Untrackable Google AI Mode Traffic in Search Console and Analytics

Are We Entering the Era of “Not Provided 2.0”?

If you are trying to figure out how much traffic your website is receiving from Google’s new AI mode, you are behind the eight ball (unlucky). Google’s AI mode is now live in Search and doesn’t pass referral data. What does this mean? This means marketers, SEOs, and website owners have no visibility into how much traffic is coming from AI-powered search results – not in Google Search Console (GSC), not in Google Analytics and not in third-party tools.

Is this the beginning of “Not Provided 2.0”?

What Is Google AI Mode?

AI mode is part of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) – a repicturing of how user engage with information. In place of ten blue links, AI Mode provides a combined response to queries using generative AI that is followed by citations or links to supporting web content.

However, there is an important catch: you can’t monitor clicks from AI Mode in your usual analytics platforms.

What’s the Problem?

Testing and reports from the SEO community verify that AI Mode traffic is unnoticeable. Let’s look at what’s happening:

• Google Search Console (GSC) doesn’t report clicks from AI mode.
• Google Analytics (GA4) and other platforms name these visits as “Direct” or “Unknown.”
• The links in AI Mode use the noreferrer attribute, intentionally eliminating referral information.

Basically, your website could be featured in AI Mode, users might be clicking your link, but you’ll never know.

News Publishers Criticize Google’s AI Mode

In this section, we will understand the increasing fallout from new organizations and digital publishers against Google’s AI Mode. As Google’s generative AI features grow within search results, many publishers argue that their original content is being summarized and surfaced without proper traffic being directed back to their websites.

Key Points:

Allegations of Content “Theft”: Leading U.S. news publishers comprising those in the News Media Alliance, have publicly criticized Google’s AI Mode for using their reporting AI-generated summaries without passing referral traffic or appropriate attribution. The claim this practice essentially “steals’ their work and weakens the economics of digital journalism.

Traffic Loss Concerns: AI Overviews and summaries minimize the requirement for users to click through to source websites. Publishers argue that this notably impacts their ad revenue and reader engagement, threatening the sustainability of independent media.

Opaque Metrics: Google claims AI mode “drive high-quality traffic,” but provide no clear data. With click-throughs from AI mode not displaying in Google Search Console or analytics, publishers can’t verify these claims – giving rise to even more mistrust.

Why It Matters:

Content creators depend to a large extent on Google for visibility and traffic. If AI-driven searh experiences summarize answers directly on the search page, users have less incentive to visit source site. This weakens original journalism and minimizes content monetization opportunities.

Google’s AI Mode Reduces Click-Through Rates

This section concentrates on one of the most upsetting concerns in the SEO and digital marketing communities: Google’s AI Mode appears to notably minimize click-through rate (CTR) for traditional search results. As AI-generated answers are in limelight users are getting the information they require without ever visiting a website.

Key Points:

AI Overviews Satisfy the Query on the Page: With Google’s AI Mode, users are increasingly served direct answers at the top of search results, minimizing the need to click on links. These AI summaries grab data from different sources and display the information directly in the search interface.

CTR Impact Documented: Independent testing and case studies have displayed that CTR can decrease by 20-60% for keywords where AI Overviews are active. Even if your site ranks #1, it may no longer obtain the same level of traffic because the AI snippet answers the user’s question before they even scroll down.

Lost Attribution: Since referral data is stripped (due to the norefferrer tag), even when users do click through, the traffic is recorded as “Direct” or “Unknown.” This combines the challenge of measuring the true impact AI Mode has on CTR and overall traffic.

Why It Matters:

Click-through rates are essential for:

• Measuring content performance
• Optimizing search visibility
• Generating ad revenue or leads

With AI Mode blocking user behavior at the top of the funnel, websites lose both visibility and trackability, making it challenging to justify content investment or SEO spending.

Moreover, when fewer people visit source pages, creators lose the opportunity to engage users more deeply, offer extra content, or monetize through ads or products.

Is This a Bug or a Feature?

Google has made mixed and irregular statements:

• In one Google Search Central help doc, it claims AI-generated results (including AI Mode and Overviews) are counted under “Web” in GSC.
• Yet, in practice, AI Mode traffic is completely absent.
• Google’s own guide on “Impressions, clicks, and position” makes no mention of AI Mode.

To make things questionable, Google’s recent messaging tells webmasters to “focus less on clicks” and more on the “overall value of visits.” That’s not just a shift in analytics – it is a redefinition of performance without measurable proof.

What John Mueller Said

On LinkedIn, Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller responded to the concerns:

“This seems unanticipated… I saw this somewhere else and already sent it to the team to check.”

No follow-up or timeline has been provided since, so we remain in the dark.

The Bigger Picture

Google’s direction is clear: AI is the future of search. But with that evolution comes a loss of visibility and control. For marketers and content creators, this is more than a tracking issue — it’s a shift in power.

Google is shaping the user journey, curating the answers, and now, concealing the performance. That makes it harder to justify SEO investment, measure ROI, and refine content strategy.

What Now?

Until Google provides clearer answers — or changes how AI Mode handles referrals — here’s what you can do:

• Watch your “Direct” traffic closely for unexplained spikes.
• Tag your URLs in some cases to help with self-identification (though limited).
• Educate stakeholders that visibility in AI search may not yet be measurable.
• Push for transparency — the SEO community has influence when unified.

Final Thoughts

Google AI Mode might be great for users, but it’s a black hole for marketers. With referral data stripped and clicks hidden, we’re entering a post-analytics era where we’re told to believe in traffic we can’t see.

Until Google opens the data floodgates, “Not Provided 2.0” isn’t just speculation — it’s our new reality.