AI-traffic analytics
Track the traffic AI assistants send you
People increasingly ask an AI assistant instead of searching Google — and when the answer links to you, that visit is real traffic. In most analytics it hides in “direct” or a raw referrer, and the hardest cases vanish entirely. Satsu breaks AI-assistant traffic into its own per-assistant channel and, measuring server-side, even recovers the clicks whose source the browser stripped — so you can finally measure the whole picture.
Why AI traffic is invisible in most tools
When someone clicks a link inside ChatGPT or Perplexity, the referrer is often stripped or shows up as a bare domain you'd never think to group. Analytics built for the Google era bucket it into “direct” or scatter it across referrers — so a fast-growing, high-intent channel looks like noise.
How Satsu surfaces it
Satsu classifies referrals from the major AI assistants into a single AI channel, split per assistant, right next to organic and direct.
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini, each as its own source
- Shown natively in your dashboard — no extra tool to bolt on
- Cookieless and private, like everything else in Satsu
- Works retroactively as classification improves — no reprocessing your site
The clicks other tools can't even see
The hardest AI referrals don't just hide in a channel — the browser strips their source entirely, so they land in “direct” next to people who typed your URL. Because Satsu measures server-side, it reads a fetch-metadata signal the browser can't remove and pulls those referrer-less external clicks back out of direct. No cookies, no third-party integration — a floor of AI/external traffic that no JavaScript-only tracker surfaces.
Why it matters now
AI-referred visitors convert well — they arrive with intent, having just been recommended you. Knowing which assistants send traffic, how much of your traffic AI influenced along the way, and how much arrived from a source the browser hid, tells you where your content is winning inside the tools people now ask first — and whether that visibility is turning into visits.
Frequently asked questions
How does Satsu detect AI-assistant traffic?
Satsu classifies referrals by their source at query time, grouping the major AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) into a dedicated AI channel — no cookies or fingerprinting of the visitor involved.
Can Google Analytics show AI traffic?
GA4 added an AI-assistant channel in 2026, but it's buried in a marketing-oriented UI and still requires cookies and a consent banner. Satsu surfaces it natively in a cookieless, privacy-first dashboard.
Do I need to change my tracking to see AI traffic?
No. If Satsu is installed, AI traffic shows up in your channels automatically — one script tag, nothing extra to configure.
Can you track AI clicks when the referrer is stripped?
Partly — and further than JavaScript-only tools can. When an AI assistant strips the referrer, the browser still sends a fetch-metadata signal that Satsu reads server-side to flag the visit as an external click whose source was hidden, instead of losing it to “direct.” It can't always name the exact assistant, but it recovers traffic that would otherwise be invisible.