AI-referred traffic
AI-referred traffic is visits that come from chat and answer products. Some show as referrals. A lot show up as direct or brand search.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot sometimes send a referrer. Often they do not. Users copy a URL. Users search your name after the chat. That is AI dark traffic.
Do not wait for perfect analytics. Use on-site surveys (“did an AI chat send you?”) plus referrer reports plus branded query lift.
Examples
- Perplexity visits convert. Direct traffic also ticks up the same week you started ranking in Perplexity citations. Related, not proven. Log it anyway.
Related terms
Visits influenced by AI answers that show up as direct, branded search, or unassigned. The chat never sent a referrer.
Improving the site so visitors convert. AI-referred visitors may convert differently — sometimes higher intent, fewer pages.
A ghost citation is when an AI answer names your brand but does not link you. You got the shout, not the click.
Estimating the business effect of answers that never send a visit: branded search lift, surveys, assisted pipeline.
FAQ
What UTM should I use? +
You do not control their links. You can UTM your own “copy this URL” widgets. For inbound, rely on referrers and surveys.
Track this in Reddex
See Reddit threads and AI answers for your brand in one place. Start with a free analysis.
Get started