In short. Use a free-form exploration with Country rows, Sessions values and a Session source filter for the selected AI assistants.
Definition: Comparing AI referral sessions by country in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) means counting sessions attributed to selected AI assistant sources, grouped by the Country dimension. The exploration uses Country for geographic rows, Session source for acquisition filtering, and Sessions for the count.
Key facts
- As of October 2026, Google's Explorations documentation describes dimensions, metrics and filters as configurable parts of an exploration.
- Google's Traffic acquisition documentation defines Session source as the originating publisher or inventory source and Sessions as sessions beginning on the website or app.
- Google's Demographic details documentation defines Country as the country where user activity originates and derives location from IP addresses.
How is the country table configured?
Google's free-form exploration guide starts with Explore, then the Free form template. Its table supports row dimensions, column dimensions and metric values. The following configuration combines those controls with acquisition and geographic fields:
Explore > Free form
Variables > Dimensions: Country, Session source
Variables > Metrics: Sessions
Settings > Visualization: Table
Settings > Rows: Country
Settings > Columns: Session source
Settings > Values: Sessions
Google's Explorations guide explains that fields are imported into Variables and then dragged into the tab settings. The date range is selected at the top of Variables. A custom date range remains fixed when the exploration is reopened.
With Session source in Columns, the table separates sources within each country. Removing that column dimension produces a country total for the sources retained by the filter. The free-form settings also include Show rows, which controls how many country rows appear.
How are assistant sources selected?
The Traffic acquisition report exposes recorded Session source values. These session-scoped fields describe acquisition for new and returning users. Source selection starts with the values recorded in the property.
Google's filter instructions place Filters at the bottom of Settings: select a dimension, choose a match type, enter an expression and click Apply. Expressions are case sensitive. Multiple filters must all match, so separate source filters joined this way cannot express alternative assistant sources.
A regular expression is a pattern for matching text. Google's regular expression documentation defines | as an OR match and .* as a way to match surrounding characters. This example retains source values containing chatgpt or perplexity:
Settings > Filters
Dimension: Session source
Match type: matches regex
Expression: .*chatgpt.*|.*perplexity.*
This expression adapts selected patterns from Google's AI assistants channel example. It covers the named patterns only; the same documentation calls for updating expressions when the assistant list or URLs change.
What does the geographic breakdown represent?
Google's Country definition describes the origin of user activity. Its example assigns United States to activity originating there. Region and City are separate geographic dimensions, also populated automatically from IP addresses.
For a map, the free-form guide provides a Geo map visualization. Geo breakdown takes the location dimension, while Values takes a single metric: Country and Sessions provide the corresponding geographic view.
Related terms
- GA4 traffic acquisition
- AI referral traffic
- How do I build a session segment for AI traffic in GA4 Explorations?
- Why is older AI referral data missing from GA4 Explorations?
FAQ
Can I compare engagement alongside session counts?
Yes. You can import Engagement rate and add it to Values alongside Sessions. Google's Traffic acquisition documentation defines Engagement rate as the percentage of sessions that are engaged sessions.
Can I export the country comparison?
Yes. Google's Explorations guide provides Export data, including CSV and Google Sheets. Those formats export all data available in the selected visualization, which can exceed the rows currently displayed.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help, "Get started with Explorations", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "[GA4] Free-form exploration", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "[GA4] Traffic acquisition report", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "[GA4] Demographic details report", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "[GA4] Apply segments and filters, and view users", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "About regular expressions (regex)", undated
- Google Analytics Help, "Custom channel groups", undated
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