How to Make a Bar Graph in Google Analytics with AI

Creating a simple bar graph from your Google Analytics data should be easy, but in GA4, it can feel like you need a special degree just to find the right buttons. Bar graphs are perfect for comparing performance - like which traffic channels bring the most users or which landing pages convert best - yet the process of building one can stop you in your tracks. This guide will walk you through how to create bar graphs in GA4, first using the built-in tools and then using newer, faster AI methods.

Why Bar Graphs Are Your Best Friend in Analytics

Before jumping into the "how-to," let’s quickly cover why bar graphs are so valuable for data analysis. They excel at one thing: comparison. While a line chart is great for showing a trend over time, a bar graph instantly shows you how different categories stack up against each other. It takes abstract numbers from a table and makes them visual and easy to digest.

You can use them to answer common questions like:

Which social media platform drives the most website sessions? (e.g., Facebook vs. Instagram vs. LinkedIn)
Which countries generate the most revenue? (e.g., USA vs. Canada vs. UK)
How do my top 5 landing pages perform in terms of user engagement?
Which campaigns are bringing in the highest-quality traffic?

They’re a foundational chart for a reason. They provide clear, at-a-glance insights that help you make better marketing decisions without having to squint at a spreadsheet.

How to Create a Bar Graph in GA4's 'Explore' Reports

Google Analytics 4 has a powerful reporting suite called 'Explorations' where you can build custom visualizations. It's more flexible than the standard reports but also has a steeper learning curve. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to build a bar graph from scratch.

Step 1: Navigate to 'Explore' and Choose 'Blank'

In the left-hand navigation menu of GA4, click on the Explore tab. This will take you to your Explorations hub. While there are several templates, the easiest way to start is by clicking on the Blank report option to create a new exploration.

Step 2: Add Your Dimensions and Metrics

An empty exploration has three main columns: Variables, Tab Settings, and the report canvas. Your first job is to tell GA4 which data points you want to use in the Variables column.

Think of it like this:

Dimensions: The categories you want to compare. This is the "what." (e.g., City, Traffic source, Device category).
Metrics: The numbers you want to measure. This is the "how much." (e.g., Sessions, Users, Conversions, Revenue).

Let's create a bar graph comparing website sessions by country.

Next to Dimensions, click the plus (+) icon.
In the search bar, type "country" and check the box next to Country.
Click the blue Import button in the top right.
Next to Metrics, click the plus (+) icon.
In the search bar, type "sessions" and check the box next to Sessions.
Click the blue Import button.

You have now imported the data you need into your report, but it won’t appear on the canvas until you tell GA4 how to visualize it.

Step 3: Build Your Visualization in 'Tab Settings'

Now you need to move your imported dimensions and metrics from the 'Variables' column over to the Tab Settings column. This activates them in your report.

Drag the Country dimension from 'Variables' and drop it into the Rows box under 'Tab Settings'.
Drag the Sessions metric from 'Variables' and drop it into the Values box under 'Tab Settings'.

At this point, you’ll see your data appear in a table on the right. This is the default visualization.

Step 4: Change the Visualization to a Bar Chart

At the top of the 'Tab Settings' column, you'll see a section called Visualization with several small icons. GA4 defaults to the table icon. Simply click on the bar chart icon to transform your table into a bar graph.

Voila! You now have a bar graph showing your total sessions broken down by country. You can add more metrics to the 'Values' section (like Conversions) to compare them side-by-side or drag a different dimension (like Device category) into the Columns box to create a stacked bar chart.

The Faster Way: Using an AI to Make Bar Graphs for You

As you can see, the manual process in GA4 works, but it's rigid and has a lot of steps. You have to know exactly which dimensions and metrics to look for and where to drag them. This process creates a lot of friction, often stopping valuable analysis before it even starts. What if you're not entirely sure which metric to use? This is where AI tools come in.

Instead of clicking, searching, and dragging dozens of times, you can now simply ask for what you want in plain English. AI-powered analytics platforms connect directly to your Google Analytics account and act as a data analyst you can talk to.

How AI Turns Simple Questions into Bar Graphs

The workflow is far more intuitive. After a one-time connection to your GA4 account, you use a chat interface to describe the chart you need.

For example, to get the same 'sessions by country' chart we just built, you'd type a prompt like:

Create a bar graph of sessions by country for the last 90 days.

The AI handles the rest. It translates your natural language request into the specific dimensions ("Country") and metrics ("Sessions") required, queries your live GA4 data, and builds the bar graph for you in seconds. No need to navigate menus or remember GA4's specific terminology.

This approach opens up faster, deeper analysis. A few more examples:

"Show me my top 10 landing pages by conversions this month as a bar chart."
"Make a bar graph comparing users for mobile versus desktop."
"Which paid search campaigns had the highest bounce rate last week? Visualize it as a bar graph."

The primary benefit is speed and the removal of technical barriers. You can stay focused on your business questions, not on wrestling with a complex interface. Answering a follow-up question doesn't require building a new report from scratch, it just requires asking another question.

Best Practices for Effective Bar Graphs

Whether you're building them manually in GA4 or with AI, a few design principles will make your bar graphs more effective.

Keep It Simple: Avoid cramming too many bars into one chart. If you're looking at traffic sources, a chart with 30 different sources becomes unreadable. Stick to your top 5 or 10, or group smaller sources into an "Other" category.
Sort Your Data: Always sort your bars to make them easier to interpret. Typically, sorting in descending order (from largest to smallest) is the most effective way to highlight top performers.
Use Clear Labels: Name your chart and label your axes clearly. A title like "Marketing Performance" is useless. "Website Sessions by Traffic Source - March 2024" tells the viewer exactly what they are looking at.
Add Context: A chart alone is just data. Add a sentence or two of analysis to turn it into an insight. For example, "Organic search drove 50% more sessions than all other channels combined this month, suggesting our SEO efforts are paying off."

Final Thoughts

Bar graphs are an essential tool for understanding your Google Analytics data, giving you a clear, comparative view of your performance drivers. Learning the manual creation process in GA4's Explore reports is a valuable skill, but it’s becoming evident that conversational AI tools are making that process faster, simpler, and more accessible for everyone on your team.

At Graphed, we built our tool specifically to eliminate the friction between having a question and getting an answer from your data. You don't need to be a data expert or learn a new interface. Just connect your Google Analytics account and ask for the bar graph you need, like "show me user engagement by page," and it's created instantly. This lets you move from data to decisions in seconds, not hours.