AI Overviews (previously known as Search Generative Experience) is the reality we <\/span>currently o<\/span>perate in. While we\u2019ve all enjoyed sharing anecdotes about platform hallucinations and outdated information or questioned Google\u2019s official statements about how much more traffic they are driving to sites, <\/span>AI Overviews (AIO<\/span><\/a>) is <\/span>affecting <\/span>SEO<\/span><\/a> and traffic right now. This means we want to be able to track as much information as possible to gauge what content ranks well and drives traffic from the AI snippet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many articles have been written about the different ways <\/span>zero-click searches are impacting your SEO<\/span><\/a> and this is not going to be one of<\/span> those pieces. <\/span>There is no question about it, people are spending more time on the SERP which in turn is contributing to the erosion of organic traffic and negatively affecting your CTR. The SEO industry has seen a few tough years in terms of data. Some websites lost a lot o<\/span>f data on<\/span> traffic due to the cookie compliance policies and even though I worked on various forecasts to predict lost traffic and potential revenue, there was always a \u2018what if\u2019 moment that hit me after a day of crunching numbers. That combined with Google\u2019s anonymised queries, rise in traffic from AI platforms, the introduction of AIO without any traffic indications, and most recently the issues with third-party tools crawling Google\u2019s data has meant that it\u2019s been more difficult than ever to attribute traffic and conversions to organic efforts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The solution to the Google\u2019s AIO tracking problem has proven elusive but it\u2019s important to understand what data we have access to and what we need to set up additional tracking for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s continue with the example from the National Trust. When people search for \u2018What is a pilgrimage\u2019, they will see this result in the SERP and even if they don\u2019t click on the page, this will count towards your overall impressions in GSC.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To work around AIO tracking limits, I collaborated with our <\/span>data team<\/span><\/a> to set up tracking in GA4 that allows us to record traffic to URLs from overview snippets. Not only that, we were also able to capture the passage ranking that likely got the user to the page in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n The data will be impacted by cookie compliance but it is a terrific way to begin reporting on traffic from AIO and understanding what content performs best from featured snippets perspective and drives people\u2019s interest to visit the page and learn more about the topic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alongside this, you can also track any key events and average time spent on the page and gauge how people are engaging with your content.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here is an example of the landing page report in GA4, filtered by the custom event \u2018ai_snippet\u2019.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speak to our Data and SEO team today to audit your setup and find organic opportunities. <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Moving on from AIO traffic tracking and entering the world of AI referral traffic. <\/span> \u00a0You can use the following regex to filter traffic in the exploration:<\/span> Google\u2019s AI overviews are part of the search landscape and can\u2019t be ignored. Unfortunately, Google has not provided tracking data for any content appearing in AIO and we haven\u2019t seen any commitments to do this anytime soon. Whilst you can use third-party tools to track rankings in AIO, you can use GA4 and work with a data specialist to set up tracking that gives you a better idea of what content performs well and its driving interest. Making use of your first-party data will be crucial to connecting the dots and making better-informed marketing decisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here at Hallam, we love <\/span>SEO<\/span><\/a> and we love running tests and experiments like this. <\/span>Get in touch<\/span><\/a> with us if you have any questions and happy tracking!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" AI Overviews (previously known as Search Generative Experience) is the reality we currently operate in. While we\u2019ve all enjoyed sharing anecdotes about platform hallucinations and outdated information or questioned Google\u2019s official statements about how much more traffic they are driving to sites, AI Overviews (AIO) is affecting SEO and traffic right now. This means we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[11165,24133,1531,36203,13754,24793,18903,22276,14996,2135],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-67949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-ai","tag-digital-marketing","tag-google","tag-google-overviews","tag-googles","tag-hallam","tag-measuring","tag-overviews","tag-traffic","tag-visibility"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/span>
<\/span>Whilst the jury is still out on whether the AI-generated snippet indeed offers the many advantages Google claims it does, or is a hindrance to the search experience, I can see how it offers benefits to the user. Having information summarised and presented in this way saves people time and effort and it aligns with the experience they get from other AI platforms and chatbots like GPT and Perplexity. Indeed, the results need fine-tuning and we need to be able to trust the results, but Google is certainly not short of technological advancements and the results will get better. <\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>This article, however, does not focus on the search landscape and why you should be concerned about ranking in AIO for your most important content. Rather, I\u2019m here to talk to you about Google\u2019s AIO tracking why it\u2019s important to understand what <\/span>data you can track<\/span><\/a> and how you can set up additional traffic tracking to gain more insights and understand how your content is performing on different AI platforms. Let\u2019s dive in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhy is AIO tracking important\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
AIO tracking: what we know so far<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/span>
<\/span>You need to take this data with a pinch of salt. AIO rankings will change and the keyword database for each tool will be different and it will show you different results.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sistrix-AIO-ranking-examples-1024x536.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Natinal-Trust-AIO-example-1024x470.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
<\/span>
<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-28-at-15.25.22-1024x380.png\")
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nHow to set up AI overview traffic tracking in GA4\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AI-overview-traffic-tracking-1024x512.png\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\nHow to track AI referral traffic in GA4<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>GA4 can help here too. You can also set up an exploration report that gives you a quick summary of traffic from AI platforms. It\u2019s important to look at landing pages, key events, average time spent on site and how the traffic is changing over time. This type of report will give you an idea of what content is performing well on AI platforms so you can optimise further and update.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hallam.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Tracking-AI-referral-traffic-in-GA4-1024x604.png\"){kind=tracking}
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>
<\/span>.*chatgpt.*|.*openai.*|.*writesonic.*|.*perplexity.*|.*bard.*google.*|.*gemini.*google.*|
.*edgeservices.*|.*heygpt.*|.*claude.ai.*|.*komo.ai.*|.*copy.ai.*|.*iask.ai.*|.*copilot.microsoft.*|
.*jasper.ai.*|.*chat-gpt.*|.*gemini.google.com.*|.*talk.ezchatai.*<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nKey takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n
Get the most from your organic strategy\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n