The latest articles on DEV Community by Marco Di Cesare (@marco_loamly). https://dev.to/marco_loamly https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3687346%2Fb6c012d5-8269-4922-b405-959cded5278e.jpg https://dev.to/marco_loamly en Marco Di Cesare Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:33:11 +0000 https://dev.to/marco_loamly/how-i-built-loamly-detecting-ai-traffic-that-google-analytics-misses-4mfd https://dev.to/marco_loamly/how-i-built-loamly-detecting-ai-traffic-that-google-analytics-misses-4mfd <h1> How I Built Loamly: Detecting AI Traffic That Google Analytics Misses </h1> <p>I'm Marco. I just launched Loamly after about a year of building.</p> <h2> The Problem </h2> <p>I use ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for maybe half my research now.</p> <p>Looking for a new tool? Ask ChatGPT. Comparing options? Claude. Need a recommendation? Perplexity.</p> <p>I started wondering what happens on the other side. What do brands see when AI sends them traffic?</p> <p><strong>Nothing.</strong></p> <p>When someone finds your product through AI and visits your site, Google Analytics labels it as "direct traffic." No referrer. No UTM. Just... direct.</p> <p>You have no idea where they came from.</p> <h2> What Loamly Does </h2> <p>Two things.</p> <h3> 1. Brand Monitoring </h3> <p>See what AI platforms actually say when someone asks about your brand.</p> <p>We run real queries against ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. You see the actual answers, tracked over time.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fsk75hurk4ku9dr6izr8o.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fsk75hurk4ku9dr6izr8o.png" alt="Loamly Intelligence - Brand Monitoring"></a></p> <h3> 2. Traffic Detection </h3> <p>Know when AI sends visitors to your site. The traffic that GA calls "direct" but isn't.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fsey2qfowr9zp6emruvgb.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fsey2qfowr9zp6emruvgb.png" alt="Loamly Dashboard - Traffic Detection"></a></p> <h2> How the Detection Works </h2> <p>The traffic detection is <strong>fully open source</strong>.</p> <p> </p> <div class="ltag-github-readme-tag"> <div class="readme-overview"> <h2> <img src="https://assets.dev.to/assets/github-logo-5a155e1f9a670af7944dd5e12375bc76ed542ea80224905ecaf878b9157cdefc.svg" alt="GitHub logo"> <a href="https://github.com/loamly" rel="noopener noreferrer"> loamly </a> / <a href="https://github.com/loamly/loamly" rel="noopener noreferrer"> loamly </a> </h2> <h3> Open-source AI traffic detection for websites </h3> </div> <div class="ltag-github-body"> <div id="readme" class="md"> <p> <a href="https://loamly.ai" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> <img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/a8c437fcffdb9632b38dc4a0ccce97e486bb26b7900ed5dde5a402aee2740b09/68747470733a2f2f6c6f616d6c792e61692f6c6f616d6c792d636f6c6f757265642d6c6f676f2e737667" alt="Loamly" width="140"> </a> </p> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h1 class="heading-element">Loamly</h1> </div> <p> <strong>Open-source AI traffic detection for websites</strong> </p> <p> Know when ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini visit your site.<br> Cryptographic verification. Zero false positives </p> <p> <a href="https://github.com/loamly/loamly/stargazers" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/5284af5434412b80150019c0e933af86f09fe327b373d53338b346226a998b19/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f6769746875622f73746172732f6c6f616d6c792f6c6f616d6c793f7374796c653d736f6369616c" alt="GitHub stars"></a> <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@loamly/edge" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/c8de25e6cdeb829239462f02abe85d69fc457450f728ff9b4646a5fb46ab7a51/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f6e706d2f762f406c6f616d6c792f656467652e737667" alt="npm edge"></a> <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@loamly/tracker" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/267dbbeec33d4361e476dade1049723a800f36c60bbc649deaa3fe68a5b7698a/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f6e706d2f762f406c6f616d6c792f747261636b65722e737667" alt="npm tracker"></a> <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/fdf2982b9f5d7489dcf44570e714e3a15fce6253e0cc6b5aa61a075aac2ff71b/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f4c6963656e73652d4d49542d79656c6c6f772e737667" alt="License: MIT"></a> </p> <p> <a href="https://loamly.ai" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Website</a> • <a href="https://loamly.ai/docs" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Documentation</a> • <a href="https://loamly.ai/docs/security" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Security</a> • <a href="https://github.com/loamly/loamly/discussions" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community</a> </p> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h2 class="heading-element">The Problem</h2> </div> <p>When users copy a URL from ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity:</p> <ul> <li>❌ No referrer header (browser security blocks it)</li> <li>❌ No UTM parameters (AI doesn't add them)</li> <li>❌ Google Analytics shows "Direct Traffic"</li> </ul> <p>This traffic is <strong>invisible</strong>. For many sites, it's 15-30% of visitors.