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Referrer Classifier
Paste any referrer URL (and optionally your landing URL with UTM tags) to see exactly how it gets classified into a traffic channel. Runs the same classification engine FocusStat uses in production, right in your browser.
Enter a referrer above, or try one of the examples.
How referrer classification works
When a browser navigates from one site to another it usually sends a Referer header: the URL of the page the visitor came from. Analytics tools map the referrer's hostname against known lists: google.* is organic search, reddit.com is social, chatgpt.com is an AI assistant, mail.google.com is webmail. UTM parameters on the landing URL override the guesswork, and utm_medium values like "cpc" flip a source from organic to paid.
No referrer at all becomes direct, which is why direct is really "unknown": bookmarks, typed URLs, most native mobile apps, and many privacy-restricted browsers all land there. If your direct share looks suspiciously large, missing UTM tags on campaigns are the usual culprit.
A recent shift worth watching: AI referrals. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Copilot now send meaningful traffic when they cite your pages. Classic analytics tools lump these under generic referrals; FocusStat (and this tool) break them out as their own channel so you can see the trend.
Frequently asked questions
Why does so much of my traffic show as direct?
Direct means 'no referrer information'. Bookmarks, typed URLs, links in native apps (email clients, Slack, Instagram), and privacy features that strip the Referer header all count as direct. Tagging campaign links with UTMs recovers a lot of it.
How is AI traffic from ChatGPT detected?
By referrer hostname: chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, claude.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com and similar domains. When an assistant cites your page and a user clicks through, that referrer arrives like any other, and it can be classified as an AI channel.
What decides paid vs organic?
The utm_medium on the landing URL. Values like cpc, ppc, paid, display or paid_social mark the visit as paid regardless of the referrer. Without a paid medium, known search and social domains count as organic.
Is the URL I paste here sent to a server?
No. This page runs the classification entirely in your browser; nothing you type leaves your machine.