> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.theaitracker.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Google Analytics 4

> Connect a GA4 property to see the sessions your AI visibility actually produces.

Google Analytics is what turns AI visibility into traffic. Connected, it
supplies the sessions arriving from AI assistants, how engaged those visitors
are, and which pages they land on.

## What you need

* A **GA4** property for the brand's domain. Universal Analytics is retired and
  cannot be used.
* A Google account with at least **Viewer** access to that property.

## Connect

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select the brand">
    Use the sidebar switcher, then go to **Brand Hub → Integrations**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Google Analytics">
    You are sent to Google to sign in and approve access, then returned to AI
    Tracker.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the property">
    Your available GA4 properties are listed. The one matching your brand's
    domain is preselected where AI Tracker can identify it — confirm it rather
    than assuming.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Let the backfill run">
    Around 400 days of history is imported within a few minutes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What is collected

| Data | Used for |
| - | - |
| Sessions, engaged sessions and users from AI sources, by day | The AI traffic chart, stat cards and platform breakdown |
| Sessions by landing page from AI sources | "Traffic by page" |
| Sessions and engaged sessions by channel | "AI vs other sources", and your site-average engagement rate |

Only aggregated report data is read. AI Tracker does not read individual user
records, and does not write anything back to your property.

## How AI sessions are identified

Two rules, applied together — a session counts if **either** matches:

1. Analytics classified it as coming from an AI assistant, using its own AI
   channel.
2. The referring source is a known AI assistant: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude,
   Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Grok, Meta AI, Mistral, You.com, Poe or
   Phind.

The second rule is deliberately broader than Google's own classification, which
does not currently treat Perplexity as AI traffic. Relying on the native
channel alone would undercount.

<Warning>
  Clicks from **Google AI Overviews** arrive as ordinary organic search and
  cannot be separated. AI visits with no referrer land in Direct. Treat AI
  traffic as a floor rather than a complete count — the trend is what to
  manage against.
</Warning>

## Timezones

Analytics reports in the property's own timezone, and AI Tracker stores that
timezone so daily totals land on the right day. If daily numbers look shifted
by one day against another tool, check that the property timezone and your
brand's timezone agree.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="No properties listed after signing in">
    The Google account you used has no GA4 access. Sign in with the account that
    can see the property in Analytics itself, or have someone grant it Viewer
    access first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A domain mismatch is flagged">
    The selected property doesn't cover your brand's domain. Usually the wrong
    property from a similar-looking list, or a property scoped to a different
    subdomain. Pick the correct one and re-run the check.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Sessions look far lower than in Analytics">
    The Traffic page shows **AI-referred** sessions, not all traffic. Compare
    against an AI-filtered Analytics report, not your site total.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Numbers changed a day after I looked">
    Recent days are re-collected on each nightly refresh, so the last few days
    firm up over time. This follows upstream reporting, which lags.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I need to switch property">
    Selecting a different property re-imports history and replaces what was
    stored for this brand.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>


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