Here is how you can create AI Traffic Channel group in GA4.

Author

Himanshu Sharma
November 07, 2024

Here is how you can create an AI Traffic Channel group in GA4. 👇

Since AI chatbots are becoming significant website traffic sources, grouping AI-referred traffic into a single channel has become very important.

AI traffic in GA4 is currently categorized under "referral" via dozens of different referrers. A custom channel group helps separate this unique traffic type for better data analysis.

An AI Traffic channel group in GA4 can be used as primary or secondary dimensions in reports and for creating audience conditions, allowing for a more detailed and flexible analysis of AI-referred traffic.

The AI Traffic channel group can also be applied retroactively.

When you create a new channel group for AI traffic in GA4, it will automatically be applied to all historical data in your property.

This means you can immediately analyze past AI-referred traffic without waiting for new data to accumulate.

Follow the steps below to create a new AI Traffic Channel group in GA4:

Step-1: Navigate to GA4 Admin > Data Display > Channel groups

Step-2: Click on the three dots menu next to the default channel group and then click on 'Copy to create new'.

Step-3: Rename your new channel group.

Step-4: Click on the 'Add new channel' button.

Step-5: Name the new channel 'AI Traffic'.

Step-6: Add the following condition to define your new custom channel:

Source matches regex ^.*ai|.*\.openai.*|.*copilot.*|.*chatgpt.*|.*gemini.*$

Step-7: Click on the 'Save Channel' button.

Step-8: Click on the 'Reorder' button and then drag the AI traffic channel just above the 'Referral' channel.

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By placing the AI traffic channel above the referral channel, you ensure that AI traffic is correctly attributed before being potentially miscategorized as general referral traffic.

Step-9: Click on the 'Save group' button.

Step-10: Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.

Step-11: Scroll down to the data table and then change the primary dimension to the new channel group you created earlier.

Step-12: If your GA4 property is recording traffic from AI websites, you should see AI traffic being reported via the 'AI traffic' channel.

Step-13: Type 'AI traffic' in the search box and press the enter key to filter out the AI traffic channel group.

Step-14: Add a secondary dimension to the data table named 'Session source/medium'.

You should now see a data table like the one below: