Gemini quietly adds UTM parameters to outgoing links
Gemini has begun appending UTM parameters to the links it sends users to, a change first spotted on Reddit and confirmed by Google’s John Mueller, who said he saw it too, per Search Engine Journal. The tags let site owners separate Gemini referral traffic from the “direct” bucket it previously fell into in tools like GA4 — though the referrer mostly survives only on desktop web, with roughly 9% pass-through from Gemini’s mobile app. Google has not documented when the tagging triggers; by comparison, ChatGPT adds UTM parameters only to answers grounded in live web results, not ones drawn from training data.
Why it matters: Attribution has been a blind spot for AI-engine traffic, so a working UTM tag on Gemini links gives site owners their first clear read on how much "direct" traffic was actually Gemini all along.
The record: GeminiGoogleReddit
Posted to the wire October 1, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.