Short answer
Create a channel group in GA4 that matches AI referrers such as chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, copilot.microsoft.com, gemini.google.com and claude.ai, and keep paid ChatGPT ads separate with UTMs. Expect some AI visits to appear as direct traffic because apps don't always pass a referrer.
Example regex
.*(chatgpt\.com|chat\.openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|copilot\.microsoft\.com|gemini\.google\.com|claude\.ai).*Keep paid separate
Tag ChatGPT ads with utm_medium=paid_ai so organic AI referrals and ads don't mix.
Questions
Why do AI visits show as direct?
In-app browsers and copied links often drop the referrer.
Facts checked against the sources below on 12 October 2026. Platforms change quickly: if something here no longer matches what you see, tell us and we will update it.
