How to Make a Double Bar Graph in Google Analytics with AI
Comparing two metrics side-by-side is fundamental to understanding your website's performance, but getting a simple double bar graph out of Google Analytics 4 can feel surprisingly complicated. You know the data is in there, but turning it into a clear, comparative visual shouldn't require a dozen clicks or a degree in data science. This article will show you exactly how to create a double bar graph using your GA4 data, skipping the headaches of standard reports and using the power of AI to get instant answers.
Why a Double Bar Graph is So Useful for GA Data
Before diving into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." A double bar graph (also known as a grouped or side-by-side bar chart) is perfect for direct visual comparison of two distinct metrics across the same category or time period. Unlike a stacked bar chart that shows parts of a whole, a double bar graph isolates each metric, making it easy to see which one is "winning" in each category.
Here are a few classic marketing comparisons where this chart type shines:
New vs. Returning Users: Are your content efforts attracting new audiences or mainly engaging your existing base? A double bar graph showing these two user types by month gives you a clear picture of growth and retention.
Organic vs. Paid Sessions: See how your SEO efforts stack up against your paid campaigns. Comparing organic and paid sessions month-over-month helps you understand channel performance and budget allocation.
Mobile vs. Desktop Traffic: Is your site's mobile experience driving as much traffic as your desktop version? Comparing a user metric like Sessions or Engaged sessions across device categories tells you where to focus your UX efforts.
Conversions Before vs. After a Change: If you launched a new landing page or feature on June 1st, a daily bar chart comparing conversions from May versus June can visualize the impact almost immediately.
In all these cases, the goal is to see a direct A-vs-B comparison, which is exactly what a double bar graph is designed for.
The Challenge: Trying to Build a Double Bar Graph in GA4
If you've ever tried to create this chart directly within the GA4 interface, you've likely run into some friction. The native tools are powerful but aren't always designed for straightforward, custom visualizations like this.
Using Standard GA4 Reports
The standard "Reports" section in GA4 is great for at-a-glance information and high-level trends. The default visualizations, however, are mostly pre-configured. When you look at a report like Traffic acquisition, GA4 gives you a line chart for the overall trend and a table below with breakdown details. You can change the primary dimension, but you have limited control over the chart type for side-by-side comparisons of different segment values.
Using GA4 Explorations
The "Explore" section is where Google encourages users to build custom reports. It's much more flexible than a standard report, but it also has a steeper learning curve. Here’s how you might try to build a double bar graph for Organic Search vs. Paid Search Sessions:
You start a new Free form exploration.
In the "Variables" column, you import Dimensions like Session source / medium and Month of the year.
You import the Metric Sessions.
You then drag Month of the year to "Rows" and Sessions to "Values." This gives you total sessions per month.
To split it by channel, you might drag Session source / medium to "Columns."
At this point, you usually end up with a detailed data table. When you switch the visualization to a bar chart, GA4 often defaults to a stacked bar chart, showing the channels' contributions to a total, rather than a side-by-side comparison of two specific channels you want to isolate.
Getting it to show just two specific segments side-by-side as distinct bars requires filtering, creating comparisons, and manipulating the exploration settings in ways that aren't immediately obvious. It’s possible for an expert, but frustrating for the average marketer who just wants a quick visual.
The Traditional Workarounds: Spreadsheets and Looker Studio
Because of the limitations in GA4's native UI, most marketers resort to one of two workarounds: exporting to a spreadsheet or building a dashboard in a separate BI tool.
Method 1: The Google Sheets Export
This is the old, reliable method. It always works, but it's entirely manual and time-consuming.
Step 1: Export Your Data. In GA4, build a table in Explorations that contains the data you need (e.g., Months as rows, Sessions by channel as columns). Click the "Export" icon and download it as a Google Sheet or CSV.
Step 2: Clean and Restructure. Open the file in Google Sheets or Excel. You'll likely need to delete unnecessary columns and rows, ensuring your data is clean. For our example, you'd want a table with three columns: "Month," "Organic Search Sessions," and "Paid Search Sessions."
