To track AI traffic in GA4, open Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition. Look for the AI Assistant channel. Google Analytics added this channel in May 2026 and it automatically groups visits from tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek and Grok. To catch AI tools it misses and to see which visits turn into sales, add a custom channel group and a simple exploration report. Both take about 15 minutes.

Knowing whether AI tools send you shoppers is the only way to tell if your GEO work is paying off. This post is part of our complete guide to GEO for online stores in South Africa, which covers how to get your store recommended in the first place. Here we focus on measurement: what GA4 now shows by default, what it misses and how to set it up properly for a Shopify or WooCommerce store.

Why AI referral traffic is worth tracking

AI referral traffic is still small for most South African stores, but it is growing fast and it tends to arrive with clear buying intent. Tracking it now gives you a baseline, so you can see whether changes to your product pages and content are working.

Shopify reported in November 2025 that traffic from AI tools to its merchants' stores had grown sevenfold since January that year, while orders attributed to AI search had grown elevenfold, according to TechCrunch. A shopper who asks ChatGPT for "the best baby carrier for hot weather" and then clicks through to your store has usually done most of their research already.

Without tracking, these visits are easy to miss. Until recently GA4 buried them under Referral or Direct, mixed in with links from blogs, emails and bookmarks.

How to check AI traffic in Google Analytics 4 (the quick way)

The fastest way to check AI traffic is to use GA4's built-in AI Assistant channel. It needs no setup and appears in your standard reports.

1. Sign in to Google Analytics and choose your store's property.
2. Go to Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition.
3. Make sure the table's first column is set to Session default channel group (newer accounts may show Session primary channel group).
4. Find the row labelled AI Assistant. If it is missing, you have had no recognised AI visits in the selected date range.
5. Click the plus icon next to the column heading and add Session source as a secondary dimension to see which AI tools sent each visit.

Google's default channel group documentation explains that GA4 sets the medium to "ai-assistant" and the campaign to "(ai-assistant)" when the referrer matches its list of AI assistants. It gives ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot and Grok as examples of those sources.

What the AI Assistant channel does not include

The built-in channel is a good start but it has three gaps you should know about:

• It only works from May 2026 onwards. Earlier AI visits stay under Referral or Direct in your historical reports.
• Google lists sources as examples, not a full list. If you see perplexity.ai or claude.ai under Referral rather than AI Assistant, the default channel is not catching them.
• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are not included. Clicks from Google's own AI features are counted as Organic Search, because they happen on google.com.

The default channel group cannot be edited, so you fix the first two gaps with a custom channel group. The third gap needs Search Console, which we cover further down.

How to set up a custom channel group for AI traffic

A custom channel group lets you define your own AI channel that catches every AI tool you care about, including older data. Google allows standard GA4 properties to create two custom channel groups, so you have room for this one.

According to Google's custom channel groups help page, you need Editor access or above. The steps are:

1. Click Admin (the gear icon), then under Data display choose Channel groups.
2. Click Create new channel group. GA4 starts you with a copy of the default channels.
3. Name it something clear, such as "Channels with AI".
4. Click Add new channel and call it "AI Tools".
5. Set the condition to Source, matches regex and paste the pattern below.
6. Drag "AI Tools" above Referral in the list and apply the new order. GA4 assigns each visit to the first channel it matches, so if Referral sits higher, your AI visits will be swallowed by it.
7. Save the group.

Here is a regex pattern that covers the main AI tools South African shoppers use:

Copy the whole pattern as one line, including the .* at the start and end.

Custom channel groups apply to your reports retroactively, so this also reveals AI visits from before May 2026 that GA4 originally filed as Referral. To use it, change the first column of the Traffic acquisition report from the default channel group to your new "Channels with AI" group.

Which AI tools to include in your tracking

Track every AI tool that can send a clickable link to your store. The table below lists the main ones and the source value each usually shows in GA4.

Review your Referral report every few months for new AI domains. New assistants launch regularly and you can add them to your regex in a minute.

