How to Track Claude Traffic to Your Website

Claude is growing fast. According to Backlinko's 2025 analysis, Anthropic's AI assistant reached 18.9 million monthly active users, with enterprise market share growing to 29%.

But here's the problem: Claude traffic is one of the hardest to track.

This guide covers practical approaches to detect Claude traffic in your analytics, from simple GA4 setups to more advanced methods.

Why Claude Traffic Is Difficult to Track

Unlike Perplexity (which usually passes referrer headers), Claude's referrer behavior is inconsistent:

• In-content links: Often stripped or marked as direct
• Source citations: Sometimes pass referrer, sometimes don't
• Claude.ai vs API: Different behavior depending on interface

This means your analytics likely shows Claude traffic as "Direct" when it should be attributed correctly.

The irony: Claude users tend to have exceptionally long sessions. According to Semrush data, Claude visitors average 9 minutes and 29 seconds per session—higher engagement than many other AI platforms.

If you can't track it, you can't optimize for it.

Method 1: GA4 Custom Channel Group (Basic)

This catches Claude traffic when referrer data is present.

Step 1: Go to Admin

In GA4, navigate to Admin → Data display → Channel groups

Step 2: Create New Channel Group

Click "Create new channel group" and name it "AI Traffic"

Step 3: Add Claude Detection Rules

Add a new channel definition with these conditions:

Channel name: Claude
Rule: Source contains "claude"
OR: Source contains "anthropic"

Step 4: Add Other AI Sources

While you're here, add rules for:

• ChatGPT: Source contains "chatgpt" OR "openai"
• Perplexity: Source contains "perplexity"
• Gemini: Source contains "gemini" OR "google.ai"

Limitations

This only works when Claude passes referrer data. Traffic with stripped referrers still shows as Direct. You're probably capturing 30-50% of actual Claude traffic with this method.

Method 2: Server Log Analysis

Your server logs contain data GA4 never sees.

Step 1: Access Raw Logs

Most hosting providers give you access to raw HTTP logs. Look for:

• Vercel: Project Settings → Logs
• Cloudflare: Analytics → Traffic
• AWS: CloudWatch Logs
• Nginx/Apache: Access logs in /var/log/

Step 2: Search for Claude User Agents

Claude's crawler uses identifiable user agent strings:

# Search for ClaudeBot activity
grep -i "claudebot" /var/log/nginx/access.log
 
# Or on Anthropic's documented user agent
grep -i "anthropic-ai" access.log

Step 3: Correlate Crawler and User Traffic

If ClaudeBot accessed a page at 2:15 PM and a human visited the same page at 2:18 PM, there's a reasonable chance that visit came from a Claude recommendation.

This is correlation, not definitive attribution. But it's better signal than nothing.

Automation

You can script this analysis:

import re
from collections import defaultdict
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
def analyze_claude_correlation(log_file):
    claude_crawls = []
    user_visits = []
    
    with open(log_file, 'r') as f:
        for line in f:
            if 'claudebot' in line.lower():
                # Extract timestamp and URL
                claude_crawls.append(parse_log_line(line))
            elif is_human_visit(line):
                user_visits.append(parse_log_line(line))
    
    # Find user visits within 5 minutes of Claude crawl
    correlated = []
    for crawl in claude_crawls:
        for visit in user_visits:
            if (visit['url'] == crawl['url'] and 
                0 < (visit['time'] - crawl['time']).seconds < 300):
                correlated.append(visit)
    
    return correlated

Method 3: UTM Parameter Tracking

If you share links specifically in Claude conversations, add UTM parameters:

https://yoursite.com/page?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai&utm_campaign=support

This only works for links YOU control (like in customer support via Claude). It doesn't help with organic Claude recommendations.

But it's useful for:

• Internal teams using Claude for research
• Customer support powered by Claude
• Claude-based chatbots on your site

Method 4: First-Party Data Enrichment

If you have user accounts, you can ask new signups how they found you.