Step 3: Insert the Chart. Select your data range. Go to Insert → Chart. Google Sheets is usually smart enough to recommend a double bar graph (called a Column chart) by default if your data is structured properly.
Step 4: Customize Your Chart. Adjust the titles, colors, and labels to make it presentation-ready.
The Downside: This process is a snapshot in time. The moment a new day's worth of data comes in, your chart is outdated. You have to repeat this entire manual process every time you need an updated report, which is tedious for weekly or monthly reporting.
Method 2: Using Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio)
Looker Studio is Google's free data visualization tool and a much more powerful solution than a spreadsheet. It connects directly to your GA4 account, so the data is always live.
Step 1: Create a Data Source. Open a new report in Looker Studio and add "Google Analytics" as your data source, connecting it to your GA4 property.
Step 2: Add a Bar Chart. Add a Bar chart to your report canvas. In the chart setup panel, drag your primary dimension (e.g., Month of year) into the "Dimension" field.
Step 3: Define Metrics and Filters. This is the tricky part. For one bar, you'd add the Sessions metric. To create the second bar, you can't just add another "Sessions" metric. You have to add a filter. You'd create a filter for the first bar where Session source / medium contains Organic. Then, for the second bar, you often have to use another chart, create complex calculated fields, or use data blending to show the paid search sessions side-by-side.
The Downside: While powerful and offering live data, Looker Studio has a significant learning curve. Figuring out how to properly filter, blend, or configure a chart to show a simple A vs. B comparison can take hours of trial and error for a new user.
The Modern Solution: Instantly Create Double Bar Graphs with AI
Both traditional methods require you to either handle raw data in spreadsheets or learn a complex new tool. The modern approach bypasses all this complexity by using natural language. Instead of clicking, filtering, and dragging, you simply ask for the chart you want.
This new generation of analytics tools connects directly to your live data sources like Google Analytics, allowing you to have a conversation about your data and instantly get visualizations in return. The process is incredibly simple.
Step 1: Securely Connect Your Google Analytics Account
First, you connect your GA4 account to the AI analytics platform. This is typically a one-time process using a secure sign-in with Google - no clunky file uploads or complex configurations. Just a few clicks and your data is ready to be queried.
Step 2: Ask for Your Chart in Plain English
This is where the magic happens. Instead of building the report yourself, you describe it in a prompt, just like asking a colleague for a report. Good prompts are clear and specific, telling the tool exactly what you need.
For our initial goal, you would write a prompt like this:
The AI understands the components of your request:
Chart Type: "double bar chart"
Metric: "sessions"
Comparison Groups: "Organic Search versus Paid Search"
Dimension/Breakdown: "by month"
Time Frame: "for the past six months"
The system then instantly queries your live GA4 data and generates the correct chart, all in a matter of seconds.
Step 3: Refine and Ask Follow-up Questions
Often, an initial chart sparks more questions. This is where a conversational AI approach excels. You don't have to rebuild the chart from scratch if you want to change something. You can just ask a follow-up question.
"This is great. Can you change this to a line chart instead?"
"Okay, now break this down by device category."
"Add a bar for Direct traffic as well."
This allows you to explore your data fluidly, digging deeper into insights without breaking your flow to wrestle with a complex user interface. It turns data analysis from a chore into a creative process of discovery.
Final Thoughts
Creating a simple double bar graph from your Google Analytics data shouldn't be so hard. While the default GA4 interface has its limits, and tools like Google Sheets and Looker Studio offer viable (though time-consuming) workarounds, the easiest and fastest way is to embrace an AI-powered approach. By using natural language, you can skip the manual labor and steep learning curves and get straight to the insights you need.
We built Graphed to do exactly this and to make powerful data analysis accessible to everyone on your team, not just the data experts. After a one-click connection to your GA4 account, you can simply ask, "Show me a bar chart comparing new and returning users by month," and instantly see an interactive dashboard that stays updated with your live data. It's time to stop spending hours building reports and start spending seconds getting answers.