Create AI Traffic Report in Data Studio

AI referral traffic comes from many different sources — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, and others. Rather than creating a separate filter for each one, a single RegExp (regular expression) filter lets you match all of them at once using the | (OR) operator. This means one filter covers your entire AI traffic footprint and can be reused across every chart in your report.

A standalone filter is applied to a single visualisation — only that chart or scorecard will show filtered data. A page-level filter is applied via "Current page settings" and affects every visualisation on that page simultaneously. Use a standalone filter when you want one AI-specific widget alongside other unfiltered charts. Use a page-level filter when you want an entire dedicated AI Traffic page where all data is scoped to AI sources.

Yes. Simply edit the filter and append the new source name with a | separator. For example, to add a new tool called "searchai": chatgpt|perplexity|gemini|claude|deepseek|...|searchai. The match is case-insensitive by default in Data Studio's RegExp Contains mode, so you don't need to worry about capitalisation. Update the filter in one place and it will apply everywhere you've used it.

Use Session Source / Medium as the filter dimension. This is the GA4 dimension that combines both the traffic source (e.g. chatgpt.com) and the medium (e.g. referral). Filtering on this dimension ensures you catch all AI referral sessions regardless of slight variations in how each tool passes its source information to GA4.

Filters in Looker Studio are scoped to a single report — they cannot be shared directly between reports. However, you can copy a report (File → Make a copy) to duplicate both the visualisations and filters. Alternatively, note down the RegExp formula and recreate the filter in each new report. For consistency, keep the same filter name (e.g. "AI Traffic") and formula across all your reports.

A useful AI traffic report typically includes: Sessions (volume of AI-referred visits), Session source / medium (breakdown by individual AI tool), Engaged sessions and Engagement rate (quality of AI traffic), Conversions or key events (business impact), and a time-series chart showing AI traffic growth over time. Add a date range comparison to track month-over-month growth as AI referral traffic continues to increase.