For months, AI traffic to local business websites has been a blind spot: a visitor arrives from a chatbot and your analytics files them under "direct" or loses them entirely. Google just took a small step toward fixing that, and it is worth knowing about before you try to judge whether AI search is sending you customers.
What Changed
Google has quietly started adding UTM tracking parameters to outgoing links in Gemini, the same kind of tag ChatGPT already uses. Google made no announcement; the change surfaced in a Reddit discussion, and Google's John Mueller confirmed he sees it too. The parameters are undocumented, so nobody outside Google knows yet exactly when they appear.
Separately, Search Engine Roundtable reported that a LinkedIn user spotted a tracking parameter, ?st_source=ai_overview, on links inside Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. Barry Schwartz could not reproduce it, and Google has not said anything, so treat that one as an unconfirmed test for now.
Why Referrer Data Was Not Enough
Normally your analytics relies on the referrer, the note a browser passes along saying where a visitor came from. In the Gemini mobile app, that referrer passes through only about 9% of the time, and it is stripped entirely when Gemini is invoked from the Android Assistant. UTM tags travel in the link itself, so they survive app webviews and show up in server logs far more reliably.
The core insight: a tag in the link is a far sturdier way to see AI visits than hoping a referrer survives the trip.
For a plumber in Denver, a dentist in Boulder, or a consultant in Colorado Springs, this matters because the question "is AI search actually sending me calls and form fills?" has been nearly impossible to answer. Better tagging does not change how you get recommended, but it can finally tell you whether you are.
What to Do About It
In Google Analytics, check your traffic sources for gemini-tagged or AI-related UTM values over the next few weeks, and note them separately from organic search.
Look at server logs or call-tracking reports, not just your dashboard, since tagged links are more likely to show up there.
Do not rebuild reporting around the Gemini tags yet; they are undocumented and could change without notice.
Make sure your landing pages load fast and show your business name, address, and phone number clearly, so an AI-referred visitor can act right away.
Keep your Google Business Profile and website details consistent; the tags only measure visits, they do not earn them.
AI attribution is still early and imperfect, but it is moving in the right direction. Start watching now so you have a baseline when the picture gets clearer.
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