How To Correctly Create AI Traffic Channel Group in GA4.

Since AI chatbots are becoming significant website traffic sources, grouping AI-referred traffic into a single channel has become very important.

AI traffic in GA4 is currently categorised under "referral" via dozens of different referrers. A custom channel group helps separate this unique traffic type for better data analysis.

The channel group can also be applied retroactively.

When you create a new channel group for AI traffic in GA4, it will automatically be applied to all historical data on your property. 

This means you can immediately analyse past AI-referred traffic without waiting for new data to accumulate.

Follow the steps below to create a new AI Traffic Channel group in GA4:

Step-1: Navigate to GA4 Admin > Data Display > Channel groups.

Step-2: Click on the three dots menu next to the default channel group and then click on 'Copy to create new'.

Step-3: Open your new channel group and rename it.

Step-4: Click on the 'Add new channel' button.

Step-5: Name the new channel 'AI Traffic'.

Step-6: Add the following condition to define your new custom channel:

Source matches regex

^.*ai|.*\.openai.*|.*copilot.*|.*chatgpt.*|.*gemini.*|.*gpt.*|.*neeva.*|.*writesonic.*|.*nimble.*|.*outrider.*|.*perplexity.*|.*google.*bard.*|.*bard.*google.*|.*bard.*|.*edgeservices.*|.*gemini.*google.*$        

Make sure this regex retrieves all of your AI traffic before you use it. Otherwise, modify it to meet your unique requirements. You can use the GA4 regex builder (a custom ChatGPT) to create a GA4-compatible regex.

Step-7: Click on the 'Save Channel' button.

Step-8: Click on the 'Reorder' button and then drag the AI traffic channel somewhere above the 'Referral' channel. 

By placing the AI traffic channel above the referral channel, you ensure that AI traffic is correctly attributed before being potentially miscategorised as general referral traffic.

Step-9: Click on the 'Save Group' button to save your new channel group.

Step-10: Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.

Step-11: Scroll down to the data table and then change the primary dimension to the new channel group you created earlier.

Step-12: If your GA4 property is recording traffic from AI websites, you should see AI traffic being reported via the 'AI traffic' channel.

Step-13: Type 'AI traffic' in the search box and press the enter key to filter out the AI traffic channel group.

Step-14: Add a secondary dimension to the data table named 'Session source/medium'.

You should now see a data table like the one below:

You can also create a custom audience based on AI Traffic for remarketing or further analysis:

Additional Resources.

1. 62 Points Google Analytics Setup Checklist.
2. Get the only ebook on Data Layers ever published (100+ pages).
3. Automate GA4 BigQuery SQL.