Why is GA4 attribution alone not enough?

GA4 misses ~30-40% of true source — anything from a non-UTM tagged link (most social shares), email forward, copied URL, or app-to-app click loses attribution. Layering self-report + PostHog session data captures these. Confidence on source attribution jumps from ~60% (GA4 only) to ~88% (3-source stitch).

Won't asking 'how did you hear about us?' hurt signup conversion?

Yes — by ~2-4% if it's required at signup. Better placement: first onboarding step after signup ('one quick question'). Conversion impact <1% there, response rate ~85%. Tycoon Agent defaults to onboarding-step placement and tracks both signup conversion and response rate weekly.

What if my customers are mostly word-of-mouth?

Common for product-led growth. Tycoon Agent captures word-of-mouth via self-report and segments it by referrer (friend/coworker, podcast guest, Twitter post, etc.). The actionable insight is usually: invest in the highest-converting word-of-mouth driver (often podcast appearances or specific Twitter influencers) to make organic word-of-mouth more frequent.

How do I distinguish 'direct traffic' from real direct?

Direct traffic in GA4 is mostly mis-attributed referral (lost UTM). Tycoon Agent cross-references with self-report: real direct = customer typed your URL knowing your brand (usually previous trial users or word-of-mouth). Mis-attributed direct = self-report says Reddit/podcast/Twitter. She separates these cleanly so you don't double-count word-of-mouth as 'direct.'

Ask Tycoon Agent: Where are my users coming from?

You'd think GA4 source data is the answer — Tycoon Agent cross-references UTM, first-touch, and a post-signup question to give you real attribution.

The short answer

Tycoon Agent maps every signup to its real source weekly using 3 signals stitched together. (1) UTM + GA4 first-touch attribution — captures direct paid + organic search referrals. (2) PostHog session recording metadata — catches indirect referrals (Reddit/Twitter clicks that lose UTM). (3) Post-signup 'how did you hear about us?' question — captures word-of-mouth, podcast, conference, friend recommendation. She cross-references all 3, resolves conflicts (post-signup self-report > UTM > first-touch), and outputs a weekly source breakdown ranked by both volume AND quality (paid conversion rate × LTV per source). The Lark report shows: top 5 sources by paid customers (not signups), each source's CAC, blended CAC, and the cheapest channel to scale next. Most founders find their #1 paying-customer source isn't where they're spending money — and the gap is the next move.

How Tycoon Agent actually does it

Map UTM + first-touch from GA4
GA4 acquisition reports for every signup. Capture utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign + first-touch organic source. Backfill last 90 days.
GA4
Layer PostHog session metadata
PostHog initial_referring_domain. Catches Twitter/Reddit/HN signups that drop UTM in shared links. Reconcile with GA4 attribution.
PostHog
Capture post-signup self-report
Add 'how did you hear about us?' as required field on signup or first onboarding step. 7 options + free text. This is the highest-confidence signal.
PostHogIntercom
Resolve conflicts and rank by quality
Source priority: self-report > UTM > first-touch. Compute paid conversion rate per source, LTV per source, true CAC per source. Rank by quality not volume.
Deliver weekly report
Lark: top 5 sources by paid customers, CAC per source, blended CAC, biggest opportunity (cheapest scale-up source).
Lark

What it looks like in chat

YouWhere are my users coming from?

Tycoon AgentLast 30 days, ranked by **paid customers** (not signups): 1. **Organic search:** 47 paid customers, $0 attributed spend = **$0 CAC**. Top queries: 'cheapest LLM API', 'OpenRouter alternative'. 2. **Reddit (r/LocalLLaMA + r/ClaudeAI):** 28 paid, $0 spend = **$0 CAC**. You aren't actively posting — these are organic mentions. 3. **LinkedIn organic:** 19 paid, your CMO spends ~5h/wk = ~$2,200 attributed = **$116 CAC**. 4. **Direct/referral:** 22 paid, mostly word-of-mouth per self-report ('a friend recommended'). 5. **Google Ads:** 14 paid, $6,000 spend = **$429 CAC** ❌ much worse than organic. **Surprises:** - You spent $0 on Reddit but it's your #2 paying source. **Action: hire a part-time Reddit community lead or budget $500/mo for AMAs/sponsored posts in r/LocalLLaMA.** Projected: 15-30 more paid/mo. - Google Ads is 3x your blended CAC. **Action: cut all Google Ads except brand keywords. Save $5,500/mo.** - Word-of-mouth is huge but you have no referral program. **Action: ship referral mechanic (see /design-a-referral-program).** Net impact if you do all 3: +$5,500 saved + 20-40 more paid/mo with no extra spend. Want to start?

What you get back

Weekly Lark report: top 5 sources by paid customers, CAC per source, blended CAC, top opportunity to scale.

Cadence: Weekly Friday 4pm. Quarterly deep-dive on source quality trends.

Where are my users coming from?