Marketers Push Back on Attributing GA4 Direct Traffic Growth to AI Search
gaganghotra_ · x · 2026-10-21
Analyst Gagan Ghotra questions the trendy narrative that quarter-over-quarter growth in GA4 direct traffic mostly reflects users discovering brands via ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI search surfaces. He argues it's nearly impossible to classify what share of direct traffic should be attributed to AI surfaces, and that the same growth was previously just called "marketing working overall."
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