Dark AI Traffic
Definition
Dark AI Traffic refers to visits influenced by AI answers that arrive without an identifiable referrer, often labeled Direct in analytics.
Plain English
Someone read about you in an AI answer, typed your URL directly, and GA4 has no idea AI sent them. That's dark AI traffic.
Why it matters
- AI platforms don't always pass clean referrer data.
- A chunk of AI-influenced visits show up as Direct or unattributed.
- Self-reported attribution and channel grouping help close the gap.