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How Elara fixed broken attribution and grew ChatGPT and Perplexity signups in 30 days

We thought AI search wasn't working. It was working the whole time, just landing as "direct." GrowthOS fixed the tracking, showed us the real number, and then grew it in a month.

The company

Elara is an AI-native personal stylist. Consumers upload their wardrobe, get daily outfits built from what they own, virtually try on new pieces, and shop the gaps. NYC-based, founded in 2025.

The challenge

Elara was getting cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity when people asked for an AI stylist app, and those answers were sending real signups. But the analytics didn't show it. AI assistants strip referrers and send traffic without UTMs, so every one of those signups landed in the "direct" bucket. The channel looked flat, so it kept losing to paid and influencer work that could be measured. Elara was underfunding the exact source that was already converting.

What GrowthOS owned

One KPI: tracked signups attributed to AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other assistants).

One weekly loop, claims routed for approval.

What shipped

  • Attribution fix: a first-touch capture layer that tags and persists AI-referral and landing-context signals so assistant-driven signups stop collapsing into "direct"

  • A clean view of real AI-search signups, separated from generic direct traffic, so the channel finally had a number to grow

  • AI-search visibility work so Elara is cited more often when people ask ChatGPT and Perplexity for an AI stylist

  • Landing and proof content tuned for how people arrive from an AI answer, mid-decision and ready to try

Results

  • Broken attribution fixed in week 1: AI-search signups previously logged as "direct" became visible and trackable

  • +63% signups attributed to ChatGPT and Perplexity in the first 30 days (Elara analytics)

  • AI search moved from an invisible channel to a top-3 tracked signup source

  • Cited in ChatGPT and Perplexity answers for "AI personal stylist app"

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