Overview
If you have ever asked a customer, “How did you hear about us?”, then Self-Reported Attribution lets you capture the source. It is a first-party signal that works alongside CallRail’s existing marketing attribution to give you a more complete picture of what is driving your leads. Since self-reported attribution comes directly from the lead, it captures sources such as referrals, offline advertising, and AI-driven search traffic that you might miss with just browser-side tracking.
CallRail provides Self-Reported Attribution in two ways:
- For calls: After a call is transcribed, CallRail automatically analyzes the transcript to detect when a caller mentions how they found your business.
- For forms: A “How did you hear about us?” field is included by default on new Custom Forms, letting leads select their source at the time of submission.
Before You Begin
Before using Self-Reported Attribution, confirm the following:
- Call-level Self-Reported Attribution requires a Premium Conversation Intelligence plan. It also only detects attribution in English-language transcripts.
- Form-level Self-Reported Attribution requires the Form Tracking product with Custom Forms enabled.
How Call-Level Self-Reported Attribution Works
Call-level Self-Reported Attribution is available automatically for qualifying calls on the Premium Conversation Intelligence plan. No setup is required. After a call is transcribed, CallRail analyzes the transcript and assigns a source from the list below, or marks the call as “no attribution found” if no source is mentioned.
Sources detected: Online Search, AI Search, Social Media, Online Directory, Personal Referral, Business Referral, Influencer, Other Online Ad, Broadcast Ad, Print Ad, Direct Mail, Billboard / Signage, Return Customer, Other.
Where to View Call-Level Attribution
You can view self-reported attribution data for calls in three places:
- The Call Log, where a Reported Attribution column shows the detected source for each call.
- The Generated Insights panel on a call’s Timeline.
- The Self-Reported Attribution report, which shows attribution trends across your calls.
Please note: The Self-Reported Attribution report applies stricter default filters than the Call Log. Calls must be first-time calls, at least 90 seconds long, and have a completed transcript. A call may show attribution on its detail view but not appear in the report if it does not meet these criteria.
Set Up Self-Reported Attribution for Forms
The “How did you hear about us?” field is included by default on any new Custom Form you create. You can customize or remove the field in the form builder.
- In CallRail, navigate to Forms.
- Click Create New Form.
- In the form builder, locate the How did you hear about us? field. It is included by default.
- To remove source options that do not apply to your business, click the option and select Remove.
- To allow leads to enter a custom response, enable the Other free-text option.
- If you do not want to collect self-reported attribution on this form, remove the field by clicking the delete icon next to How did you hear about us?.
- Click Save to publish your form.
For more information about custom form tracking, please review this article in our help center.
Default Source Options
When added to a form, the field includes these options by default. You can remove any that do not apply to your business, but you cannot add custom source entries in this version of the feature.
Default sources: Online Search, AI Search, Social Media, Online Directory, Personal Referral, Business Referral, Influencer, Other Online Ad, Broadcast Ad, Print Ad, Direct Mail, Billboard / Signage, Return Customer, Other.
View Form Self-Reported Attribution Data
After a lead submits your form, their self-reported source is stored on the Form Submission lead record. That record can be found by viewing the following:
- Activity view: Open any Form Submission lead record to see the self-reported source alongside the lead’s existing marketing source attribution.
- Forms report: Filter submissions by self-reported source or add a Self-Reported Attribution column to the report.
If a lead does not select a source, the record will show “no attribution found.”
Limitations
Keep the following in mind when using form-level Self-Reported Attribution:
- The field is only available on newly created Custom Forms. It cannot be added retroactively to forms that already exist in your account.
- Self-Reported Attribution is not available on third-party forms connected via the JavaScript snippet. Examples include Gravity Forms, Typeform, or HubSpot forms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does self-reported attribution replace my existing marketing attribution in CallRail?
No. Self-reported attribution is additional context that appears alongside your existing marketing source data. It does not change how CallRail calculates or reports your marketing attribution.
Can I add the “How did you hear about us?” field to an existing form?
Not at this time. The field is only available on newly created Custom Forms. It cannot be added retroactively to forms that already exist in your account.
What forms support self-reported attribution?
Only Custom Forms created directly in CallRail support this field. Third-party forms connected via the JavaScript snippet, such as Gravity Forms, Typeform, or HubSpot forms, are not supported at this time.
Why doesn’t my call appear in the Self-Reported Attribution report even though it shows attribution on the call detail?
The Self-Reported Attribution report applies stricter default filters than the call detail view. To appear in the report, a call must be a first-time call, at least 90 seconds long, and have a completed transcript.
Is there a report that combines call and form self-reported attribution in one view?
Not at this time. Call-level and form-level attribution are reported separately. A unified cross-channel view is planned for a future release.