How to create a channel group for AI traffic in Google Analytics

Traffic from AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) is affecting your website (and you may not like it.).

And, of course, you’ll need to know to what extent.

One of the elements involved in doing that—not the only one—is the traffic these AI tools bring.

That’s why, in this post, I’ll explain step by step how to configure a new traffic channel in Google Analytics 4 that groups all visits coming from artificial intelligence tools so that, as I said, you can:

1. Track how it evolves.
2. Analyse its profitability.
3. Build a strategy for the new paradigm.

First, I explain it in a very short video. If you prefer reading, the text version is just below.

Why create a specific traffic channel for AI?

Overall visibility: by grouping all visits generated by AI tools into a single channel, you’ll get a clear view of how many users come from these platforms and how they behave, without mixing them with other channels such as Direct, Organic or Referral.

You’ll be able to see to what extent the drop in organic traffic you’re going to experience is offset by this new channel.

And you’ll see how well this traffic converts.

Assuming it converts at all.

In addition, your measurement of the “Referral” channel will be much more accurate.

Finally, you may be thinking that another AI tool will appear tomorrow and will need to be added to the channel. And you’d be right.

The good news is that maintaining this grouping is very simple: whenever new AI tools or associated domains appear, you’ll only need to update the regular expression in that channel so it keeps capturing incoming traffic correctly.

Thirty seconds, tops. Once you see the next steps, you’ll understand why.

Step 1. Open the Google Analytics 4 administration area

In your GA4 account, click the link in the bottom-left corner to open Admin.

Once inside, make sure you’re in the correct property and then, in the Property column, select Data settings → Default channel groups.

If you’re new to GA4, “Channel groups” are how sessions are grouped according to a series of conditions. By default, standard channels such as Direct, Organic and Referral already exist.

What we’re going to do is create a new one that captures all AI traffic.

Step 2. Create a new channel group called “Including AI Traffic”

Inside Default channel groups, you’ll see the list of the channel group you’re currently using. Click “New channel group”.

In the Group name field, enter: "Including AI Traffic" without the quotation marks.

Optionally, add a short Description such as: "Custom channel that groups all sessions originating from artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity)".“.

Click “Add channel” to include a new rule.

Step 3. Configure the AI channel rule with a regular expression

To make Google Analytics detect every session coming from a domain associated with an AI tool, we’ll configure a condition based on “Source” and a regular expression covering the most common names. You can adapt it as new platforms appear.

In Channel name, enter: "AI Traffic"“

Under Conditions, set:

• Dimension: : Source
• Match type: matches regular expression
• Value: : ^.(ai|openai|copilot|chatgpt|gemini|gpt|neeva|writesonic|nimble|outrider|perplexity|google.bard|bard.google|bard).$

This example value captures any referral containing “chatgpt, ”, “gemini” or “perplexity”. If new AI tools appear, simply extend the expression.

Easy, right?

Save the rule.

Step 4. Move “AI Traffic” above “Referral”

But one more step is needed for this to work as expected.

To make sure GA4 prioritises this rule over those defined in the “Referral” channel, follow these steps:

1. Once the rule has been created, return to the channel list inside the “Including AI Traffic” group.
2. Click the "Reorder" button (next to the "Add new channel" button you used earlier).
3. Use the drag arrows—or the move up/down buttons—to place the “AI Traffic” channel directly above “Referral”.
4. Click “Save” in the channel group to confirm the changes.

Step 5. Check the Traffic acquisition report to verify “Including AI Traffic”

Now that the channel has been created and prioritised, let’s check whether sessions are being assigned correctly:

• In the GA4 side menu, go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition.
• At the top, in the Primary dimension selector, choose the one you just created: “Including AI Traffic”.
• You’ll see several rows—Organic Search, Direct, Referral…—and, if any sessions meet the “Source matches …chatgpt|gemini|perplexity…” condition, the row "AI Traffic" will appear with its user, session, conversion-rate and other data.

If you want a more detailed breakdown of each source/medium entering through that channel:

1. Click “Add secondary dimension” and select "Source / Medium"“.
2. At the top there is a filter box: enter “AI Traffic” or the label you used to make sure you only see rows from that channel.

You’ll now get a breakdown such as: "chatgpt / referral, “, “gemini / referral, “, “perplexity / referral", etc.

If “AI Traffic” does not appear in this report, check:

1. That the regular expression is correct.
2. If it is correct, confirm that you have actually received traffic from one of these sources.

Step 6. Keep your AI channel up to date by reviewing “Referral” regularly

Because new AI platforms or domains that were not initially anticipated may appear from time to time, it is advisable to:

1. Review the Referral channel regularly to detect any AI source that has not been assigned to “AI Traffic”.
2. Identify the name of that source—for example, “newchatbot” or “aiassistant.io”.
3. Return to Admin → Channel groups → AI Traffic, edit the regular expression and add the new value separated by “|”. Example: ^.*(nuevaiaai|openai|copilot|chatgpt|gemini|gpt|neeva|writesonic|nimble|outrider|perplexity|google.bard|bard.google|bard).$

Save the changes and, from that moment on, all sessions from “nuevaIA” will be grouped under “AI Traffic”.

Conclusion

As you can see, it isn’t complicated at all.

And it will let you measure traffic volumes and conversions—in other words, the ROI of creating content for your website. Something that feels essential in these turbulent times.

If you enjoyed the article, here are several more about Google Analytics.

Also on YouTube.

And, in your inbox every seven days, if you subscribe here.