You wake up to a new lead in your inbox. Calendly notification, someone booked a call. You check your analytics to see where they came from.
Source: Direct. No referrer.
Weird. You didn't run any ads. Nothing went viral. Where did this person come from?
Turns out, ChatGPT recommended you. The prospect asked for help with their problem, AI mentioned your name, they searched for you, and now they're on your calendar.
Your analytics has no idea this happened.
The invisible referral engine
ChatGPT has over 200 million weekly active users. A lot of them are asking questions like "What's the best tool for X?" and "Can you recommend a service that does Y?"
When ChatGPT answers, it mentions specific brands. Sometimes with links, sometimes without. Either way, users remember the name, go find you, and show up in your funnel.
But here's the problem: this traffic is almost impossible to track.
The user didn't click a link from ChatGPT directly to your site. They heard your name, opened a new tab, searched for you on Google, and clicked your link from there. Your analytics says "Google Organic" because that's the last click. The reality is that ChatGPT drove the visit, and Google just facilitated it.
A typical invisible conversion
Picture this. Someone asks ChatGPT: "What's the best project management tool for freelancers?"
ChatGPT responds: "For freelancers, I'd suggest Notion, Todoist, or ClickUp. Notion works well if you want to combine notes with task management."
The user thinks "Notion, interesting." They go to Google, search "Notion pricing," click the link, and sign up for a free trial.
Notion's analytics shows one organic Google visit. But ChatGPT created that demand. Google just captured it.
If you're only tracking Google, you're missing the full picture.
Signs you're getting ChatGPT traffic
You can't always see it directly, but you can spot the patterns.
Branded searches going up without any obvious reason? People might be hearing your name from AI and then searching for you directly. Direct traffic spiking when you haven't launched anything new? Same thing.
Here's a subtle one: visitors who seem unusually informed when they arrive. They already know what you do. They've already decided you might be the solution. They're not browsing, they're evaluating. That's the hallmark of AI-referred traffic. They got pre-sold by the recommendation before they ever hit your site.
And often, these visitors convert better than typical organic traffic. Higher intent, shorter sales cycles, fewer questions. AI already did the initial qualification.
Why your attribution is broken
Studies estimate that 30 to 50 percent of web traffic has incorrect or missing attribution. AI referrals make this worse.
When someone clicks a link in a Google search result, you can track that. When someone hears your name from ChatGPT, opens a new tab, types your URL directly, and arrives on your homepage... you see "Direct" with no additional context.
The traffic is real. The leads are real. Your tracking just can't see the source.
How to actually track this
There are two approaches: direct measurement and indirect signals.
For direct measurement, use a tool like Mentionable to track when AI mentions your brand and for which queries. Then correlate that data with your traffic patterns. If AI visibility goes up and direct traffic goes up, you've got a connection. You can also just ask new users how they heard about you. Old school, but it works.
For indirect signals, watch your branded search volume over time. Monitor direct traffic patterns for unexplained spikes. Look at conversion rates, because AI-referred visitors often convert at higher rates since they arrive pre-qualified.
Neither approach is perfect, but together they give you a picture of what's happening.
Getting ChatGPT to mention you
ChatGPT draws from its training data, web browsing when enabled, and integrations. To show up in its recommendations, you need to exist in those sources in the right way.
Brand recognition in relevant contexts is crucial. If industry publications, comparison sites, and review platforms mention you as a solution to specific problems, AI picks up on that signal. Creating content that positions you for recommendations helps too. Not just "here's what we do" content, but "here's why we're the solution for this specific problem" content.
Third-party validation matters enormously. AI weighs what others say about you more heavily than what you say about yourself. One genuine review or mention in an industry publication counts more than ten pages of marketing copy on your own site.
And clarity of positioning makes all the difference. If AI can easily understand "this company helps X people solve Y problem," you're more likely to come up when someone asks about that problem.
Not all queries send traffic
Someone asking ChatGPT "what's the capital of France" doesn't create any commercial opportunity. But someone asking "what CRM should I use for my consulting business" creates real demand.
The queries that drive traffic are recommendation queries. "What's the best tool for..." or "Can you suggest a..." or "I need help with X, what should I use?" These are high-intent, purchase-adjacent questions where AI mentions specific brands.
Position yourself for recommendation queries, not just information queries. That's where the traffic lives.
The quality difference
ChatGPT traffic often converts better than search traffic, even though the volume is lower.
Think about why. The user didn't search for a generic term and land on your site as one option among many. They asked for a recommendation, got your name specifically, and came to you already leaning toward buying. AI did the initial selling. You just need to close.
Lower volume, higher quality. Plan your expectations accordingly.
What you can do right now
Start tracking your AI visibility. If you don't know when and how AI mentions you, you can't improve it.
Audit your positioning. Are you clearly recommendable for specific queries? Or are you buried in vague marketing language that doesn't help AI understand what you're for?
Build presence where AI looks. Get mentioned in publications, comparisons, and review sites. Make sure the signal exists for AI to pick up.
Watch your indirect metrics. Brand search volume, direct traffic, conversion rates. These will tell you if AI is sending people your way even when attribution fails.
ChatGPT traffic is real. It's growing. And it works completely differently from what you're used to.
The brands that figure this out early will capture demand their competitors don't even see.