ChatGPT Changes Are Causing a Drop in AI Traffic Recorded by GA4
Since October 9, 2026, some ChatGPT visits have been landing in the Direct channel in Google Analytics 4, because links in the new answer interface stopped passing on the utm_source=chatgpt.com parameter and referrer information. In reports, this looks like a sharp drop in AI traffic, but the available analyses suggest that many of these visits still reach websites, just under a different label. In a sample of our own projects, we see a drop in 11 out of 12 cases, with a median of 40%, while AI visibility measurements remain stable.
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