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Is Google Analytics Installed on My Site?

Cody Schneider•

Wondering if Google Analytics is correctly tracking visitors on your site? You're not alone. It’s a common question whether you've just launched a new site, inherited one from a client, or are simply trying to troubleshoot why your reports look empty. In this tutorial, we'll walk through a few simple, non-technical methods to check if your Google Analytics code is installed and working correctly.

Why It's Important to Check Your Setup

Your Google Analytics tracking code is a special snippet of JavaScript that captures valuable data about your website visitors - how they found you, what pages they viewed, and how long they stayed. If this code is missing, installed incorrectly, or duplicated, you're either flying blind with no data or, just as bad, making decisions based on inaccurate information. Let's make sure that's not happening.

Confirming your setup gives you confidence that your strategic decisions are based on solid ground. Here are a handful of easy ways to verify your installation, from simple tricks anyone can do to more definitive tests.

Method 1: View the Page Source Code

This is the quickest and easiest way to see if the Google Analytics tracking script is physically present on your website's pages. You don’t need to understand code to do this, you're just looking for a specific text string.

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Open your website in a new browser tab.

  2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "View Page Source" from the context menu. This will open a new tab showing the HTML code of your site.

  3. Now, use your browser's find function (press Ctrl + F on a PC or Cmd + F on a Mac) to search for parts of the Google Analytics script.

What to Search For

Your tracking code will look slightly different depending on whether you're using the latest Google Analytics 4 or the older, now-deprecated Universal Analytics (UA). Most sites should be on GA4 by now.

  • For Google Analytics 4, search for gtag.js. You're looking for a script that looks something like this. The key is seeing "googletagmanager" and your measurement ID, which starts with "G-":

  • For older Universal Analytics (UA) sites, search for analytics.js. The syntax is a bit different, and the ID starts with "UA-":

If you find either one of these snippets in your site's code, it's a good sign that the script is installed!

Method 2: Use Your Browser's Developer Tools

If checking the source code feels a bit like finding a needle in a haystack, you can use your browser's developer tools for a more definitive answer. This method lets you see the actual network requests your website makes as it loads, including the one sent to Google Analytics.

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Open your website. Right-click on the page and select "Inspect" to open the Developer Tools pane.

  2. Click on the "Network" tab in the Developer Tools. This tab shows all the files and data your browser is loading.

  3. In the filter box within the Network tab, type collect. This will filter out all the noise and only show requests made to Google's data collection servers.

  4. With the Network tab still open, refresh your webpage.

If Google Analytics is working, you should see one or more items appear in the list. Seeing a successful request - typically with a "200" status - sent to a URL containing "google-analytics.com/collect" is proof that your browser is successfully sending tracking information to Google.

Method 3: Leverage a Free Browser Extension

Several free browser extensions are designed to identify the different technologies running on a website, including analytics trackers. These are extremely easy to use and provide clear, color-coded feedback.

The most popular tool for this is Google's own Tag Assistant Companion. It’s a free extension for Google Chrome.

Step-by-step with Tag Assistant:

  1. Install the Tag Assistant Companion extension from the Chrome Web Store.

  2. Once installed, navigate to your website. Click the extension's icon in your browser toolbar to open it.

  3. The tool will automatically detect and show you any Google tags it finds on the page, including your Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager containers.

  4. Tag Assistant uses colors to indicate the status of each tag. A green or blue icon means the tag is installed correctly and firing as expected. A yellow tag indicates a minor issue that might need attention, while a red tag signifies a critical error that is likely preventing data collection.

Other general tech-checker extensions like Wappalyzer or BuiltWith also do a great job of identifying Google Analytics, though Tag Assistant provides more detail on the tag's health.

Method 4: Check the Real-time Report in Google Analytics

This is the most conclusive test of all. If your visits show up in real-time inside your Google Analytics account, you can be 100% sure your data is being sent and processed correctly.

How to test with the Realtime report:

  1. Log into your Google Analytics account.

  2. In the left-hand navigation menu, go to Reports > Realtime.

  3. Keep this browser tab open. Now, in a separate tab or on your phone (make sure you're not on Wi-Fi if you have an IP filter set up), open your website and browse to a few different pages.

  4. Go back to your Realtime report tab in Google Analytics. You should see yourself appear as a "User" on the map and a spike in the "Users in the last 30 minutes" chart within 30-60 seconds.

If you see your activity show up, congratulations - your tracking code is installed and sending data!

Method 5: Look for the Integration in Your Website Platform

Most modern content management systems (CMS) and hosted website builders have a dedicated field for your Google Analytics Measurement ID, which makes installation much easier than manually editing code.

If you're not sure whether it’s installed, you can look for that setting:

  • WordPress: Look in your theme's settings or options panel for a "Header Scripts" or "Integrations" section. Alternatively, you might be using a purpose-built plugin like Google Site Kit or MonsterInsights where the ID is stored. Check your active plugins list.

  • Shopify: Navigate to Online Store > Preferences. You'll find a dedicated "Google Analytics" section where you can paste your GA4 Measurement ID ("G-XXXXX").

  • Squarespace: Go to Settings > Marketing > Marketing Tools. This is where you connect your Google Analytics account and add your measurement ID.

  • Wix: Go to your site's dashboard, navigate to Marketing & SEO > Marketing Integrations, and look for the Google Analytics integration card.

Finding your ID in one of these settings confirms that the platform is handling the installation for you. Just make sure the ID listed there matches the one in your Google Analytics account!

My Tracking Code Is There, but I'm Not Seeing Data - What Gives?

Found the script but still have an empty Realtime report? Here are a few common culprits to check:

  • You're Blocking the Script: Your own browser's ad-blocker or privacy extension could be preventing the script from running. Try opening your site in an incognito window without extensions enabled to see if you appear in the Realtime report.

  • IP Address Filters: You may have set up filters in Google Analytics to exclude traffic from your office or home IP addresses to avoid skewing data. This is good practice, but it will prevent you from seeing your own visits in reports. Using your phone on cellular data is a good way around this for testing.

  • Conflicts with Other Scripts: Poorly written code from another plugin or tool can sometimes interfere with the GA script, causing it to fail. Developer Tools ("Console" tab) can help you spot these errors.

Final Thoughts

Confirming your Google Analytics setup is a foundational step for making data-driven decisions about your website and marketing efforts. Using the page source, browser tools, platform settings, or the Realtime report, you can quickly verify that you're capturing all that valuable visitor data. It’s a five-minute check that pays off in long-term confidence.

Once you’re sure GA is working, the next challenge is connecting that data to your other tools - like Shopify, Google Ads, or HubSpot - to see the full story of your customer journey. We built Graphed to do exactly that. We automate the entire reporting process by linking all your sources and letting you use natural language to build and share real-time dashboards instantly. It has helped us move from spending hours on manual reporting to getting answers in seconds.