this report to measure the performance of different web browsers which sent AI traffic to your website:

#5 Countries – Use this report to determine the countries which sent AI traffic to your website:

#6 Conversions – Use this report to determine all the conversions generated by AI traffic on your website:

#7 ECommerce – Use this report to measure the ecommerce performance of AI traffic to your website:

#8 User Flow – Use this report to determine how the AI traffic is using your website:

#9 Funnel – Use this report to determine how AI traffic is converting on your website:

How to create the AI traffic reports in GA4

Follow the steps below to create the AI traffic tracking report in GA4:

Step-1: Login to your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on Explore from the left-hand side menu:

Step-3: Scroll down and navigate to the report named ‘Organic Search Traffic Analysis‘:

Note: If you do not already have this report, then stop reading this article for now and create this report first. We will use this report as a template to create a new report. Follow the instructions in this article: Organic Search Traffic Analysis in GA4 – Complete Guide.

Step-4: Click on the three dots menu next to the ‘Organic Search Traffic Analysis’ report and then click on the ‘Duplicate‘ option from the drop-down menu:

Step-5: Click on ‘Copy of [Organic Search Traffic Analysis]‘ to open the report:

Step-6: Rename the report to [Advanced AI Traffic Analysis]:

Step-7: Hover your mouse over the ‘Organic Search‘ segment and then click on the three dots menu next to it:

Step-8: Click on the ‘Delete‘ option from the drop-down menu:

Step-9: Click on the ‘Remove Segment‘ button:

Step-10: Click on the + button next to SEGMENTS to add a new segment:

Step-11: Click on ‘Event Segment’:

Step-12: Define your segment like the one below and then click on the ‘Save and Apply’ button:

Segment Name: AI Traffic

Include events when: Page referrer matches regex .*\.ai.*|.*\.openai.*

You should now see your new segment listed under the ‘SEGMENTS’ column:

Step-13: Make sure that you are looking at the report under the ‘Overview’ tab:

Step-14: Hover your mouse over the dimension ‘First user source / medium‘ and then click on the cross button next to it to delete it from the canvas on the right:

You should now see a screen like the one below:

Step-15: Import the dimension ‘Page referrer’ to the report:

Step-16: Double-click on the dimension ‘Page referrer’ so that it is automatically added to the canvas on the right:

The AI traffic overview report would look like the one below:

Step-17: Click on the ‘Landing page’ tab:

Step-18: Hover your mouse over the ‘AI Traffic’ segment to display the three dots menu:

Step-19: Click on the ‘Apply’ button from the drop-down menu:

You should now see the ‘Landing Pages’ report for the AI traffic like the one below:

Step-20: Click on the remaining 7 tabs of your exploration report one by one and then apply the ‘AI traffic’ segment to them as described earlier.

That’s how you can create various reports to track AI traffic in GA4.