Add a simple dropdown to your signup flow:

How did you hear about us?
- Google Search
- ChatGPT or Claude
- Perplexity
- Social Media
- Friend/Colleague
- Other

This is self-reported data, so it's not perfect. But it gives you directional insight that analytics can't provide.

You can cross-reference this against GA4 data:

• If a user says "Claude" but GA4 shows "Direct", you've confirmed the attribution gap
• Track the percentage over time to understand Claude's growing influence

Method 5: Specialized AI Traffic Tools

For more accurate Claude detection, specialized tools use approaches GA4 can't:

Cryptographic Signature Verification

The RFC 9421 HTTP Message Signatures standard allows AI platforms to cryptographically sign requests. When Claude (or other AI agents) signs a request, the destination can verify the source with certainty.

Anthropic is moving toward this standard for their AI agents. Tools implementing RFC 9421 can detect Claude traffic even when referrer headers are stripped.

Behavioral Pattern Analysis

Claude traffic has distinctive patterns:

• Very long session durations (19+ minutes average)
• High page depth (users reading thoroughly)
• Lower bounce rates than typical direct traffic
• Specific landing page patterns

Specialized tools can identify these patterns and flag likely Claude traffic for further analysis.

What Claude Traffic Is Worth

Before investing time in tracking, understand the value:

Metric	Claude Traffic	Average Direct
Session Duration	19 minutes	2-3 minutes
Pages per Session	4-6	1-2
Conversion Rate	Higher than search	Varies widely
User Intent	Research-heavy	Mixed

Claude users are typically:

• Enterprise professionals (Claude's primary market)
• Conducting serious research
• High-intent purchasers

They're worth tracking.

Setting Up a Claude Traffic Dashboard

Here's a practical dashboard structure:

Metrics to Track

1. Detected Claude Traffic (GA4 custom channel)
2. Estimated Claude Traffic (correlated from server logs)
3. "Direct" Traffic with Claude-like Behavior (long sessions, high page depth)
4. Self-Reported Claude Discovery (from signup surveys)

Weekly Review

Ask yourself:

• Is detected Claude traffic growing or shrinking?
• What pages are Claude users landing on?
• How does Claude traffic convert compared to other sources?
• Are we appearing in Claude responses for our target keywords?

Brand Visibility Check

Run periodic checks to see if Claude recommends your brand:

Test prompts:

• "What's the best [your category] for [your target customer]?"
• "Compare [your product] vs [competitor]"
• "[Problem your product solves] - what tools can help?"

Document the responses. Track whether you're mentioned, in what context, and how you're positioned.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Assuming Zero Claude Traffic

If your GA4 shows no Claude traffic, that doesn't mean you have none. It probably means the referrer data is being stripped. Check server logs before concluding.

Mistake 2: Ignoring ClaudeBot Crawls

ClaudeBot crawling your site is a leading indicator. If Claude is crawling your content, you might start appearing in responses. Track crawler activity as a forward-looking metric.

Mistake 3: Not Checking Claude's Actual Responses

Analytics only show traffic. They don't show mentions without clicks.

Regularly test what Claude says about your brand. You might be recommended frequently but users aren't clicking through. Or you might be absent from relevant conversations entirely.

Mistake 4: Treating All AI Traffic the Same

Claude users behave differently than ChatGPT users or Perplexity users. Segment your analysis by AI source when possible.

Quick Start Checklist

1. Set up GA4 custom channel group for Claude
2. Check server logs for ClaudeBot activity
3. Add UTM parameters to any Claude-distributed links
4. Add "How did you find us?" to signup flow
5. Test what Claude says about your brand weekly
6. Review "Direct" traffic for Claude-like patterns

Try a Free Check

Want to see if Claude recommends your brand?

Run your domain through our free checker at loamly.ai/check. We query Claude (and ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) with real user prompts and show you:

• Whether you're mentioned
• In what context
• How you compare to competitors

Takes 3 minutes. No signup for the basic report.

---

Claude referral statistics from SE Ranking and Microsoft Clarity research. User agent documentation from Anthropic's official crawler docs.