How to track ChatGPT leads in HubSpot

For a long time, a lead who found you through ChatGPT landed in HubSpot as “Referrals”, “Direct traffic” or “Offline sources”, depending on how they arrived. HubSpot users asked for a dedicated option in the HubSpot Ideas forum, and HubSpot answered with a new traffic source category. This guide shows how to use it to find your AI leads, where it still misses them, and how to connect those leads to deals.

What HubSpot counts as an AI Referral

According to HubSpot’s traffic sources documentation, a visit is classed as AI Referrals when either:

• the referring domain is a recognised AI platform, or
• the utm_source, utm_medium or utm_campaign parameter contains a recognised AI platform’s domain, such as utm_source=chatgpt.com.

The recognised platforms are ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Meta AI, Mistral, Poe and Grok. On the contact record, Drill-down 1 holds the assistant’s domain (for example chatgpt.com) and Drill-down 2 holds the UTM campaign if there is one (see traffic source properties).

One important exception: HubSpot keeps regular Google and Bing search as Organic search. Only AI-specific domains such as gemini.google.com count as AI. So clicks from Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode will not appear under AI Referrals. That matches how Google itself reports them, inside normal search data.

Step 1: List every contact whose first visit came from AI

1. Go to CRM > Contacts and create a new view (or a segment, formerly called a list).
2. Add the filter Original traffic source is any of AI Referrals.
3. Add the columns Original traffic source drill-down 1, Create date and Lifecycle stage.
4. Save the view as “AI-sourced contacts”.

You now have every contact whose first tracked session came from an AI assistant, with the assistant named in drill-down 1. Sort by create date to see whether the number is growing.

Step 2: Check the “Latest” source as well

Original traffic source is fixed at the contact’s first tracked visit. Many AI leads are existing contacts who came back through ChatGPT before they converted. Build a second view with Latest traffic source is any of AI Referrals. Contacts that appear here but not in Step 1 are ones AI helped to convert rather than find you. Report them separately rather than adding them to your first-touch total.

Step 3: Catch assistants HubSpot doesn’t recognise

HubSpot’s list is short. Visits from assistants outside it, such as DeepSeek, You.com or Phind, are classed as ordinary Referrals. To find them:

1. Create a view with Original traffic source = Referrals.
2. Add Original traffic source drill-down 1 as a column and scan it, or filter it for AI domains you care about, such as chat.deepseek.com or you.com.

It’s also worth running the same check for chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai. Contacts created before HubSpot added the AI category may still be filed under Referrals. Our AI traffic reference lists the domains each assistant sends, and the AI referral regex generator gives you the full list in one place.

Step 4: Add a “How did you hear about us?” property

This is the step most HubSpot guides skip, and it’s the one that matters most for local and service businesses. A large share of people who get your name from ChatGPT never click a link. They search your name on Google or they phone you. HubSpot records the first as Organic search. The second shows up as Offline sources, or not at all until someone creates the contact by hand.

1. In Settings > Properties, create a contact property called “How did you hear about us?” as a dropdown select.
2. Include named options: Google search, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Another AI assistant, Friend or family, Social media, Other.
3. Add it to your main HubSpot forms. Make it required only if the form is short.
4. Give your sales or dispatch team the same property on the contact record, so answers from phone calls get logged too.

Now you have two kinds of evidence. Tracked AI leads come from the traffic source. Declared AI leads come from the customer’s answer. Keep them in separate columns instead of merging them. We cover the wording in detail in the most valuable question you’re not asking.

Step 5: Connect AI leads to deals and revenue

Contacts are only half the story. To see whether AI leads close:

1. In Reports > Create report, use the custom report builder with Deals as the primary source and Contacts as a secondary source (the custom report builder needs a Professional or Enterprise HubSpot subscription).
2. Filter deals to Closed won and group by the contact’s Original traffic source.
3. Add Amount as the measure.
4. Make a second version grouped by your “How did you hear about us?” property.

On Starter or free HubSpot, you can get close with a manual check. Open the “AI-sourced contacts” view, add Number of associated deals and Recent deal amount as columns, and export it monthly.

What HubSpot will still miss

• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: these clicks are counted as Organic search by design.
• No-click leads: people who read an AI answer and then search your name or phone you. Only the “How did you hear about us?” answer catches these.
• App links without a referrer: some links opened from AI desktop and mobile apps arrive with no referrer and no UTM, so they land as Direct traffic.
• Cookie consent: if a visitor declines tracking cookies, HubSpot can’t tie their earlier AI session to the contact.

None of this is a flaw in HubSpot specifically. Every analytics tool has these gaps, which is why AI numbers should always be read as a minimum. See why every AI attribution tool undercounts for more on this.

A 10-minute monthly routine

1. Open “AI-sourced contacts” and note the new contacts this month, by assistant.
2. Scan the Referrals view for AI domains HubSpot didn’t recognise.
3. Count the “How did you hear about us?” answers that name an AI assistant.
4. Check closed-won deals from both groups.
5. Write down one number: AI leads (tracked plus declared) and the revenue they closed.

If you’d rather not maintain the views by hand, Which AI Sent can push each lead into HubSpot by webhook or Zapier, already tagged with the AI source and whether it was confirmed or declared. The steps above work without it, though.