Checking Website Traffic: Tools and Methods for Analysis

You have created a website: the images, content, optimization, and security are all on point. But how do you know if everything is actually working? How do you know if people visit your site and purchase your products?

This is where website traffic statistics come into the picture. The data you get when you track website traffic gives you insight into:

• Who is visiting your website?
• How many people are visiting your website?
• How long are they staying?
• What exactly are they doing on the site?
• Why might they be leaving the site early?

When you have all this data, you can find what’s lacking in your strategy and improve it. Sounds good, right? But the main question here is – how to check website traffic?

The answer depends on whose website you want to check. For your own site, you can see exact numbers in free tools like Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. For any other site, such as a competitor, you can only see estimates from third-party traffic checkers.

Let’s look at both methods, compare the best tools and their current pricing, and see how to track the growing share of visits that come from AI search tools like ChatGPT.

Your Site vs. Any Site: Which Method Do You Need?

How to Check Your Own Website Traffic

If you own or manage the website, start with these tools. They show real visitor data, not estimates.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Let’s start with the king of free website traffic tools. Google Analytics 4 gives you a full picture of visitor data along with key insights into their demographics and age.

Why it’s good:

• It’s free and best for beginners who want to learn how to measure website traffic.
• It is compatible with multiple apps and tools like Google Ads, Google Search Console, AdSense, WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Zendesk, Facebook, Marketo, Hotjar, Semrush, Salesforce, Hootsuite, and more.
• It is easy to set up.

How to check your traffic in GA4:

• Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition to see sessions by channel, such as Organic Search, Direct, Referral, and the new AI Assistant channel.
• Go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens to see which pages get the most views.
• Use the date picker to compare periods and spot growth or drops.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is Google’s free tool for site owners. GA4 shows what visitors do, while Search Console shows how they find you in Google Search.

Why it’s good:

• It is completely free once you verify your site.
• The Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position for your pages.
• It shows the actual search queries that bring visitors to your site.
• It now includes a Generative AI report that shows impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Hotjar

Hotjar is a bit of a different tool in this list. This behavioral analytics tool offers insights into website traffic by sharing details about heat maps and session recordings. In simple terms, this tool will not just help you check website traffic but also show how visitors are interacting with your website, action by action.

Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare. Its free Basic plan covers up to 35 daily sessions, and paid Observe plans start at approximately ₹3,100/month.

Why it’s good:

• You can track visitors’ clicks, movements, and scrolls accurately.
• You can watch session replays to see actions step-by-step.
• It also helps in monitoring the percentage of visitors taking specific actions.
• You can utilize data segmentation for a deep understanding of key performance indicators.

How to Check Any Website’s Traffic

Want to see how much traffic a competitor gets? You can’t access their analytics, but third-party traffic checkers can estimate it. Treat these numbers as directional. They are useful for comparing sites and spotting trends, but they won’t match the site owner’s actual data.

Similarweb

One of the most popular tools to check any website’s traffic, Similarweb comes with multiple KPIs. Its free version shows a basic traffic overview, but limits you to the top 5 results per metric and 1 month of history. Paid Starter plans cost approximately ₹19,300/month, or about ₹12,100/month when billed annually.

Why it’s good:

• It has a user-friendly dashboard suitable for beginners and experts alike.
• The platform is designed for easy customization.
• You can also get a competitive analysis of other websites.
• It also offers funnel insights to improve your conversion rates.

Semrush

Semrush is an all-in-one SEO and traffic analysis tool that can offer detailed reports for any website. You can also use this tool for keyword research to boost SEO. It shares data on monthly traffic over time, traffic distribution by country, the keywords that bring the most traffic, and more.

Its SEO Classic plans start at approximately ₹13,500/month. Full competitor traffic data sits in the Traffic & Market Toolkit, which costs approximately ₹28,000/month. A free account gives you 10 reports per day, and most plans offer a 7-day free trial.

Why it’s good:

• It has a Bulk Traffic Analysis that lets you analyze traffic levels for multiple competitors at once.
• It can also help in link building, content marketing, and social media management.
• You can filter website traffic reports by region so you can detect priority markets across the globe.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another popular tool to understand website traffic. It is best known for its large backlink and keyword index. Its website traffic report gives you detailed insights that are easy to filter.

Paid plans start at approximately ₹2,800/month for Starter and ₹12,500/month for Lite. Ahrefs also offers a free Traffic Checker that shows search traffic estimates for any website or page.

Why it’s good:

• It has a user-friendly interface for checking website traffic, so even beginners who have no idea can use it easily.
• It also has an SEO audit tool to help you make technical tweaks for better ranking.
• It’s known for its features like domain comparison, domain analysis, and rank tracker.

Website Traffic Tools Compared: Pricing and Free Limits

Prices are approximate rupee conversions of USD list prices (₹96.76 = $1, October 2026), based on monthly billing. These tools usually bill in USD, so that the final amount may vary with exchange rates, bank forex charges and GST. Confirm current pricing on each tool’s website before you buy.

How to Track Traffic From AI Search and ChatGPT

More people now find websites through AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. This traffic is still small for most sites, but it is growing. Here is how to measure it.

Check the AI Assistant Channel in GA4

In May 2026, Google Analytics added a default “AI Assistant” channel. GA4 now groups sessions from recognized AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, under this channel with the medium “ai-assistant”.

To view it, go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition and look for the AI Assistant row. Google has not published the full list of AI referrers it recognizes.

Create a Custom Channel Group for Wider Coverage

For AI tools that GA4 may not recognize, create your own channel group:

• Go to Admin > Data display > Channel groups and create a new group.

• Add a channel called “AI Traffic” with the condition Source matches regex.

• Paste this pattern:

^(chatgpt\.com|chat\.openai\.com|perplexity\.ai|www\.perplexity\.ai|gemini\
.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|claude\.ai|chat\.deepseek\.com|grok\.com|meta\.ai)

• Move the rule above Referral, since GA4 applies rules from top to bottom.

• Save. Custom channel groups apply to historical data too.

Look for utm_source=chatgpt.com

ChatGPT on the web often adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it cites. Filter your Traffic acquisition report by session source to find these visits.

Use Search Console for AI Overviews and AI Mode

Clicks from Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode come through the normal Google Search domain. GA4 therefore counts them as Organic Search, not AI traffic. Search Console’s Generative AI report shows how often your pages appeared in these features. It reports impressions only, not clicks.

Know the Limits of AI Traffic Data

Missing referrers: Many visits from AI mobile apps arrive without a referrer and show up as Direct traffic.

Undercounting: Your AI traffic numbers are a minimum, not a full count.

Visibility is not traffic: AI tools often answer questions without a click. Track brand mentions and citations alongside visits.

Measure, Analyze, Grow: Take Control of Your Website Traffic

Measuring website traffic is a non-negotiable for running a successful website. Use GA4 and Search Console to understand your own site, traffic checkers to benchmark competitors, and AI traffic tracking to see how AI search is changing the way people find you.

Here at AdLift, we also use advanced tools for analyzing how we can help our clients get more traffic and conversions. Some of our clients have witnessed a whopping 47% traffic improvement, along with higher rankings. If you wish to grow your site, feel free to connect with us.