---
title: Connecting your website to OpenAttribution
description: Learn how to connect your website to OpenAttribution and see how often AI tools like ChatGPT visit your content in Commission Factory.
---

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# Connecting your website to OpenAttribution

## See how often AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity visit your website.

**What AI Tracking shows you**

AI Tracking shows how often AI platforms request pages on your website, and whether those requests reached your content. The data comes from OpenAttribution, a free and independent standard for measuring how AI tools use web content.

This matters because AI bot visits usually don't appear in tools like Google Analytics. Once you're connected, you'll find this data under **AI Reporting** in the left menu.

AI Tracking is being released to selected affiliates first. If you're an affiliate and would like access, contact your Commission Factory account manager. 

**Before you start**

You'll need all of the following:

- **AI Tracking enabled on your account.** The Commission Factory affiliate team can turn this on for you if you don't already have access.
- **A verified website.** The website must be added as a website traffic source and verified in Commission Factory.
- **The right user permissions.** You need permission to update account settings to connect a website, and permission to view reports to see the data.
- **Access to your website's hosting or DNS settings.** You or your developer will need this to set up OpenAttribution.

There's no cost to register with OpenAttribution or for Commission Factory to read your data. Depending on your setup, your hosting provider may charge a small amount to run the code that reports AI visits.

### **Step 1: Set up OpenAttribution for your website**

Complete this step on the OpenAttribution side before you connect anything in Commission Factory.

1. **Create an OpenAttribution account.** Sign up as a content owner at [openattribution.org](https://openattribution.org/) and add your domain.
2. **Verify your domain.** Prove you own the website by publishing a small file at `/.well-known/content-telemetry.json` on your site, or by adding a DNS TXT record. Once verified, you'll receive an API key starting with `oat_pub_`. Keep this key private.
3. **Set up AI visit reporting.** Choose the option that matches how your website is built: 
     - **Your site already uses Cloudflare:** deploy OpenAttribution's free Cloudflare Worker. It works on every Cloudflare plan, including the free plan. See the [Cloudflare guide](https://openattribution.org/docs/integrations/cloudflare) and [quickstart](https://openattribution.org/docs/quickstart).
     - **Your site is on Squarespace, Wix or a similar hosted platform:** route your domain through a free Cloudflare account, then add the Worker. This involves changing your domain's nameservers, so check with your host first. See the [hosted sites guide](https://openattribution.org/docs/integrations/hosted-sites).
     - **You run your own server:** your developer can report AI visits directly through the OpenAttribution API. See the [API reference](https://openattribution.org/docs/api).
     - **WordPress, Vercel, Netlify, Fastly, Akamai or CloudFront:** integrations for these platforms are still in progress. You can request early access through [OpenAttribution](https://openattribution.org/#contact).

For full details, see the [OpenAttribution integrations overview](https://openattribution.org/docs/integrations) and [Measurement partners guide](https://openattribution.org/docs/partners).

### **Step 2: Give Commission Factory access and connect**

1. Log in to your Commission Factory account and go to your traffic sources page.
2. Find your website and click Connect OpenAttribution. A window opens showing Commission Factory's organisation ID.
3. Copy the organisation ID. Click the field to copy it.
4. In your OpenAttribution dashboard, go to Measurement partners, paste Commission Factory's organisation ID and grant read access. You can remove this access at any time. See OpenAttribution's Measurement partners guide.
5. Back in Commission Factory, click Connect.

If everything is set up, the window closes and your website shows as Connected. Go to AI Reporting in the left menu to view your report.

### **Adding a new website?**

After you verify it, you'll be offered the same Connect OpenAttribution step straight away. If OpenAttribution isn't set up yet, choose Connect later and use the Connect OpenAttribution button on your traffic sources page when you're ready.

