Cultured Digital logo Cultured Digital Talk to an SEO specialist

Learn · AI Search · Beginner

How to find AI-driven traffic in Search Console and Analytics

Learn where visits from Google's AI features and from AI assistants are recorded, how to read each report, and how to write down what the numbers can and cannot show.

By Dean Cruddace · 45 minutes to do · Updated · Last reviewed

What AI-driven traffic is

People now reach websites from Google's AI features (AI Overviews and AI Mode) and from AI assistants such as ChatGPT. There is no single report that shows all of it. Two free tools record different parts under different rules.

Google Search Console reports on your appearances and clicks in Google Search. Google Analytics reports on what visitors do once they arrive, and sorts each visit into a channel such as Organic Search or Direct.

This guide shows you where to look in each tool, how to read the numbers, and how to record the result honestly.

Why AI visits are hard to see

The two tools classify AI visits differently, so mixing them gives a wrong total. Google says sites appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in overall Search Console traffic, in the Web search type of the Performance report (AI features and your website). In Google Analytics, its AI Assistant channel excludes those features, which count under Organic Search (Default channel group). Knowing this stops you reporting a figure that means something other than you think.

What you need to find AI-driven traffic in Search Console and Analytics

  • Access to Google Search Console for the site
  • Access to Google Analytics for the same site, with its tag already installed
  • A spreadsheet or note to record figures
  • One fixed date range to use in both tools, such as the last 28 days

Find AI-driven traffic in Search Console and Analytics, step by step

  1. 1

    Open the Performance report in Search Console

    In Search Console, open the Performance report for Search results. Set the date range, and make sure the search type is Web. Google lists web, image, video and news as search types. Its pages describe AI Overviews and AI Mode as part of this overall data; the pages we read do not describe a separate AI-only report or filter, so do not expect to find one. See the Performance report overview.

    You will know it worked when You can see clicks, impressions, CTR and average position for the Web search type and date range you chose.

  2. 2

    Learn how those AI clicks are counted

    Google's page on impressions, position and clicks says: in an AI Overview, clicking a link to an external page counts as a click, the Overview occupies a single position, and all its links share that position. In AI Mode, an external link click also counts, and a follow-up question is essentially a new query, counted against that new query. It also says Search Console does not include data from Search Labs experiments.

    You will know it worked when You can explain, in one sentence each, why position cannot show where in an AI Overview your link sat, and why AI Mode query counts are not counts of conversations. (This is a reasonable reading of the rules, not Google's wording.)

  3. 3

    Find the channels in Google Analytics

    Google says the channel dimensions, including Session default channel group, appear in the Acquisition reports. Open an Acquisition report, such as the traffic acquisition report Google's guide refers to, and set the same date range. Look for the rows Organic Search and AI Assistant.

    You will know it worked when You can see sessions for each channel, or you can see that no AI Assistant row appears for the period.

  4. 4

    Keep the two AI measures apart

    Google defines AI Assistant as visits from sources like ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Copilot or Grok, excluding Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, which count within Organic Search. The channel is set when the referrer (the site the visitor came from) matches a list of AI assistants that the page does not publish. Record the AI Assistant figure and the Search Console figures in separate rows. Do not add them together.

    You will know it worked when Your note has Search Console clicks and Analytics AI Assistant sessions as separate lines, labelled with their tool.

  5. 5

    Read the other channels with care

    Google defines Direct as visitors arriving via a saved link or by entering your URL, Referral as non-ad links on other sites or apps, and Unassigned as the value used when no other rule matches. A visit from an AI tool that Analytics cannot recognise could, on our reading, fall outside AI Assistant. Google's page does not detail where an individual one would land. Note this as an unknown. Do not move numbers between channels.

    You will know it worked when Your note states that AI Assistant counts only what Analytics recognises.

  6. 6

    Compare the tools correctly, then write it up

    Google says the two tools use different metrics and systems, so figures will not match completely, and that Search Console clicks and Analytics sessions are the most comparable pair. It recommends applying the same country and device filters to both, and says small differences can be ignored. Finish your note with what you observed, what you inferred, and what no report can tell you, such as how an assistant described you when nobody clicked. See Using Search Console and Google Analytics data.

    You will know it worked when Your note separates observed figures from inferences and lists the unknowns.

Common mistakes when you find AI-driven traffic in Search Console and Analytics

  • Treating the AI Assistant channel as total AI traffic. Google says it excludes AI Overviews and AI Mode.
  • Adding Search Console clicks to Analytics sessions. They are different measurements calculated differently.
  • Looking for a dedicated AI filter in Search Console and concluding the data is missing. The pages we read do not describe one.
  • Expecting the numbers to match exactly. Google says they will not.
  • Reporting visit counts as results. Google suggests also tracking conversions and time on site.

Terms used when you find AI-driven traffic in Search Console and Analytics

Channel
A rule-based group of traffic sources in Google Analytics, such as Organic Search or Direct.
Referrer
The site or app a visitor came from, as passed to your site when they click a link.
AI Overviews
Google Search answers that give an overview with links to supporting web pages.
AI Mode
Google's more interactive AI-powered search response, with links to supporting pages.
Session
In Analytics, a period of time during which a user interacts with your website.

Go deeper

AI SearchWhere AI-driven visits show up in analytics, and where they do notGoogle’s AI features and other AI assistants are recorded in different places under different rules. Here is what Search Console and Google Analytics document, and what…Read the in-depth article → MeasurementWhere AI referral traffic appears in analytics, why prompt tracking needs care, and the limits of AI search reporting, stated plainly.See the service guide → Visibility reviewWhat is and is not documented about how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI features show sites, and what a visibility review covers.See the service guide → Next in the pathHow to review AI-written content before you publish itUse Google's published guidance as a checklist: confirm the page has a purpose, check facts and metadata, test for originality, and decide…Open the guide →
AI traffic you cannot see in your reports?

Tell Dean what your analytics shows today. Measuring AI referral traffic, and being plain about its limits, is part of the measurement work.

Talk to an SEO specialistAI search visibility: measurement →