Where AI search customers show up
Six ways a customer gets from an AI answer to your business, and the place each one leaves a trace. Only some of them reach your analytics. The one we suspect is biggest only shows up if somebody asks.
What the customer does
Where it lands
How you catch it
Visibility
Clicks a link in ChatGPT, Gemini, or CopilotSource arrives as chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com
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GA4 AI Assistant channelDefault channel group since May 2026, forward-only
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Traffic acquisition reportMark call clicks and form submits as key events; check landing pages
Visible
Clicks a link in Perplexity or ClaudeSource arrives as perplexity.ai or claude.ai
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GA4 Referral (sometimes)Not on Google's documented AI Assistant list
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Filter by session sourceAdd these to your monthly check by hand
Partly visible
Clicks from an app that strips the referrerCommon with phone apps
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GA4 DirectLooks like someone typed your URL
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Can't recover itWatch for direct-traffic jumps on deep service pages
Hidden
Clicks a citation in an AI Overview or AI ModeReferrer is Google Search
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GA4 Organic SearchMixed in with blue-link clicks; Search Console lumps it into Web
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No clean splitAsk at booking; run AI Mode in your prompt checks
Hidden
Visits your site from an AI answer, then callsWebsite shows a tracking number for AI-sourced visitors
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AI tracking numberDynamic number insertion, website only
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Call tracking reportKeep your real number on Google Business Profile and directories
Visible
Calls the number in the answer, never visitsName, phone, and hours pulled from your profile and listings
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Your main line, unlabeledLooks like any other new customer
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"How did you hear about us?"AI app as its own option, logged in the job record with revenue
Only if you ask
Before any of it: monthly prompt checksSame 8–10 prompts, same day each month, in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Mode
"Best plumber near Westerville for a water heater replacement"
"Who does emergency drain cleaning on weekends in Dublin, Ohio"
"How much does a tankless water heater cost in Columbus"
"Is [your company] any good"
The scorecard, checked monthly (example quarter, illustrative numbers)
GA4 AI sessions
31 / 7 key events
AI Assistant channel plus Perplexity and Claude referrals
Intake answers: "an AI app"
9 of 140 jobs
About $72,000 in booked work at an $8,000 average job
Calls on the AI tracking number
5
Website visitors who came from an AI answer and picked up the phone
Prompts that name you
4 of 10
Leading indicator; up from 2 of 10 last quarter