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Add your domain and install the tracking tag

Add a domain, install the tag on WordPress, Shopify or plain HTML, and pass verification.

  • Lesson 3 of 5
  • Beginner
  • 8 min read
  • 2:54 video
  • Checked against the product 2026-11-03

Listen to this lesson · 2:53

In shortAdd a domain in Settings → Domains, then open AI search → Monitoring and reports → AI bot tracker. The Tracking Setup panel gives you a one-line script tag and install notes for HTML, WordPress, Shopify, Wix and Squarespace. Paste the tag before the closing body tag, publish, then click Verify Installation. Tracking costs a small amount of credits per 100 tracked requests and pauses when your balance reaches zero.

Why the tag matters

Most of AI Rank Lab works from the outside: it reads your pages and asks AI engines questions. The tracking tag is the one piece that runs on your own site. It records visits that arrive from AI assistants, such as a person clicking a link in a ChatGPT or Perplexity answer, so you can see which pages AI sends people to. The same tag powers session recordings and heatmaps in CRM and email if you switch them on.

  1. Visitor arrivesA person clicks a link in ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini, or a JS-capable agent loads the page.
  2. Tag runsThe tracking script in your page sends the visit, page and referrer.
  3. ClassifiedAI Rank Lab labels the source: AI-referred human or AI agent.
  4. DashboardAI bot tracker shows pages, referrers, countries and daily traffic.
The tag runs in the visitor's browser, sends the visit to AI Rank Lab, and the AI bot tracker shows it.
It records visits, not crawls

The tag is JavaScript. AI crawlers that fetch pages to train or index them usually don't run JavaScript, so they are not what this counts. Think of it as AI-referred visitors plus AI agents that load pages like a browser. What the tracker counts explains the difference.

Before you start

  • A finished onboarding. Your first domain was created there.
  • Access to edit your site's theme, template or a header-and-footer setting.
  • A credit balance above zero. Tracking pauses at zero, and verification refuses to run.

Step by step

  1. Add the domain (if it isn't there yet)Open Settings → Domains. The page is called My Domains. Click Add Domain, type the Domain URL (for example example.com), an optional Project Name and Description, then click Add Domain. Adding a domain is free. The domain itself can't be edited later, only its name and description, so check the spelling.
    The Add New Domain dialog with Domain URL, Project Name and Description fields over the My Domains list.
    Settings → Domains → Add Domain.
  2. Select it and open the AI bot trackerPick the domain in the domain selector at the top of the dashboard. Then go to AI search → Monitoring and reports → AI bot tracker. For a domain that isn't verified yet, the Tracking Setup panel slides in from the right. The Verify button on a domain's card in Settings → Domains also brings you here, but it opens the tracker for whichever domain is selected, so select the domain first.
    The Visibility Analytics page blurred behind a Verification Required card, with the Tracking Setup panel open on the right.
    The setup panel opens on its own for an unverified domain.
  3. Copy the scriptThe panel shows your domain, its Tracking ID and the status Pending Verification. In the Tracking Script card, click Copy. The tag is a single <script> line that loads tracking-unified.js with your tracking ID and domain.
    The Tracking Script card with the script tag in a monospace field, Show Script and Copy buttons, and the Script URL, Tracking ID and Domain listed below.
    One tag per domain.
  4. Install it on your siteFollow the Installation Instructions card for your platform (see the table below). The rule everywhere is the same: the tag must load on every page, ideally just before the closing </body> tag. Publish the change.
  5. VerifyBack in the panel, click Verify Installation. When it passes you'll see Script installation verified successfully! (with "(Test visit created)" added if no real visit was found), the status becomes Verified & Active, and the analytics behind the panel unblur. Test Tracking opens your site in a new tab and records a test event.

