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Web Analytics Guides: GA4, GTM, Consent and AI Search

Guides written from what the Waftr team finds in GA4, Tag Manager and Search Console audits. Start with why GA4 disagrees with the CRM, or with where AI search traffic hides between GA4 and Search Console.

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Laptop showing a cookie consent banner, one reason Google Ads and GA4 report different conversions
Latest guideAttribution

Google Ads vs GA4 conversions: attribution, conversion dates and consent

Google Ads credits its own clicks on the click date, GA4 shares credit on the event date, and consent changes what each tool can see. One quick test per cause shows which one explains your gap.

October 14, 2026 · 6 min readRead the guide
5 in-depth guides
GA4, Search Console, AI search
Numbers with scope and source
Fixes you can run yourself
Free Tracking Scan →
All guides

Every guide, newest first

Five guides so far, each built from problems we find in GA4, Tag Manager and Search Console audits, with the steps to fix them yourself.

All guides 5GA4 4AI search 2Search Console 1Attribution 2
  1. Laptop with a cookie consent banner, one cause of the gap between Google Ads and GA4 conversions
    Attribution

    Why Google Ads and GA4 conversions differ

    Attribution, conversion dates and consent explain most gaps. A quick test for each shows which one you have.

    October 14, 2026Read
  2. How to check AI traffic in GA4: a GA4 report beside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity logos
    AI search

    Find AI assistant traffic in GA4

    Two methods compared side by side, with two regex patterns ready to paste into a custom channel group.

    June 12, 2026Read
  3. AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions in Google Search Console on a dashboard, with Waft, the Waftr mascot
    Search Console

    AI Overview impressions in Search Console

    The five-click path to the Generative AI features report, a four-way page check and a weekly baseline routine.

    June 3, 2026Read
  4. GA4 data inaccurate: Waft, the Waftr mascot, investigating seven reasons on an evidence board
    Attribution

    GA4 data inaccurate? Seven causes, seven fixes

    A pipeline map from visitor to report, a BigQuery query that flags bot sessions and a five-step repair plan.

    May 16, 2026Read
  5. How to set up Google Analytics 4: Waft, the Waftr mascot, beside a GA4 setup checklist
    GA4 setup

    Set up GA4 from scratch, in build order

    A tracking spec, consent defaults before the first event, one core event pattern and a 90-day implementation plan.

    May 16, 2026Read
How we write

Why trust these guides?

Each guide starts from a fault the team has met in a client audit. Product behavior is then checked against Google's documentation before the guide goes live.

Google Analytics certifiedGoogle Tag Manager certifiedOneTrust certified
Shuruthi SellamuthuGuides by Shuruthi Sellamuthu, drawn from the Waftr team's 13 years in digital analytics across 10+ industries and 50+ global teams.
  1. Every number keeps its scopeCase results carry their time window and context. Illustrative charts are labelled as illustrative.
  2. Google's documentation firstProduct behavior is checked against Google's own help pages and announcements, and linked where it matters.
  3. Fixes name the systemEach fix says where it lives: GA4 Admin, a Tag Manager container, the consent platform or BigQuery.
  4. Dated and revisitedEvery guide shows its published date, because GA4 and Search Console change every few months.
Topics

What we write about, and where it leads

Each topic links to the guides that cover it and to the Waftr service page for that layer of the stack.