You open up your GA4 dashboard and see that the Direct Traffic numbers are off the charts. Where is all that traffic coming from, and is it real? A little further research and you realize that much of it is coming from parts of the world you aren’t marketing to (Asia, Ireland, etc.). That traffic is coming from BOTs (short for robots or automated programs). BOTs can “visit” your site and be helpful (good BOTs), destructive or malicious (bad BOTs).

Experts agree that as much as 50% of all internet traffic is generated by BOTs – and while lots of BOTs can be traced back to other countries. Many of those (good or bad) BOTs are created and deployed from within the United States.

How are we supposed to make solid business decisions about our websites if we can’t trust that the data we are seeing is accurate? The frustration is real, but there are ways to reduce the impact of those bad BOTs.

It helps to understand the different types of BOTs and how they are designed to function. I thought it would be useful to point you in the direction of an article I found helpful.

A Guide to BOTs: Good vs. Bad Bots, Common Types, and Online Safety in 2026.

The reality is … BOTs are here to stay; they are part of nearly every digital interaction we have. BOTs are also going to keep trying to attack our sites. The challenge we face as business owners is to learn what we need to know to protect our sites from the bad BOTs and encourage the good BOTs to pay us a visit.