Where to paste it, by platform

These match the Installation Instructions card in the Tracking Setup panel.
PlatformWhere the tag goes
HTML siteBefore the closing </body> tag on every page, or in the shared footer template.
WordPressA header-and-footer plugin such as Insert Headers and Footers, or the theme's footer.php before </body>. The AI Rank Lab WordPress plugin can also add it: see The WordPress plugin.
ShopifyOnline Store → Themes → Edit Code, in theme.liquid before </body>.
WixSettings → Custom Code, added to the Footer section.
SquarespaceSettings → Advanced → Code Injection, in the Footer section.

How verification really works

Verification passes when AI Rank Lab has recorded a visit for the domain in the last 24 hours, or a test event in the last 2 hours. If no real visit is found, the button sends a test event itself and checks again.

A green badge doesn't prove the tag is live

Because the check accepts a test event sent from the dashboard, a domain can show Verified before the tag is actually on your site. If the success message ends with "(Test visit created)", no real visit was found. To be sure, open one of your pages, view its source and search for tracking-unified.js. Then come back over the next day and check that visits appear in the AI bot tracker. If they don't, the tag is missing or blocked, for example by a caching plugin serving an old page.

What it costs

Installing and verifying are free. Tracked requests are billed in small blocks from your normal credit balance. When the balance reaches zero, tracking pauses and the panel shows Tracking Paused. It restarts on its own after you top up. The Recharge Coins button there opens the same credit page as everywhere else; "coins" is an older name for credits.

Who can verify a shared domain

Install the tag from the account that owns the site. On a shared domain, a Viewer can only read the tracker; Employee and Client members can also click Verify Installation, which updates the owner's domain. See Share a domain.

Check yourself

1. Your domain shows Verified a minute after you clicked the button, but you haven't edited your site yet. Why?
2. What happens to tracking when your credit balance reaches zero?
3. Does the tag count GPTBot crawling your pages?

0 of 3 answered.

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Transcript
In this lesson you'll add your domain and install the AI Rank Lab tracking tag. First, why bother? Most of AI Rank Lab looks at your site from the outside. The tracking tag is the one piece that runs on your site. When someone clicks a link in a ChatGPT or Perplexity answer and lands on your page, the tag records that visit. Later, the AI bot tracker shows you which pages AI assistants send people to. One honest note before we start. The tag is JavaScript. Crawlers like GPTBot usually don't run JavaScript, so this isn't a crawl counter. It records AI-referred visitors and AI agents that load pages like a browser. Your first domain was created during onboarding. To add another, open Settings, then Domains, and click Add Domain. Type the domain, give it a name if you like, and save. It's free. Check the spelling, because the domain itself can't be changed later. Now pick that domain in the selector at the top of the dashboard. Go to AI search, then Monitoring and reports, then AI bot tracker. Because the domain isn't verified yet, the Tracking Setup panel opens on the right. In the Tracking Script card, click Copy. It's a single script line with your tracking ID in it. Now put it on your site. On a plain HTML site, paste it just before the closing body tag on every page. On WordPress, use a header and footer plugin, or the AI Rank Lab WordPress plugin. On Shopify, edit theme dot liquid. On Wix, use Custom Code in the footer. On Squarespace, use Code Injection in the footer. Publish the change. Back in the panel, click Verify Installation. When it passes, the status turns to Verified and Active, and the analytics unlock. You can also open the panel from the Verify button in Settings, Domains, but select the domain first, because it opens the tracker for the selected domain. Here's the gotcha. Verification passes on a real visit in the last day, or a test event in the last two hours. If it finds no real visit, the button sends a test event itself. So the badge can turn green before the tag is really on your site. If the success message says a test visit was created, no real visit was found. To be sure, open one of your pages, view the source, and search for tracking-unified dot js. Then check over the next day that visits appear. Installing and verifying are free. Tracked requests cost a small number of credits per hundred. If your balance hits zero, tracking pauses, and it restarts when you top up. In the next lesson, we'll look at how credits work across the whole product.

Put the lesson to work

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