# GA4 for Marketers: Free Course (2026)

> A free GA4 course for marketers: setup, key events, UTMs, channels, AI referral traffic, explorations, consent mode, BigQuery and Looker Studio.

Source: https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-for-marketers  
Author: Dipuck Jones, founder of MentionX  
Updated: 4 November 2026  
Level: Practitioner

**This free track teaches marketers to set up GA4 properly and use it for real decisions: key events, clean UTMs, channels including AI Assistant traffic, explorations, attribution, consent mode, BigQuery and Looker Studio.** Each lesson is checked against Google's own help pages and includes copyable configs, regex or SQL.

> **Key takeaways**
>
> - Lessons 1-5 cover how GA4 counts, admin setup, events, key events and UTMs.
> - Lessons 6-7 explain channels, including GA4's AI Assistant channel and a tighter AI regex.
> - Lessons 8-12 cover reports, explorations, audiences and attribution.
> - Lessons 13-19 cover consent mode, data quality, integrations, BigQuery, Looker Studio and AI-assisted analysis.
> - Lesson 20 ties it together in a monthly AI search measurement routine.
> - Everything works on a free, standard GA4 property.

*Checked 4 November 2026 (CET) against Google Analytics Help and Google developer documentation. GA4 menus and limits change, so confirm in your own property. "Our view" marks MentionX opinion. Ledgerline is a fictional company used for illustration.*

## What's in the track?

| # | Lesson |
|---|---|
| 1 | [How GA4 works: events, users and sessions](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/how-ga4-works-marketers) |
| 2 | [GA4 property setup checklist for marketers](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-property-setup-checklist) |
| 3 | [Events and enhanced measurement](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-events-enhanced-measurement) |
| 4 | [Key events: what replaced conversions](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-key-events-setup) |
| 5 | [UTM tagging that GA4 reads correctly](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-utm-campaign-tagging) |
| 6 | [The default channel group, explained](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-default-channel-group-explained) |
| 7 | [AI referral traffic: the AI Assistant channel and a custom regex](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-ai-assistant-channel-regex) |
| 8 | [Customising standard reports and the library](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-reports-library-customise) |
| 9 | [Free-form explorations and segments](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-free-form-explorations-segments) |
| 10 | [Funnel and path explorations](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-funnel-path-explorations) |
| 11 | [Audiences for remarketing and analysis](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-audiences-remarketing) |
| 12 | [Attribution models and lookback windows](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-attribution-models-lookback) |
| 13 | [Consent mode v2: basic vs advanced](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-consent-mode-v2-basic-advanced) |
| 14 | [Thresholds, sampling and data quality](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-thresholds-sampling-data-quality) |
| 15 | [Linking Search Console and Google Ads](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-search-console-google-ads-links) |
| 16 | [Custom dimensions and testing in DebugView](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-custom-dimensions-debugview) |
| 17 | [BigQuery export on the free tier](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-bigquery-export-free-tier) |
| 18 | [Looker Studio reporting on GA4](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-looker-studio-reporting) |
| 19 | [Analysing GA4 exports with Claude and ChatGPT](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-exports-ai-analysis-claude-chatgpt) |
| 20 | [GA4 for AI search: a monthly measurement routine](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-ai-search-monthly-measurement-routine) |

## How is the track organised?

**Part 1: Setup and foundations (lessons 1–4).** How GA4 counts events, users and sessions, a property setup checklist, enhanced measurement and key events.

**Part 2: Traffic sources (lessons 5–7).** UTM tagging, the default channel group, and the AI Assistant channel with a custom regex for AI referral traffic.

**Part 3: Reports and explorations (lessons 8–11).** The report library, free-form explorations and segments, funnel and path explorations, and audiences.

**Part 4: Attribution and data quality (lessons 12–14).** Attribution models and lookback windows, consent mode v2, and thresholds and sampling.

**Part 5: Connections and reporting (lessons 15–18).** Search Console and Google Ads links, custom dimensions and DebugView, BigQuery export and Looker Studio.

**Part 6: GA4 in the AI era (lessons 19–20).** Analysing exports with Claude and ChatGPT, and a monthly routine for measuring AI search.

## Who is it for?

Marketers in content, SEO, paid media, demand gen and marketing ops who need GA4 numbers they can trust and explain, without becoming analytics engineers. No coding is needed, though lessons 16 and 17 include optional code.

## How should you take it?

Do lessons 1-4 in order; a property with the right retention, filters and key events makes every later lesson work. Then jump to what you need. If you track AI visibility, lessons 6, 7 and 17 pair with the [MentionX measurement guide to tracking AI traffic in GA4](https://mentionx.ai/learn/measurement/track-ai-traffic-ga4) and [measuring brand visibility in Claude](https://mentionx.ai/learn/claude/measure-brand-visibility-claude).

*Our view:* most GA4 frustration comes from setup, not from the interface. An hour on lessons 2-5 saves months of arguing about numbers.

> **Pro move:** link BigQuery export (lesson 17) the day you finish lesson 2. Export isn't retroactive, so every day you wait is history you won't have.

## Which lessons should you start with for your role?

| Your role | Start with | Then read | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Content or SEO | 1-4 | 6, 7, 9, 15, 20 | Organic and AI referral traffic you can explain |
| Paid media | 1-5 | 6, 12, 15 | Clean campaign data and fair attribution |
| Demand gen or growth | 1-4 | 5, 10, 11, 12 | Funnels, audiences and channel credit |
| Marketing ops or analytics | 1-4 | 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 | Consent, data quality and pipelines |
| Team lead | 1, 2 | 6, 14, 18, 19 | Numbers the team can trust and report |

## Related tracks

- [Claude for Marketers](https://mentionx.ai/learn/claude/claude-for-marketers), including [Claude for CSV analysis of GA4 and Ads data](https://mentionx.ai/learn/claude/claude-csv-analysis-ga4-ads)
- [ChatGPT for Marketers](https://mentionx.ai/learn/chatgpt/chatgpt-for-marketers), including [Tracking ChatGPT referral traffic and mentions](https://mentionx.ai/learn/chatgpt/track-chatgpt-referral-traffic-mentions)

Next: [How GA4 works: events, users and sessions](https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/how-ga4-works-marketers).

## Common questions

**Is this GA4 course free?** Yes. All lessons are free to read, with no sign-up.

**Do I need Analytics 360?** No. Every lesson works on a standard GA4 property, and each one notes where 360 limits differ.

**Does GA4 track ChatGPT and other AI traffic?** Yes. GA4's default channel group now has an AI Assistant channel. Lesson 7 covers it, plus a custom regex for a fuller view.

## Sources

- Google Analytics Help, [About events](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9322688)
- Google Analytics Help, [Mark events as key events](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13128484)
- Google Analytics Help, [Default channel group](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9756891)
- Google Analytics Help, [Custom channel groups](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13051316)
- Google Analytics Help, [BigQuery Export](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9358801)
- All accessed 4 Nov 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is this GA4 course free?

Yes. All lessons are free to read, with no sign-up.

### Do I need Analytics 360?

No. Every lesson works on a standard GA4 property, and each one notes where 360 limits differ.

### Does GA4 track ChatGPT and other AI traffic?

Yes. GA4's default channel group now has an AI Assistant channel. Lesson 7 covers it, plus a custom regex for a fuller view.

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Written and reviewed by Dipuck Jones for MentionX Learn. The HTML version of this page: https://mentionx.ai/learn/ga4/ga4-for-marketers