AI Analytics
See your AI search traffic. Track referrals from 11 AI platforms, monitor which pages AI crawlers index, and measure citation performance — the analytics your GA4 is missing.
{
"type": "page_view",
"score": 0,
"verdict": "human",
"flags": ["llm_referral"],
"metadata": {
"is_llm_referral": true,
"llm_platform": "ChatGPT",
"llm_category": "ai_assistant",
"page_url": "/pricing"
}
}
// Query via API
GET /v1/detections
?flags_contain=llm_referral
&days=7Your Analytics Has a Blind Spot
When someone asks ChatGPT a question, gets your site recommended, and clicks through — Google Analytics reports it as "direct" traffic. You have no idea that AI search is sending you visitors.
Invisible Traffic Source
AI referrals appear as "direct" or "(not set)" in GA4 because platforms strip referrer headers
No Citation Visibility
You don't know which of your pages AI systems are referencing in their responses
Can't Optimize What You Can't Measure
Without data on AI traffic, you can't improve your GEO strategy or content structure
// What GA4 shows you:
{
"source": "(direct)",
"medium": "(none)",
"sessions": 847
}
// 🤷 No idea these came from AI
// What WebDecoy shows you:
{
"platform": "ChatGPT",
"referrals": 312,
"top_page": "/blog/captcha-guide"
}
{
"platform": "Perplexity",
"referrals": 248,
"top_page": "/product/fcaptcha"
}
{
"platform": "Claude",
"referrals": 156,
"top_page": "/pricing"
}
// Total AI referrals: 847 ✅Two Dashboards, Complete Visibility
AI Referrals show you the traffic. AI Citations show you the crawlers. Together, they form the complete GEO measurement pipeline.
AI Referrals
Human Visitors from AITracks real people who click through from AI-generated responses to your site. These are your AI-attributed conversions.
Answers: "Which AI platforms are sending me traffic, and to which pages?"
AI Citations
Crawler Indexing ActivityTracks which AI scrapers are crawling your pages and how often. This is the leading indicator — crawling precedes citation.
Answers: "Which of my pages are AI systems actively indexing for their responses?"
The Full AI Content Pipeline
WebDecoy tracks every stage: from when AI crawlers index your content to when humans click through from AI responses.
1. AI Crawls
GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot index your pages
2. AI Retrieves
RAG bots fetch content in real-time for answers
3. AI Cites
Your content appears in AI-generated answers
4. Human Clicks
User follows the citation link to your site
11 AI Platforms Tracked
WebDecoy identifies referrals from every major AI assistant and AI search engine. New platforms are added as they emerge.
ChatGPT
AI Assistant
Perplexity
AI Search
Gemini
AI Assistant
Claude
AI Assistant
DeepSeek
AI Assistant
Copilot
AI Assistant
You.com
AI Search
Phind
AI Search
Kagi
AI Search
Meta AI
AI Assistant
Grok
AI Assistant
Three Dedicated Endpoints
Access your AI analytics data programmatically. Build custom dashboards, feed data into your analytics pipeline, or trigger workflows based on AI traffic changes.
Hourly Referral Stats
Time-series data grouped by AI platform, perfect for trend visualization
Platform Breakdown
Aggregate referral counts per AI platform for the selected time range
Top Pages
Your highest-performing pages ranked by AI referral volume with top platform attribution
// Hourly referral stats
GET /api/detections/stats/llm-referrals
?property_id=prop_xxx&days=7
// Platform breakdown
GET /api/detections/stats/llm-referrals/by-platform
?property_id=prop_xxx&days=30
// Top pages cited by AI
GET /api/detections/stats/llm-referrals/top-pages
?property_id=prop_xxx&days=7&limit=20
// Citation monitoring (crawler activity)
GET /api/detections/stats/page-crawlers
?property_id=prop_xxx&days=7&limit=50
// Response includes:
{
"page_path": "/blog/captcha-guide",
"crawl_count": 47,
"unique_crawlers": 5,
"top_crawler": "GPTBot",
"last_crawled": "2026-02-09T08:14:00Z"
}// User clicks a link in ChatGPT response
// Browser sends: Referer: https://chatgpt.com/
// WebDecoy script captures the referrer
// and matches against known AI domains:
{
"chatgpt.com": "ChatGPT",
"perplexity.ai": "Perplexity",
"gemini.google.com": "Gemini",
"claude.ai": "Claude",
"deepseek.com": "DeepSeek",
"copilot.microsoft.com": "Copilot",
"you.com": "You.com",
"phind.com": "Phind",
"kagi.com": "Kagi",
"meta.ai": "Meta AI",
"grok.com": "Grok"
}
// Detection created with:
// score: 0 (human visitor, not a bot)
// flags: ["llm_referral"]
// metadata.llm_platform: "ChatGPT"
// No impact on user experience.
