The AI search funnel, from crawled to converted
Proofsource's AI Funnel shows, for each page of your site and each AI engine, four steps: how often AI crawlers read the page, how often AI answers cite it, how many people clicked through and how many converted. It is for teams who want to know where AI search loses buyers, page by page, with any unmeasured step clearly marked.
| Engine | Crawled | Cited | Clicked | Converted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 1,940 | 96 | 702 | 24 |
| Perplexity | 1,210 | 71 | 318 | 12 |
| Claude | 710 | 29 | 72 | 2 |
| Google AI Overviews | - | 18 | - | - |
Dash: this engine does not pass a referrer or a separate crawler, so the step cannot be counted for it. Hover for the reason.
AI search funnel, in short
The facts, ready to quote.
- Four steps
- Crawled, Cited, Clicked, Converted
- Crawled from
- Your server or CDN logs (Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify or a log drain)
- Cited from
- Proofsource's own sampled answers from 10 AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot
- Clicked and converted from
- Your Google Analytics 4 landing pages and key events
- Unmeasured steps
- Show Not measured with the reason and a connect button, never a zero
- Periods
- 7, 30 or 90 days
What is an AI search conversion funnel?
An AI search conversion funnel follows a page through the steps that turn AI answers into business. First an AI crawler has to read the page. Then an answer engine has to cite it when a buyer asks a question. Then the buyer has to click the citation. Finally the visit has to convert into a sign-up, a lead or a sale. A leak at any step means lost buyers, and each leak has a different fix.
Each source shows one of these steps: crawler logs in one place, citations in another, analytics in a third. The trouble is that each source names pages differently, so it is hard to see that the page AI crawls most is not the page it cites, or that a well-cited page never converts.
Proofsource joins the three sources with one page-key rule, so crawler log paths, cited URLs and GA4 landing pages line up as the same page. The AI Funnel screen then shows four step tiles, a per-engine table and a searchable list of pages. When a source is not connected, the step reads Not measured with the reason, and a button to connect logs, your domain or GA4.
How it works
Per page and engine: how often AI crawlers read it, AI answers cite it, people click through and visitors convert.
Crawled
AI crawler visits per page come from your connected server or CDN logs.
Cited
Citations per page come from the answers Proofsource collects for your tracked buyer questions.
Clicked
Visits that AI assistants send to each landing page come from your Google Analytics 4.
Converted
Key events after those visits come from the same GA4 property, beside your whole audience for context.
See it in the product
Screens from the Proofsource app, drawn with sample data for an example brand.
| Page | Crawled | Cited | Clicked | AI conversions | All visitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /blog/otter-vs-driffle | 412 | 31 | 188 | 6 | 2,410 |
| /blog/best-ai-meeting-notes | 380 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 3,905 |
| /blog/fathom-alternatives | 120 | 17 | 64 | 3 | 870 |
Page 1 of 6. All visitors is the whole GA4 audience for that page.
| Page | Crawled | Cited | Clicked | Converted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| / | 1,204 | 88 | 402 | 14 |
| /pricing | 612 | 41 | 288 | 11 |
| /compare/otter | 408 | 36 | 190 | 9 |
| /blog/ai-meeting-notes | 355 | 27 | 141 | 3 |
| /integrations/zoom | 290 | 12 | 71 | 1 |
Each page is counted once in every step, whatever the log, the answer or GA4 calls it.
Every capability, live today
6 shipped capabilities behind AI search funnel, each in the product now.
AI Funnel screen
Per page and engine: crawled, cited, clicked and converted, for the last 7, 30 or 90 days. Steps that cannot be measured say Not measured and why.
Funnel step tiles
Four tiles with a count per step, and a button to connect logs, your domain or GA4 when a step is missing.
By-engine table
Counts per engine. Engines that send no referrer show a dash, with the reason on hover.
Searchable page table
A paged list of your pages with their AI signals, searchable and filterable by engine.
All-visitors column
Your whole GA4 audience sits next to AI-referred conversions, so the two are never confused.
One page key across sources
One rule matches crawler log paths, cited URLs and GA4 landing pages, so each page is counted as the same page in every step.
Who it is for
Find pages AI reads but never cites
A high crawled count with few citations points to a page that needs clearer answers, not more promotion.
Find cited pages that do not convert
Pages that earn AI clicks but no key events need a better landing experience, not more AI visibility.
Spot crawl gaps early
If a key page is never crawled, check robots rules and rendering before you spend time on content.
Show the full path to clients
One table explains where AI search leaks for each client page, from crawler to conversion.
Why it matters
Three sources, one page
Logs, citations and analytics line up per page, so you see the whole path in one row.
