> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conversion.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Traffic Channels

> The traffic channels Conversion categorizes page visits into.

Page visits to your website are tracked via the [Conversion tracking script](/product-docs/tracking/tracking-script), and classified into the following web traffic channels:

| Traffic Channel     | Classification Reason                                                                                               |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Email Marketing** | The `utm_medium` indicates email marketing.                                                                         |
| **Paid Search**     | The referring domain or `utm_source` is a search engine, and the `utm_medium` indicates paid traffic.               |
| **Organic Search**  | The referring domain or `utm_source` is a search engine, and the `utm_medium` does *not* indicate paid traffic.     |
| **Paid Social**     | The referring domain or `utm_source` is a social media site, and the `utm_medium` indicates paid traffic.           |
| **Organic Social**  | The referring domain or `utm_source` is a social media site, and the `utm_medium` does *not* indicate paid traffic. |
| **AI Referral**     | The referring domain or `utm_source` is an AI tool (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity)                               |
| **Referral**        | There was a referring domain that did not match any classification above.                                           |
| **Other Campaign**  | There was a `utm_source` that did not match any classification above.                                               |
| **Direct Traffic**  | No other classification was met.                                                                                    |

## UTM Tracking in Ad Platforms

For paid ad clicks to be properly attributed, your ads need to include `utm_source` and `utm_medium` parameters on their destination URLs.

### Google Ads

Google Ads supports auto-tagging with `gclid`, but this does not set UTM parameters. Make sure you've set up a tracking template at the account, campaign, or ad group level.

Your tracking template should append at minimum:

```text theme={null}
{lpurl}?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc
```

<Tip>
  For full setup instructions, see [Google's tracking template documentation](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10070427?hl=en).
</Tip>

### Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

To ensure proper classification, add UTM parameters in the **URL Parameters** field when creating or editing each ad:

```text theme={null}
utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social
```

<Tip>
  See [Meta's URL parameter documentation](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1016122818401732) for more details.
</Tip>

### LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn does not append UTM parameters by default. You need to configure them manually in Campaign Manager.

Add your UTM parameters at the campaign level:

```text theme={null}
utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid-social
```

<Tip>
  See [LinkedIn's tracking parameter documentation](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a5968064) for more details
</Tip>