// No cookies. No PII.Zero Configuration Detection
AI referral tracking works automatically with the same WebDecoy script you already use for bot detection. No additional setup, no extra code, no cookies.
Key Capabilities
LLM Referral Tracking
Identify visitors arriving from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Copilot, and 5 more AI platforms. Zero configuration required.
AI Citation Monitoring
See which pages AI crawlers are indexing, how often they crawl, and which crawlers visit most. Track GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and 30+ others.
Referral Trend Analysis
Hourly, daily, and weekly trend charts show how your AI search traffic is growing. Spot changes before they impact your business.
Platform Breakdown
See exactly which AI platforms send you the most traffic with interactive charts. Compare ChatGPT vs Perplexity vs Gemini side by side.
Top Pages by AI Platform
Know which of your pages get cited most in AI responses. Identify your best-performing content for each AI search engine.
30+ AI Crawler Detection
Detect GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Bytespider, Amazonbot, Cohere, MistralAI, and more with confidence scoring.
Turn Data Into AI Search Strategy
Use your referral and citation data to optimize content for AI search engines systematically.
High Crawl + High Referral
AI systems index your page, cite it, and users click through. This is the target state.
Action: Maintain and expand this content
High Crawl + Low Referral
AI crawlers index the page but it doesn't generate click-throughs. Content is being summarized too completely.
Action: Add depth that requires visiting the page
Low Crawl + Low Referral
AI crawlers aren't finding the page. Content structure or discoverability needs work.
Action: Improve internal linking and add structured data
Learn More About AI Search Optimization
Guides and technical deep-dives on GEO, AI referrals, and AI crawler detection.
AI SEO & GEO: Practical Guide
How to optimize for AI search engines, track citations, and automate GEO with your own LLMs.
LLM Referral Data: Track AI Traffic
How WebDecoy captures AI search traffic that Google Analytics reports as "direct".
Detect AI Scrapers
Identify GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and 15+ other AI crawlers visiting your site.
See also: Bot Scanner for behavioral analysis, FCaptcha for CAPTCHA protection, and Rules for automated response.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about AI referral tracking and citation monitoring.
What is AI referral tracking and how does it work?
AI referral tracking identifies visitors who arrive at your site after clicking a link in an AI-generated response. WebDecoy analyzes the document.referrer header on each page load, matching it against known AI platform domains like chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, and claude.ai. This happens automatically with zero configuration — just install the WebDecoy script and referrals appear in your dashboard.
Why does Google Analytics miss AI search traffic?
Google Analytics typically reports AI referral traffic as "direct" or "(not set)" because many AI platforms strip or modify the referrer header. WebDecoy captures referrals that GA4 misses by analyzing referrer data at the detection layer before it reaches your analytics pipeline. This gives you accurate attribution for the fastest-growing acquisition channel.
What is the difference between AI referrals and AI citations?
AI referrals track human visitors who click through from AI platforms to your site — this is traffic you receive. AI citation monitoring tracks which of your pages AI crawlers are actively indexing — this tells you which content AI systems are using to generate responses. Together, they form the complete GEO measurement pipeline: which content gets crawled, which gets cited, and which drives traffic.
What is GEO and how does it differ from SEO?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content for visibility in AI-generated search responses. While SEO targets ranking position on Google, GEO targets citation probability — whether AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity reference your content when answering queries. GEO is additive to SEO: the same content can rank on Google and get cited by AI search engines.
How does citation monitoring detect AI crawlers?
WebDecoy identifies 30+ AI crawlers through a combination of user agent matching, behavioral analysis, and TLS fingerprinting. When GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, or any other known AI scraper visits your pages, the crawler identity, page URL, and timestamp are recorded. The citation monitoring dashboard shows which pages are crawled most and by which AI systems.
Ready to see your AI search traffic?
Start tracking AI referrals and citations with your existing WebDecoy installation. No configuration required.
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