The leak shows the fix
Not crawled, not cited, not clicked and not converted each lead to a different, specific next step.
No invented numbers
Unmeasured steps say Not measured with the reason, and engines without referrers show a dash.
Context, not confusion
The all-visitors column keeps AI conversions apart from your whole audience.
Google AI OverviewsGoogle AI Mode
AI search funnel: Proofsource and other tools
Page-level views that join crawling, citations and traffic are new across the category; this is how each public page describes theirs.
| Capability | Proofsource | Profound | Peec AI | Scrunch | Ahrefs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawler activity and citations per page | YesCrawled and cited counts per page and engine in one table | YesShows citation and bot crawl activity per pageSource | YesPage-level AI bot crawling, citations and trafficSource | YesShows which pages get AI traffic and citationsSource | RelatedBot Analytics shows real-time AI crawler visits and top pagesSource |
| Clicks and conversions per page | YesAI-referred clicks and key events per landing page from GA4 | RelatedGA4 node pulls sessions, users, conversions, revenue into agentsSource | RelatedGA4 connection for traffic, engagement, conversions, revenueSource | RelatedSyncs data into existing analytics tools on EnterpriseSource | RelatedWeb Analytics shows pages receiving visitors from AI searchSource |
| Four-step funnel per engine | YesCrawled, cited, clicked and converted side by side for each engine | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| AI referral traffic | YesBy-engine table of AI-referred visits, with the reason where an engine sends no referrer | YesMeasures human visits from AI search and its effect on overall trafficSource | YesGoogle Analytics 4 connection for traffic, engagement, conversions, revenueSource | YesReports referral traffic from AI platformsSource | YesWeb Analytics (free) shows pages receiving visitors from AI searchSource |
| AI crawler visits from logs | YesCrawled counts per page from your connected logs | YesServer logs, not JS tracker; forwarding from AWS, Akamai, Cloudflare, Fastly, GCP, Netlify, VercelSource | YesBot visit insights via CDN and log providers; Cloudflare, CloudFront, AkamaiSource | YesReal-time feed of AI bot crawls and traffic trendsSource | YesBot Analytics shows real-time AI crawler visits and top pages; free in betaSource |
| Per-page table of AI signals | YesSearchable page table, filterable by engine | YesFinds whole site via sitemap crawl; shows citation and bot crawl activity per pageSource | Not listed | Not listed | RelatedWhich URLs AI cites when it mentions tracked brandsSource |
Where each of them shines
A Pages view that auto-discovers the whole site by sitemap and adds Search Console clicks beside AI citations. Compare in full
A My website view that brings crawling, citations and GA4 traffic together per page. Compare in full
Site Maps that show where AI traffic and citations land, plus crawl health monitoring for AI bots. Compare in full
Free Bot Analytics and Web Analytics that cover crawler visits and AI search visitors in real time. Compare in full
Questions about AI search funnel
What does Crawled, Cited, Clicked, Converted mean?
Crawled counts AI crawler visits to a page from your logs. Cited counts how often AI answers for your tracked questions cite that page. Clicked counts human visits AI assistants sent to it, and Converted counts the key events after those visits, both from your Google Analytics 4.
Which engines does the funnel cover?
Citations are measured on the up to 10 engines, depending on your plan: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI. Crawled and clicked depend on what each engine exposes; where an engine has no separate crawler or sends no referrer, the cell shows a dash with the reason.
What do I need to connect?
Cited works as soon as your brand is tracked. Crawled needs server or CDN logs, such as Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify or a log drain. Clicked and Converted need Google Analytics 4. Each missing step shows a button for the connection it needs.
Why does a step say Not measured instead of zero?
Zero would claim nothing happened. Not measured tells you the data source is missing, so you never make a decision on a number that was never counted.
Why show all visitors next to AI conversions?
So nobody reads your whole GA4 audience as AI-referred. The two numbers sit in separate columns for each page.
How are pages matched across logs, citations and analytics?
Proofsource applies one page-key rule to crawler log paths, cited URLs and GA4 landing pages, so the same page lines up across all four steps even when each source writes the address differently.
How is this different from Profound or Peec AI page views?
Both show crawling and citations per page, and Profound adds Search Console beside them. Proofsource adds clicked and converted from GA4 to the same row, per engine, and labels any step it cannot measure.
Can I change the time window?
Yes. The funnel reads the last 7, 30 or 90 days.
Keep exploring
Try it on your own brand.
Proofsource is live: scan your brand and see AI search funnel at work with your own answers, competitors and sources.
Google AI OverviewsGoogle AI Mode