</p> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h2 class="heading-element">The Solution</h2> </div> <p>Loamly detects AI traffic using <strong>RFC 9421 cryptographic signatures</strong> — the same standard used by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google for their AI agents.</p> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h3 class="heading-element">Detection Methods</h3> </div> <p><div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <br> <thead> <br> <tr> <br> <th>Method</th> <br> <th>Accuracy</th> <br> <th>Description</th> <br> </tr> <br> </thead> <br> <tbody> <br> <tr> <br> <td><strong>RFC 9421 Signatures</strong></td> <br> <td>100%</td> <br> <td>Cryptographic Ed25519 verification</td> <br> </tr> <br> <tr> <br> <td>Navigation Timing</td> <br> <td>65-78%</td> <br> <td>Paste vs click detection</td> <br> </tr> <br> <tr> <br> <td>Behavioral ML</td> <br> <td>75-90%</td> <br> <td>Mouse/scroll pattern classification</td> <br> </tr> <br> <tr> <br> <td>User-Agent</td> <br> <td>95%+</td> <br> <td>Known AI bot patterns</td> <br> </tr> <br> </tbody> <br> </table></div></p> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h2 class="heading-element">4-Tier Verification Architecture</h2> </div> <p>Loamly offers multiple deployment options based on your needs:</p> <p><div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <br> <thead> <br> <tr> <br> <th>Tier</th> <br> <th>Method</th> <br> <th>Accuracy</th> <br> <th>Deployment</th> <br> </tr> <br> </thead> <br> <tbody> <br> <tr> <br> <td><strong>1. Managed Proxy</strong></td> <br> </tr> <br> </tbody> <br> </table></div>…</p> </div> <br> </div> <br> <div class="gh-btn-container"><a class="gh-btn" href="https://github.com/loamly/loamly" rel="noopener noreferrer">View on GitHub</a></div> <br> </div> <h3> ChatGPT Operator </h3> <p>Uses <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9421" rel="noopener noreferrer">RFC 9421 HTTP Message Signatures</a>. Cryptographically verified against OpenAI's public keys. 100% accurate, no false positives.</p> <h3> Claude, Perplexity, Gemini </h3> <p>Navigation timing patterns + behavioral fingerprinting. Different AI browsing agents have distinctive signatures in how they interact with pages.</p> <h2> Tech Stack </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Frontend:</strong> Next.js 15, React, Tailwind, shadcn/ui</li> <li> <strong>Backend:</strong> Supabase (Postgres + Auth + Edge Functions)</li> <li> <strong>Hosting:</strong> Vercel</li> <li> <strong>Emails:</strong> Resend</li> </ul> <h2> Why Open Source </h2> <p>I wanted developers to see exactly how the detection works. No black box.</p> <p>You can self-host the traffic detection entirely. The brand monitoring runs on our side (needs API keys and scheduled jobs).</p> <h2> Attribution </h2> <p>The two parts work together.</p> <p>Brand monitoring shows what AI is saying about you. Traffic detection shows when it actually sends you visitors.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F7wkt0tlcky1lxcjonxrj.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F7wkt0tlcky1lxcjonxrj.png" alt="Loamly Attribution"></a></p> <h2> Try It </h2> <p><strong>Free tier:</strong> 5K credits/month, no card needed.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://loamly.ai" rel="noopener noreferrer">loamly.ai</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/loamly/loamly" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub</a></li> <li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46437828" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hacker News discussion</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.producthunt.com/products/loamly" rel="noopener noreferrer">Product Hunt</a></li> </ul> <p>If something breaks or doesn't make sense, comment here or email me at <a href="mailto:marco.dicesare@loamly.ai">marco.dicesare@loamly.ai</a>.</p> <p>I'll personally read everything and do my best to reply you and fix things :)</p> webdev ai analytics opensource