GCLID not working? Why it's missing (and how to check)

If your landing pages lose gclid, Google Ads can struggle to attribute conversions correctly. This is especially painful when GA4 shows conversions but Ads doesn’t.

Common causes

Redirects strip query parameters
“Clean URL” logic drops unknown params
Cross-domain journeys don’t preserve click IDs

Check your URL

Paste your landing page and test whether gclid is present (and whether redirects strip it).

Open GCLID Checker →

Next step if Ads still shows 0

If gclid is fine but conversions still don't show in Ads, the issue is often consent signals or timing. Use:
GA4 conversions not showing in Google Ads (fix guide) →