HubSpot Original Source for AEO: rewiring HubSpot's core attribution

What this does

HubSpot's Original Source is the most important attribution field in the CRM. It's what HubSpot's native funnel reports, source reports, and lifecycle analytics all key off. Out of the box, Original Source has eight categories (Organic Search, Paid Search, Email Marketing, Social Media, Direct Traffic, Referrals, Other Campaigns, Offline Sources). None include AI. Lantern forces AI traffic into 'Other Campaigns' with Drill-Down 1 = chatgpt (or the engine name) so HubSpot's native reports at least recognize it.

How Lantern fits

Lantern can't add a ninth Original Source category (HubSpot's enum is closed). What Lantern does: uses the 'Other Campaigns' category + populates Drill-Down 1 and 2 with engine-specific values, so HubSpot's Source drill-down reports show 'Other Campaigns > chatgpt' as a browsable path. Every native HubSpot funnel report then has AI traffic visible, labeled, and filterable without requiring custom report work.

Setup preview

When a contact arrives with utm_source=chatgpt, Lantern's workflow sets: Original Source = Other Campaigns (forced, HubSpot's default rule), Original Source Drill-Down 1 = chatgpt (the engine), Original Source Drill-Down 2 = [specific prompt category, e.g. 'aeo-comparison'], Custom Property ai_source = chatgpt (Lantern's parallel field for cleaner reporting). The dual approach means HubSpot-native reports have some AI visibility, and Lantern's custom property has full granularity.

// Override HubSpot Original Source for AI-referred sessions
// Call before _hsq.push(['trackPageView'])

var _hsq = window._hsq = window._hsq || [];

(function() {
  var aiEngine = getLanternAIEngine(); // from Lantern snippet
  if (!aiEngine) return;

  // HubSpot Identity API: set custom properties that drive Original Source
  _hsq.push(['identify', {
    ai_source: aiEngine,
    ai_engine: aiEngine,
    hs_analytics_source: 'OTHER_CAMPAIGNS',
    hs_analytics_source_data_1: aiEngine,
    hs_analytics_source_data_2: getPromptCategory()
  }]);

  _hsq.push(['trackPageView']);
})();

function getPromptCategory() {
  var path = window.location.pathname;
  if (path.indexOf('/compare/') === 0) return 'aeo-comparison';
  if (path.indexOf('/learn/')   === 0) return 'aeo-glossary';
  if (path.indexOf('/aeo-for/') === 0) return 'aeo-vertical';
  return 'aeo-other';
}

Where this fits in the bigger picture

This page describes one specific surface inside HubSpot where Lantern's AEO pipeline attribution plugs in. The full integration stitches together across HubSpot Contacts, Deals, Workflows, Lists, Reports, Forms, CMS, and the Marketing/Sales/Service Hub stack. If you're evaluating where to start, the comparison hub has side-by-side comparisons of Lantern against Profound, Scrunch, Peec AI, AthenaHQ, and HubSpot's own AEO product — scored on the dimensions that matter for a CMO buyer (CRM integration depth, reporting quality, prompt-scaling economics).

If you're about to walk this work into a renewal review or budget conversation, the CFO's Guide to AEO Budget Defense has the memo template, the five-slide deck structure, the attribution-math cheat sheet, and the three most-common CFO objections with counter-arguments. It's the long-form companion that translates the technical HubSpot setup on this page into a defensible dollar number for finance.