AI engines show up as referrers only when a user click preserves referrer data; otherwise, the visit usually lands in “direct,” “unknown,” or another unattributed bucket. That makes referrer reports useful, but limited, so the best signals are explicit campaign parameters, clear page structure, and careful reading of direct traffic trends.
Essential Concepts: Referrers depend on browser headers; AI traffic often loses attribution; “direct” often means unknown, not typed URL.
