How to see last click attribution in GA4, step by step

To see last click attribution in GA4, open Traffic acquisition, which always credits the last non-direct click. Then compare Paid and organic last click with data-driven in the Attribution models report. Where a channel gains credit under data-driven, it usually appears earlier in the path than the final click.

Step by step

1. Check which model your GA4 reports use. In Admin, under Data display, click Events, then Attribution settings. Reporting attribution model shows Data-driven or Paid and organic last click. You need the Marketer role or above at the property level to change it. Menu path: Admin > Data display > Events > Attribution settings.
2. Open the report that is last click already. Traffic acquisition shows session-scoped dimensions, and GA4 credits those with the paid and organic channels last click model. Your reporting model setting does not change them, so this report is always a last-click view. Its Direct row keeps only the visits GA4 could not hand to a user's earlier campaign. Menu path: Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
3. Put last click next to data-driven. Open the Attribution models report and use the drop-down in the Attribution model (non-direct) columns. Pick Paid and organic last click in one and Data-driven in the other, then read the change per channel. Channels that often start journeys, such as paid social, are the ones to watch. Menu path: Advertising > Attribution > Attribution models.
4. Read the paths behind the credit. The Attribution paths report shows the paths buyers took to a key event. Last click keeps only the final non-direct touch of each path, so look at what sits before it. If most of your paths have a single touch, the model choice matters little for you. Menu path: Advertising > Attribution > Attribution paths.
5. Compare with Google Ads' own last click. In Google Ads, go to Attribution within the Goals menu and select Model comparison. Use the Compare and With drop-downs to set Last click against Data-driven. Data-driven is the default for most Google Ads conversion actions, so Last click is usually the one you have to pick. Menu path: Google Ads > Goals > Attribution > Model comparison.
6. Check what your Google Ads conversions count. Google's help says GA4 uses last click for all Google Ads conversions based on key events. So an imported key event becomes a Google Ads conversion only when Google Ads was the last non-direct click. Each conversion action also shows its own model in its settings. Menu path: Google Ads > Goals > Summary > conversion name > Edit settings > Attribution model.
7. Switch Shopify between its two last clicks. In your Shopify admin, go to Analytics, then Reports, click the Category filter and choose Marketing. Open Performance by referring channel and use the Attribution menu in its configuration panel. Last click counts direct visits, and Last non-direct click skips them. Menu path: Shopify admin > Analytics > Reports > Category: Marketing > Performance by referring channel > Attribution.

A worked example

For illustration, take one €100 order. Its path runs: a paid social ad, an organic search visit, an email click, then a typed-in visit on purchase day.

If you use Shopify's Last click, the whole €100 goes to Direct, because the typed visit came last. If you switch Shopify to Last non-direct click, the €100 moves to Email. If the same path reaches GA4, Paid and organic last click also gives the €100 to Email, since it skips direct visits. If the property reports by data-driven attribution, the €100 is split across the non-direct touches instead.

GA4's third model, Google paid channels last click, looks for a Google Ads click first. With none on this path, it falls back to Paid and organic last click and also picks Email.

Google Ads sees it differently again. No Google ad sits on this path, so this key event never becomes a Google Ads conversion. One order, four answers: Direct, Email, a split, or nothing.

Now the share of revenue where this matters. On one store's Journeys sheet, journeys with 1 touch hold 79.5% of revenue, with 0.5 days to buy. Every model gives those sales to the same single touch.

Journeys of two or more touches, like the example, hold 20.6% on the Journeys sheet (12.2% + 5.4% + 3.0%). They took between 12.5 and 16.9 days to buy, the Journeys sheet says, and last click keeps only their final moment.

So in that store, the choice of model can move about a fifth of revenue at most. The rest, about four fifths, reads the same under any rule.

When is last click good enough?

When most of your revenue comes from one-touch journeys, as on that store's Journeys sheet, every model gives the same answer. Last click is then the simplest way to read it.

It also fits questions about the final step. Was the last thing before the sale the abandoned-cart email or a branded search ad? Last click tells you that directly.

It fails on the questions budgets turn on. Which channel found the buyer? Would they have bought without the ad? For those, compare models in step 3, read the paths in step 4, and test the channels that start journeys.

A useful habit: when someone quotes a channel's revenue, ask which last click it uses. The answer often settles the argument.

What should you check when the numbers look wrong?

• Direct gets almost no credit in the Attribution models report. That is how GA4 is built: its models exclude direct visits unless the whole path was direct. Direct's share there is the all-direct paths and nothing more.
• GA4 and Google Ads show different conversions for one campaign. Each credits a different set of channels. Set GA4 to paid and organic channels last click for the comparison before you call either one wrong.
• Traffic acquisition does not change after you switch models. That is expected, because session-scoped reports always use last click. Use the Attribution models report for the comparison instead.
• Shopify and GA4 disagree on Direct. Check whether Shopify is on Last click, which counts direct visits, or Last non-direct click, which skips them.
• An old screenshot shows first click or linear. GA4 retired first click, linear, time decay and position-based models in November 2023. Older screenshots will not match the options you see today.

What to do this week

1. Write the model next to every number. For each report your team reads, note the GA4 setting, the Google Ads model and Shopify's attribution choice. Pass: every weekly figure has its model beside it. Fail: someone compares a last click figure with a data-driven one.
2. Compare models for your three biggest channels. Run step 3 for the last full month. Pass: each channel's credit barely moves, so last click is fine for weekly calls. Fail: one channel gains a lot under data-driven, so judge it on its paths, not on last click.
3. Save the comparison with a date on it. In the Attribution models report, click Share this report and download the table. Pass: you have a dated file to set against next quarter's. Fail: you rely on screenshots that stop matching after the next settings change.

Check the homework. Your GA4 Attribution paths export already holds the evidence. Causality Engine reads that one file and shows what each channel caused next to what last-click gave it, in 1 to 2 minutes, for €99 once (excluding VAT), refundable within 30 days. Check the homework

Sources, 1 October 2026: Get started with attribution (Google); Scopes of traffic-source dimensions (Google); Key event attribution models report (Google); Traffic acquisition report (Google); About attribution models (Google); Marketing reports (Shopify)

Related answers

• All Attribution models questions
• What is last click attribution?
• Data-driven attribution, defined
• The quarterly attribution checkup