UTM parameters by platform

Deep references for every platform's UTM conventions, dynamic tokens, and attribution gotchas. Built on primary sources, kept current.

Analytics & receivers

Google Analytics

The receiver where UTMs land — source, medium, campaign reports in GA4 and the default channel grouping.

Multi-channel ad platforms

One platform spanning Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen. ValueTrack macros drive every UTM.

Meta Ads

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network — one ads account, four surfaces, fbclid attribution, and dynamic creative tokens.

Paid social

Quora Ads

Quora's self-serve ad platform — question-context targeting, the Quora Pixel, and a B2B-friendly audience other paid-social channels miss.

Reddit Ads

Reddit's self-serve ad platform — community-context targeting, rdt_cid for click attribution, and a Conversions API for the iOS-era gap.

TikTok Ads UTM tracking: the double-underscore macros, the __AID__/__CID__ naming trap, ttclid auto-tagging, and a standards-only template.

AI assistants & answer engines

How ChatGPT traffic shows up in analytics, why it often lands as Direct/None, and the utm_source=chatgpt convention to apply to links you control.

Claude cites sources and links out when it browses. You can't set UTMs inside it — tag the links you control so Claude referrals attribute cleanly.

How Gemini referral traffic behaves, why it differs from AI Overviews, and the utm_source=gemini, utm_medium=ai-assistant convention for links you control.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot cites and links out to sources. You can't set UTMs inside it — tag the links you control so Copilot referrals attribute cleanly.

How Perplexity traffic behaves, why it can land as Direct/None, and the utm_source=perplexity, utm_medium=ai-assistant convention for links you control.