AI traffic is real. 85.7% of companies can't measure it. I built Loamly because every tool I tried missed 80%+ of AI referrals. This guide shows you how to track ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini traffic in 2026.
Want to see where your company stands? Run a free report at loamly.ai/check.
Why Track AI Traffic
Our 2,014-company benchmark shows that most companies are invisible to AI. The ones that break through get traffic. If you're not tracking it, you don't know if you're in that group.
| Source | Finding |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | AI traffic converts at 3x the rate of other channels |
| Adobe Analytics | B2B SaaS sees 8-15% AI traffic share |
| Backlinko | ChatGPT has 900M+ weekly users |
The question is not whether AI sends traffic. It does. The question is whether you can see it.
The Problem: GA4 Misses 80%+ of AI Traffic
I discovered this the hard way. My "direct" traffic was growing 126% year-over-year. My brand awareness had not changed. Something was sending traffic that looked like direct visits. It was AI.
| What GA4 Shows | What Actually Happened |
|---|---|
chatgpt.com referrer | User clicked a link in ChatGPT web |
| Direct traffic | ChatGPT mobile app, API, Operator (80%+ of AI traffic) |
(not set) | Could be AI, could be anything |
ChatGPT mobile app does not pass referrer headers. ChatGPT Operator uses headless browsing. Claude and Perplexity have similar limitations. GA4 only sees traffic when the referrer is passed. Most AI traffic arrives without one.
Option 1: GA4 Custom Channel (Free, Partial Coverage)
If you already use GA4, you can capture the share of AI traffic that passes referrers.
Step 1: Create a Custom Channel
- GA4 Admin → Data display → Channel groups
- Copy the default group, name it "Default + AI"
- Add new channel: "AI Traffic"
- Rule: Session source matches regex
.*chatgpt.*|.*openai.*|.*perplexity.*|.*claude.*|.*gemini.*google.*|.*copilot.*|.*bing.*chat.*- Drag AI Traffic above Referral in the list
What This Catches
| Platform | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Perplexity | 80-90% |
| Gemini (when headers pass) | 60-70% |
| Claude | 60-70% |
| ChatGPT (web clicks only) | 30-40% |
You will miss ChatGPT mobile, Operator, and most API-sourced visits. For many sites, that is the majority of AI traffic.
Option 2: Plausible or Fathom (Privacy Tools with AI Detection)
Plausible and Fathom added AI traffic detection in 2025. They use referrer patterns similar to GA4.
| Tool | AI Detection | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Plausible | Yes, referrer-based | Misses traffic without referrer |
| Fathom | Yes, referrer-based | Same as above |
| Simple Analytics | Yes | Same as above |
I looked at everything. GA4 couldn't detect it. Plausible had added some AI detection, but only for platforms that pass referrer headers. No tool did both referrer detection and fingerprint-based detection until we built it.
Option 3: Loamly (Built for AI Traffic)
Loamly was built specifically to solve the referrer gap. It uses RFC 9421 cryptographic verification and fingerprint signals to detect AI traffic that arrives without referrers.
| What Loamly Detects | GA4 / Plausible / Fathom |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT web clicks | Yes |
| ChatGPT mobile app | Yes |
| ChatGPT Operator | Yes |
| Claude, Perplexity, Gemini | Yes |
| Dark AI (no referrer) | Yes |
Setup: Add one script tag. No code changes. See the 5-minute setup guide for copy-paste instructions.
Comparison: Which Tool Should You Use
| Need | Best Option |
|---|---|
| Free, already on GA4 | GA4 custom channel (accept partial data) |
| Privacy-first, referrer-only OK | Plausible or Fathom |
| Full AI traffic visibility | Loamly |
| Brand monitoring (what does AI say about us?) | Loamly check tool |
No tool does everything. GA4 is free and catches 20-30% of AI traffic. Loamly catches 80%+ but is a paid product. Choose based on how much you care about the gap.
Step-by-Step: Loamly Setup (5 Minutes)
- Sign up at loamly.ai
- Add your domain
- Copy the script tag from the dashboard
- Paste it before
</head>in your site - Enable AI verification (one-click in dashboard)
The script loads asynchronously. It does not block page load. No cookies. GDPR compliant.
For platform-specific guides: Next.js, WordPress, Webflow, Shopify.
Methodology Note
The 2,014-company benchmark comes from Loamly brand reports. Each report runs 48 queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. The visibility scores are calculated from actual citation rates, not estimates.
Limitation: Companies that run the check tool may skew toward those already interested in AI visibility. The sample is not random. The distribution (85.7% in 0-20 tier) is still the largest dataset we know of for this metric.
Next Steps
- Run a free report: loamly.ai/check. See your AI visibility score. No signup required.
- Pick a tracking method: GA4 for free partial data, Loamly for full coverage
- Read the benchmark: 2,014 companies, 85.7% invisible
No marketing spin. Just real data about your AI visibility.
Last updated: January 30, 2026
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