How to create LLM referral report in GA4

Our SaaS clients are getting 𝟎.𝟓-𝟑% of total traffic from LLMs.

Here’s how to create a simple LLM referral report in GA4:

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐀𝟒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞

1. Log into Google Analytics (GA4).
2. Click on “Explore” in the left-hand menu.
3. Click on “Blank” to start a new exploration.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟐: 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭

1. Rename the Report

▪️ Click on “Untitled Exploration” and rename it to something like:

“LLM Referral Traffic & Key Events”

2. Add Dimensions

Track traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and any other LLMs of interest.

▪️ Click the “+” sign in the Dimensions section.

▪️ Search for and select the following dimensions: session source/medium AND Page referrer → these will help filter referral traffic.

▪️ Click “Confirm” to add them.

3. Add Metrics

Add the key metrics you want to track for each LLM referral source:

▪️ Click the “+” sign in the Metrics section.

▪️ Search for and select:

→ Sessions

→ Key Events

→ Anything else you want to track

▪️ Click “Confirm” to add them.

4. Add Rows and Values

▪️ Drag Source / medium into Rows.

▪️ Drag Sessions into Values.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟑: 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐩 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐋𝐌 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬

▪️ Drag Page Referrer OR Session source / medium into the Filters section

▪️ Add the following “Matches Regex” filter:

.*openai.*|.*chatgpt.*|.*copilot.*|.*perplexity.*|.*gemini.*|.*bard.*|.*gpt.*|.*neeva.*|.*copy\.ai.*|.*writesonic.*|.*nimble.*|.*outrider.*|.*edgeservices.*|.*astastic.*|.*bnngpt.*

Note: you can use the source/medium contains filter to exclude anything that you want to remove from the report.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟒: 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥)

You can switch between:

▪️Table View (for detailed breakdowns)

▪️Line Graph (for trends over time)

▪️Bar Chart (for quick insights)

Add Date as a breakdown to see how referral traffic changes over time.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟓: 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 & 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭

▪️Click the “Save” icon to keep the report in GA4.

▪️(Optional) Click “Share” to create a link or export it as a CSV/PDF.

Final note:

Key Events are inflated in this report because the company had everything tagged as a Key Event. Generally speaking, we’re seeing a trickle of direct conversions each month from LLMs.