ChatGPT's dropped UTM tags were a bug, Adobe exec says
Adobe senior director Cedric Huesler says OpenAI told him on October 14 that ChatGPT’s missing utm_source=chatgpt.com tag — which started disappearing around October 8 as GPT-6 rolled out — was a bug, not the deliberate product change Profound’s tracking had pointed to. OpenAI has not commented publicly; per Huesler’s account, carried by Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land, a fix began rolling out around 2 a.m. PT on October 15, and tagged ChatGPT clicks had recovered to roughly 95-100% of the prior week’s levels by 9 a.m. PT that day.
Why it matters: Resolves, via a secondhand account rather than any OpenAI statement, the question our Oct. 16 item left open — bug or deliberate rollout — and underscores how little AI platforms disclose about changes that scramble referral-traffic measurement.
Via Search Engine Journal ↗ · Search Engine Land ↗
Posted to the wire October 20, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.