### **Connection statuses and troubleshooting**

Your traffic sources page shows an OpenAttribution status for each website.

| Status | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Connected | Commission Factory confirmed your OpenAttribution setup when you connected. | Go to **AI Reporting** in the left menu. |
| Not connected | You haven’t connected this website in Commission Factory yet. | Complete Step 1, then Step 2. |

- **If you see “Unable to connect to OpenAttribution"**. Check your registration and delegation, then try again. Either your domain isn’t registered and verified with OpenAttribution, or Commission Factory hasn’t been given read access yet. Check Step 1 and point 4 of Step 2, then click Connect again.
- **If you can’t see the Connect OpenAttribution button**, it usually means one of the following:

- - AI Tracking isn’t enabled on your account yet. Ask your account manager.
    - The traffic source hasn’t been verified, has no web address, or is a Paid Search traffic source.
    - Your user doesn’t have permission to update account settings. Ask your account administrator.
- **If you change your website’s URL.** The connection is removed and the website shows as Not connected. Set up the new domain in OpenAttribution if needed, then connect again.
- **If you're connected but see no data.** It can take a day or two for AI visits to appear after you set up reporting, especially on lower traffic sites. If nothing appears after that, check OpenAttribution's [troubleshooting guide](https://openattribution.org/docs/troubleshooting).

### **Understanding your AI Reporting page**

The page shows the last 30 days by default. You can change the date range, and choose All domains or a single website from the dropdown. The data is fetched from OpenAttribution each time you load the page or change a filter.

#### AI visits summary

| Metric | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Total Visits By AI Platforms** | Every request from an AI platform to your website. |
| **Successful Visits** | The page loaded for the AI tool (a 2xx response). |
| **Redirects** | The AI tool was redirected to another URL, either within your domain or outside it (a 3xx response). |
| **Unsuccessful Visits** | The page didn’t load as expected (any other response). |

#### AI visits by platform

Visits are grouped by the company behind each AI tool, such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google. New tools we haven’t identified yet show as **Unknown** until they’re added.

#### AI visits overview

This shows the stages your content can move through in AI: **Retrieved**, **Grounded**, **Cited**, **Presented** and **Engaged**.

Today, only **Retrieved** is populated. It counts Successful Visits plus Redirects, and means an AI tool fetched your page. It doesn’t confirm the content was used in an answer.

The later stages are visible but show 0:

- **Grounded:** your content was used as evidence.
- **Cited:** your content was cited in the response.
- **Presented:** your content was shown to the user.
- **Engaged:** the user acted on your content.

AI platforms haven’t switched on this reporting yet, and these stages will fill in once they do.

### **FAQs**

**Does this cost anything?**   
OpenAttribution is free and open. There's no fee to register your website or for Commission Factory to read your data. Your hosting provider may charge a small amount to run the reporting code, depending on your setup.

**Who can see my AI Tracking data?**   
Only users on your account with permission to view reports. Advertisers can't see it.

**Can I stop sharing my data with Commission Factory?**   
Yes. Remove Commission Factory from the the partners page in your OpenAttribution dashboard.

**Why don't AI visits show in Google Analytics?**   
AI bots generally don't run the scripts that analytics tools rely on, so their visits aren't recorded. OpenAttribution reports them from your website's hosting layer instead.

**Does a retrieval mean AI recommended my content?**   
No. A retrieval means an AI tool fetched your page. It doesn't confirm the content was used, quoted or shown to anyone.

**When will the other stages be available?**   
They depend on AI platforms choosing to switch on this reporting. There's no date yet, and it isn't something Commission Factory can speed up.

**Does AI Tracking show sales?**   
No. It shows AI visits to your website, not commissions or sales.

**Does Commission Factory store my AI Tracking data?**   
The data is fetched live from OpenAttribution each time you load the page, so it reflects what OpenAttribution holds for your website. Commission Factory does not currently store any of this data.

**Who can I contact for help?**   
For setup on the OpenAttribution side, see [OpenAttribution's documentation](https://openattribution.org/docs/integrations). For anything in Commission Factory, contact your Commission Factory representatvie. 

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