> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sourcemedium.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI Analyst: Attribution Health

> Diagnose tracking quality and improve marketing attribution coverage

**Attribution Health answers: Is my marketing attribution accurate?**

When you ask "How is my attribution health?", the AI Analyst runs a live audit against your orders data to show what percentage of purchases have attributable marketing touchpoints vs. direct or no-source fallback values such as `(direct) / (none)` and `(none) / (none)`.

## Why It Matters

If a significant portion of your orders show as "direct" or "unattributed," you can't accurately measure which marketing channels are driving revenue. This affects:

* **ROAS calculations** — Spend looks less efficient than it actually is
* **Budget allocation** — You can't shift spend toward what's working
* **Channel comparisons** — Organic and paid performance becomes unclear

***

## What the Audit Shows

When you ask about attribution health, you'll see:

| Metric                       | What It Means                                                    |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Unattributed / direct %**  | Percentage of orders showing direct or no-source fallback values |
| **Top unattributed sources** | Breakdown of direct and no-source traffic                        |
| **Trend**                    | Whether attribution coverage is improving or degrading           |

### Interpreting the Results

| Unattributed / direct % | Assessment                                          |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **\< 10%**              | Healthy — your tracking captures most sources       |
| **10–25%**              | Moderate — room to improve coverage                 |
| **> 25%**               | High — significant marketing attribution is missing |

<Note>
  **Marketplace orders are excluded.** Attribution Health focuses on your direct-to-consumer (online DTC) orders — the ones where UTM tracking matters. Orders from Amazon, TikTok Shop, and other marketplaces are inherently attributed to that platform, so there's no UTM to capture.
</Note>

***

## Common Causes of Poor Attribution

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Missing UTM Parameters" icon="link-slash">
    Campaigns without proper UTM tagging result in traffic appearing as direct.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cookie/Tracking Blockers" icon="shield">
    Ad blockers, iOS privacy features, and browser restrictions prevent tracking.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cross-Domain Issues" icon="arrows-split-up-and-left">
    Customers moving between domains lose UTM parameters along the way.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Delayed Purchases" icon="clock">
    Long consideration cycles mean the original touchpoint expires before purchase.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## How to Improve Attribution

For detailed guidance on improving your attribution coverage, see the full Attribution Health toolkit:

<Card title="Attribution Health Toolkit" icon="toolbox" href="/data-inputs/attribution-health/index">
  Comprehensive strategies for improving tracking: UTM setup, checkout attribute capture, post-purchase surveys, and more.
</Card>

### Quick Wins

1. **Audit your UTM tagging** — Ensure all paid campaigns have consistent UTM parameters
2. **Enable checkout attribute capture** — Capture UTMs at checkout to bypass cookie blockers (Shopify Plus)
3. **Add post-purchase surveys** — Ask customers directly how they heard about you

***

## Example Questions

* "How is my attribution health?"
* "What's the health of my tracking?"
* "Is my UTM coverage good?"
* "Why is so much traffic direct/none?"
* "What percentage of orders are unattributed?"

***

## Attribution Health vs Data Health

|                         | Attribution Health                       | Data Health                               |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Focus**               | Tracking and UTM coverage quality        | Table freshness and availability          |
| **Question it answers** | "Is my marketing attribution accurate?"  | "Is my data pipeline working?"            |
| **Data source**         | Live SQL audit of orders                 | Metadata about table freshness            |
| **What fixes it**       | Fix UTM tagging, landing page parameters | Wait for sync, escalate integration issue |

<Tip>
  If Attribution Health looks poor but Data Health is fine, the issue is your tracking setup — not your data pipeline. Focus on UTM tagging and checkout attribute capture.
</Tip>

***

## Related Resources

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Data Health" icon="stethoscope" href="/ai-analyst/diagnostics/data-health">
    Check whether your data tables are fresh and available.
  </Card>

  <Card title="UTM Setup" icon="bullseye" href="/help-center/core-concepts/attribution/utm-setup">
    Standardize UTM tagging for consistent attribution.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Why (direct) / (none) Happens" icon="question" href="/help-center/core-concepts/attribution/direct-none">
    Deep dive into causes of missing attribution.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Checkout Attribute Capture" icon="shopify" href="/data-inputs/platform-supporting-resources/shopify/backfilling-utm-attribution-via-checkout-attributes">
    Capture UTMs at checkout to bypass cookie blockers.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>