How to see which AI visits turn into sales

Sessions alone do not tell you much. What matters for a store is whether AI visitors add to cart and buy, so build a short exploration report that shows revenue by AI source.

1. In GA4, go to Explore and start a Free form exploration.
2. Import the dimensions Session source and Landing page + query string.
3. Import the metrics Sessions, Key events, Ecommerce purchases and Purchase revenue.
4. Drag Session source into Rows and the four metrics into Values.
5. Add a filter: Session source matches regex, using the same pattern as above.
6. Add Landing page as a second row dimension to see which pages AI tools send people to.

The landing page view is often the most useful part. If ChatGPT keeps sending visitors to one buying guide or category page, that page is being cited. Keep it updated and link it clearly to your best products.

This only works if your store sends purchase data to GA4. On Shopify, the Google and YouTube app connects GA4 for most stores. WooCommerce stores need a plugin that sends GA4 ecommerce events. Test a purchase and check it appears in GA4's Realtime report before you rely on the numbers.

How to track Google AI Overview and AI Mode visibility

You cannot separate Google AI Overview or AI Mode clicks from normal organic clicks in GA4. Google Search Console is the right tool, because it reports on Google's AI features directly.

Google's guidance on AI features confirms that appearances in AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted in Search Console's Performance report under the "Web" search type, as part of your overall search traffic. In June 2026 Google also introduced dedicated Generative AI performance reports that show impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country and device. Third-party coverage, such as this Quattr explainer, notes the reports reached all sites in August 2026 but show impressions only, not clicks.

Use the two tools together. Search Console tells you how often you appear in Google's AI answers. GA4 tells you what visitors from other AI tools do once they land on your store.

Why some AI traffic still shows as Direct

A share of AI-driven visits will always be invisible in GA4, so treat your AI numbers as a minimum rather than the full picture. This is the main limit of every AI tracking method.

Visits lose their source when a shopper copies a link from an AI app, when a mobile app opens the link without passing a referrer or when the AI tool strips tracking tags. In mid-October 2026, analysts reported that ChatGPT clicks had started arriving with no referrer and no UTM tag after a model update, sending them to Direct. OpenAI had not confirmed the cause at the time of writing, as Relevant Audience reported.

Two simple habits fill the gap:

• Ask customers. Add "AI assistant such as ChatGPT" to your "How did you hear about us?" question at checkout or in your post-purchase email.
• Watch Direct traffic to deep pages. A sudden rise in Direct visits landing on a specific buying guide or product page, rather than your home page, often points to AI referrals.

Pair this with the monthly prompt check described in our guide to getting your online store recommended by ChatGPT, so you know when your store is being mentioned even when the clicks are hidden.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google Analytics track ChatGPT traffic?

Yes. Since May 2026, GA4 automatically places recognised ChatGPT visits in the AI Assistant channel with the source chatgpt.com. Visits that arrive without a referrer or tracking tag still show as Direct.

Can I see AI Overview traffic in GA4?

Not separately. Clicks from Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted as Organic Search in GA4. Use Search Console's Performance report and its Generative AI reports to see your visibility in those features.

Is it worth tracking AI traffic for a new store with few visitors?

Yes, because setup takes about 15 minutes and the custom channel group works retroactively. Even a handful of AI visits shows you which pages AI tools are citing, which tells you where to focus your content.

Turn AI traffic into a growth channel with Insaka

Tracking shows you where you stand. The next step is earning more AI recommendations with clear product pages, helpful content and a trusted brand. Insaka eCommerce Academy teaches South African sellers how to build exactly that, from setting up analytics to getting found on Google, marketplaces and AI tools.

If you want help publishing the kind of content AI tools cite, the GEO AI Content Engine writes buying guides and comparisons for your store. For step-by-step training on every part of selling online, explore Insaka's eCommerce courses at insaka.co.za.

Written or reviewed by Warrick Kernes, founder of Insaka eCommerce Academy and Shopify's 2021 Top Education Partner worldwide, based on 15+ years of selling online in South Africa.