GA4 for Chatbot Analytics vs Optimly: Why Purpose-Built Wins
The Problem: Web Analytics ≠ Chatbot Analytics
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is excellent for tracking user behaviour on websites and apps.
You can see sessions, events, funnels--but it wasn't built for LLM chatbot data.
Limitations when applying GA4 to chatbots:
- No token usage tracking -> Can't measure or control LLM costs
- No sentiment or frustration signals -> Loops and confusion go undetected
- No document (RAG) usage visibility -> No way to see which knowledge sources are effective
- No prompt or model performance metrics -> Hard to run A/B tests and choose the best configuration
- Delayed data processing -> Batch updates instead of real-time alerts
A Fiddler AI study found that using general analytics for AI systems "introduces critical blind spots" in production.
The Impact: Missed Insights, Wasted Budget
When you rely on GA4 alone for chatbot analytics:
| Blind Spot | Business Risk |
|---|---|
| Token cost spikes | You overspend without knowing why |
| Unseen user frustration | CX scores drop, churn risk rises |
| Ineffective RAG sources | Time wasted maintaining unused docs |
| Unoptimised prompts | Inefficient responses harm both cost and accuracy |
| Slow detection of issues | Hours or days before action can be taken |
The result? Your LLM-powered chatbot might look fine on the surface but could be leaking money and damaging user experience in ways GA4 will never show.
The Solution: Optimly’s Purpose-Built Analytics Layer
Optimly delivers end-to-end visibility into chatbot performance--filling every gap GA4 leaves open.
| Feature | GA4 | Optimly |
|---|---|---|
| Token & cost tracking | ❌ | ✅ Automatic per session |
| Frustration detection | ❌ | ✅ Loops, abandonment, sentiment |
| RAG usage mapping | ❌ | ✅ Heatmaps of doc contribution |
| Prompt & model A/B testing | ❌ | ✅ Compare cost and resolution success |
| Real-time alerts | ❌ | ✅ under 1s detection |
| ROI dashboard | ❌ | ✅ Deflections, conversions, savings |
How it works:
- Plug Optimly into your chatbot (OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, or custom agents) via API or no-code connector
- Capture every conversation event with rich metadata
- See costs, performance, and business impact in one dashboard
- Get real-time alerts before issues affect customers
Teams moving from GA4-only tracking to Optimly report 20-30% token cost savings and a faster cycle for improving prompts and flows.
Upgrade from Page Views to Real Insight
GA4 is perfect for your website. Optimly is perfect for your chatbot.
✅ Works with any LLM-based chatbot ✅ Real-time, actionable metrics ✅ Business ROI reporting your CFO will love
Start for free — Optimly’s Free Forever plan → →
No credit card. Full analytics. Immediate insight.