If you’re running digital campaigns, whether on Meta, Google, or anywhere else, it’s essential to know which ads are actually driving conversions. GA4 (Google Analytics 4) can show you exactly that. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to track visitors from a UTM-tagged ad all the way to your checkout success page. Even if you’ve never used GA4 before, this guide is for you.

Step 1: Add UTM Parameters to Your Ad Links

Before tracking works, you need to tag your ad links with UTMs. UTMs tell GA4 where the traffic came from. If you’re totally new to UTM tags, read this UTM tag explainer here, or below is just a quick recap:

Example URL for a ChatGPT or Meta ad:

https://yourbrand.com/checkout?utm_source=chatgpt&utm_medium=conversation&utm_campaign=winter_sale

UTM breakdown:

  • utm_source = Where the traffic comes from (e.g., chatgpt, facebook, google)
  • utm_medium = Type of channel (e.g., conversation, cpc, social)
  • utm_campaign = Your campaign name (e.g., winter_sale)

💡 Tip: Keep your naming consistent across all platforms so GA4 can compare app

Step 2: Log into GA4 and check that traffic is coming through

  1. Open GA4 → select your property.
  2. Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition.
  3. In the table, you’ll see Session default channel grouping.
  4. Look for your utm_source in the table (e.g., “chatgpt” or “facebook”).

✅ You should now see how many users are coming from your tagged ad.

Step 3: Set up conversion tracking (if you haven’t already)

To track how many people actually go through your checkout having come from an ad:

  1. Go to Configure → Events.
  2. Check if you already have an event for checkout success. Common names include: purchase, order_complete, thank_you_page.
  3. If you don’t:
    • Click Create Event → Create
    • Name it something like checkout_success
    • Set matching conditions:
      • page_location contains /thank-you or /checkout-success
    • Save the event
  4. Next, go to Configure → Conversions → New conversion event
    • Enter checkout_success (or whatever you named your event)
    • Save

Now GA4 will treat this page visit as a conversion.

Step 4: See conversions by ad source

Now that your traffic and conversions are tracked, here’s how to see which ad brought the conversion:

  1. Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition
  2. Click the Primary dimension dropdown → Session source / medium
  3. Look for your source (chatgpt) and medium (conversation)
  4. Add a Secondary dimension → Conversions → Event count or use Explorations → Free-form

Optional: Use GA4 Explorations for detailed paths

For a full journey view:

  1. Go to Explore → Free Form
  2. Drag Source / Medium to Rows
  3. Drag Event name to Columns
  4. Drag Event count or Conversions to Values
  5. Filter by your UTM campaign if needed

Now you can see:

ChatGPT conversation → Checkout success = X conversions
Facebook ad → Checkout success = Y conversions
Google CPC → Checkout success = Z conversions

Step 5: Bonus – track the full conversion path

GA4 allows you to see user journeys from first interaction to conversion:

  1. Go to Explore → Path Analysis
  2. Select Start from Source / Medium
  3. Filter for your chatgpt source
  4. GA4 will show the path:
chat query click → landing page → product page → checkout → thank you

You can even see where people drop off, so you can optimize the path.

Key things to remember

  • Always use UTMs – GA4 can’t read “ChatGPT” or “Meta” unless you tell it via URL parameters.
  • Name events clearly – this makes reports much easier to read.
  • Use Explorations if you want detailed visual paths, otherwise the standard reports work fine.
  • Check your conversion reporting regularly to spot underperforming campaigns.


Tracking conversions in GA4 doesn’t have to be complicated. With UTM parameters and a few simple GA4 settings, you can see exactly which ads (ChatGPT in due course, Meta, Google, etc.) are driving real revenue. Once you get this set up, you’ll have a full picture of your customer journey, from first click to checkout.