Can You See Who Uses ChatGPT on Analytic Platforms?

How Does ChatGPT Interact With External Websites?

ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) access and summarize information across the internet, but their interaction with external websites is not the same as a human browser session. These tools do not “click” through links in the traditional sense unless a user manually follows a link from a ChatGPT-generated answer. ChatGPT’s responses are also generated on OpenAI’s infrastructure and not on your website, meaning the user may never visit your domain—unless prompted to by a source link.

Some crucial distinctions in ChatGPT interaction include:

• Link Surface: When ChatGPT provides URLs, they are static suggestions unless the user decides to click through.
• No Cookies or Sessions: Unlike standard browser traffic, ChatGPT does not initiate a session with cookies or identifiable browser activity.
• Indirect Referrals: Many users might copy and paste URLs or visit the site directly later, making it hard to trace the origin back to ChatGPT.

This disconnect often results in “dark traffic”—visits that appear as direct in Google Analytics but may have originated from AI platforms.

What Kind of Traffic Might Come From ChatGPT?

While ChatGPT doesn’t directly generate high volumes of trackable referral traffic, it can influence user behavior that results in downstream visits. These indirect signals may not appear clearly in analytics platforms but can still affect how users discover and engage with your content. When analyzing traffic influenced by ChatGPT, here’s what you might encounter:

• Direct Traffic Spikes: Some visitors arrive at your site by copying and pasting a URL provided by ChatGPT, which shows up as direct traffic in analytics reports. Because there’s no referrer data attached, this type of traffic is often lumped in with users who typed your web address directly or used bookmarks, making it hard to identify the true source. Spikes in direct traffic—especially to deep links—can sometimes indicate AI-driven discovery.
• Referral Traffic from OpenAI Domains: In rare cases, users logged into web-based versions of ChatGPT may generate referral data tagged to chat.openai.com, though this is inconsistent. Whether or not this data appears often depends on the browser behavior, session status, and how the link is followed. It’s not uncommon for marketers to find only a few, if any, sessions from OpenAI sources, even when AI exposure is likely.
• Organic Behavior Changes: Users might search for your brand or product in a traditional search engine after a ChatGPT interaction, generating SEO value but no direct attribution to the AI tool. For instance, if a user asks ChatGPT for the best local service providers or software tools, they may follow up with a branded search or a related query in Google, which drives organic search clicks to your site. These behavior changes are difficult to measure but can often be seen in trendline shifts in branded keyword traffic.
• Higher Bounce Rates: AI-influenced visitors often skim for a specific answer, leading to shorter sessions and quicker exits, which may impact engagement metrics. Because ChatGPT already offers context or summaries, users may visit your site only to validate one specific detail, resulting in brief visits with minimal interaction. These patterns may resemble mobile or voice search behavior—fast, goal-oriented, and low on time on page.

ChatGPT is better viewed as a discovery tool—similar to word-of-mouth, social mentions, or forum recommendations—rather than a traditional referrer with measurable UTM data. Although its role may be challenging, the influence of AI digital marketing can significantly shape how users find and evaluate your content.