Why are user retention cohorts in GA4 looking drastically different than our internal SQL database metrics, and how do I audit the client ID persistence?
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Fan-out diagram
The searches the AI actually ran for this prompt.
SEED QUERY
Why are user retention cohorts in GA4 looking drastically different than our internal SQL database metrics, and how do I audit the client ID persistence?
3 real searches · 1 real-search pass
Google Analytics 4 BigQuery export user_pseudo_id client_id consent mode reporting identity retention cohorts documentationGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDInstruction
Google tag client ID cookie persistence cookie_domain cookie_expires cross domain linker GA4 documentationGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDReason
GA4 BigQuery export differences reports thresholding modeling attribution documentationGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDInstruction
Badge and edge weight = share of passes that produced the query. Hover a query for its intent and routing format.
Query classes
Google's semantic query class for every sub-query: what kind of answer each search is after, simulated vs real.
ChatGPT real searches (3)
Classes come from the query-classifier (a local Laya model). 3 of 3 calls are low-confidence (under 50%) — hover a query in the table to see its confidence.
Searches and sources
ChatGPT3 real searches · gpt-6
Google Analytics 4 BigQuery export user_pseudo_id client_id consent mode reporting identity retention cohorts documentation Google ↗
Google tag client ID cookie persistence cookie_domain cookie_expires cross domain linker GA4 documentation Google ↗
GA4 BigQuery export differences reports thresholding modeling attribution documentation Google ↗
- Set up cross-domain measurement · support.google.com
- Measure activity across multiple domains | Tag Platform | Google for Developers · developers.google.com
- Bridge the gap between the Google Analytics UI and BigQuery export | Google for Developers · developers.google.com
- Navigating consent mode in the GA4 BigQuery export · ga4bigquery.com
- Basic queries for Google Analytics event data export | Google for Developers · developers.google.com
- [GA4] About data thresholds · support.google.com
Queries
3 queries · click a column to sort
| Query / type | Search | Intent | Query class | Routing format | Cluster | Freq ↓ | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Analytics 4 BigQuery export user_pseudo_id client_id consent mode reporting identity retention cohorts documentation OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Instruction | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
Google tag client ID cookie persistence cookie_domain cookie_expires cross domain linker GA4 documentation OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Reason | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
GA4 BigQuery export differences reports thresholding modeling attribution documentation OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Instruction | — | — | 1x of 1 |