Where to Find Model Comparison Tool in Google Analytics?

Trying to understand how all your marketing channels work together can feel complicated, especially when you're looking for the right tools inside Google Analytics 4. The Model Comparison Tool is your key to getting a clearer picture of the customer journey, but it’s not located where you might expect. This guide will show you precisely where to find the attribution modeling tools in GA4 and how to use them to make smarter marketing decisions.

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What Exactly Is Attribution Modeling?

Before hunting down the tool, it’s essential to understand what attribution is and why it matters. In simple terms, attribution is the process of giving credit for conversions to the different ads, clicks, and channels a user interacts with before they complete an action you care about, like making a purchase or filling out a form.

Think about a typical customer journey. A person might:

• Discover your brand through a blog post they found on Google (Organic Search).
• A few days later, see a retargeting ad on Facebook (Paid Social).
• Another week passes, and they get a promotional email (Email).
• They finally click the link in the email and make a purchase (Email).

If you only used a basic “last-click” attribution model, the email campaign would get 100% of the credit. But what about the blog post that started it all, or the social ad that kept your brand top of mind? Attribution modeling helps you distribute that credit more accurately, giving you a better understanding of what’s truly driving results.

This is crucial for marketers because it directly impacts where you spend your time and money. If you think email is your only high-performing channel, you might slash your budget for SEO and social ads, only to see your email conversions dry up because you’ve cut off the top of your funnel.

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Where to Find the Model Comparison Tool in GA4

In the transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4, many reports and tools moved to new homes. The attribution tools are a prime example. If you’re clicking through the 'Reports' section and feel lost, you’re not alone. The Model Comparison Tool is now located in the Advertising workspace.

Here’s how to get there step-by-step:

1. Log in to your Google Analytics 4 property.
2. Look at the navigation menu on the far left of your screen. Click the icon that looks like a chart with a star, which is the Advertising section.
3. Once the Advertising section expands, you'll see a few headings. Under the Attribution sub-section, click on Model comparison.

That’s it. You’ve found it! This dedicated workspace consolidates all of GA4’s attribution features, making it a hub for understanding channel performance beyond simple last-click metrics.

How to Use the Model Comparison Report

Once you’ve opened the report, you might see a table of data and a few dropdown menus. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s easy to use once you know what you’re looking at.

1. Select the Models to Compare

At the top of the report, you'll find dropdown menus allowing you to select different attribution models. You can compare up to three models side-by-side. A practical starting point is to compare:

• Last click: Gives 100% credit to the final touchpoint before conversion.
• First click: Gives 100% credit to the very first touchpoint in the journey.
• Data-driven: This is Google’s advanced, algorithm-based model. It uses your account’s historical data to determine how much credit each touchpoint should receive. It’s usually considered the most nuanced and accurate model if you have enough conversion data for it to run properly.

A great first comparison is Last click versus Data-driven to quickly spot which channels your old reporting method was undervaluing.

2. Choose Your Conversion Events

Just below the model selectors, there’s an option to filter by specific conversion events. Don’t leave this on “All conversion events.” Your business likely has multiple types of conversions (e.g., purchase, generate_lead, sign_up), and they often have very different customer journeys. Analyzing your most important conversion events individually will give you much cleaner insights.

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3. Analyze the Data Table

The main part of the report is a table that displays your channels (like Organic Search, Paid Social, Direct, Email, etc.) and metrics associated with each one based on the models you selected.

Here’s what the common columns mean:

• Channel: This is the marketing channel you’re evaluating.
• Conversions: Shows the number of conversions credited to that channel under the models you selected. If you’re comparing two models, you’ll see a column for each.
• % change: This is the golden insight. It shows you the percentage increase or decrease in credited conversions when you switch from your primary model (the one in the left dropdown) to the comparison model (in the right dropdown).
• Revenue: If you’re tracking e-commerce data, you’ll also see the revenue attributed to each channel, allowing you to see the financial impact of different models.

A Practical Example: Showing the Value of Content Marketing

Imagine your primary goal is to prove the ROI of your company blog, which drives a lot of traffic through Organic Search traffic. Your boss, however, only looks at a last-click report where Direct and Email get most of the credit for sales.

In the Model Comparison tool, you could set up a comparison between:

• Model 1: Last click
• Model 2: First click

In this view, the % change column would likely show a massive positive percentage for Organic Search. You can now go to your boss and say, “While last-click reports show Organic Search driving 50 sales, a first-click analysis shows it was the first touchpoint for 250 sales. The blog is introducing customers who buy later, making it a critical part of our marketing funnel.”

Actionable Comparisons and What They Reveal

Different model comparisons answer different strategic questions. Here are a few common setups and what they can teach you:

Last Click vs. Data-Driven

This is the most essential comparison for most businesses. It highlights the mid-funnel and top-of-funnel channels that a last-click view ignores. You’ll often see “discovery” channels like Paid Social and Organic Search get significantly more credit under the Data-driven model, proving their value in building awareness and nurturing leads.

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First Click vs. Last Click

This comparison helps you identify your "opener" channels versus your "closer" channels.

• Channels that perform better with First click are your openers. They are great at introducing new users to your brand. Think content marketing, top-of-funnel paid search campaigns, and brand awareness efforts.
• Channels that perform better with Last click are your closers. They are effective at prompting an immediate conversion from users who are already familiar with you. Think branded search, retargeting campaigns, and email promotions.

Linear vs. Time Decay

This is a more nuanced comparison. A linear model gives equal credit to every touchpoint in the journey. A time decay model gives more credit to the touchpoints that happened closer to the conversion. Comparing these two can help you understand the importance of timing. If your results are much better with a time decay model, it suggests that the final interactions before conversion are especially influential for your customers.

Final Thoughts

Getting comfortable with GA4’s Model Comparison Tool moves you from simply reporting on what happened to understanding why it happened. By looking beyond last-click attribution, you can truly value every channel, justify budgets for top-of-funnel campaigns, and get a holistic view of how customers interact with your brand over time.

Of course, digging through analytics reports can feel tedious, especially when you need a quick answer. At Graphed , we aim to eliminate that friction by connecting all your data sources, including Google Analytics, into one place. Rather than navigating menus to build reports, you can just ask in plain language, “what’s the data-driven conversion value of our organic search traffic compared to last-click?” and get an instant, clear answer. It frees up your time to focus on strategy instead of report-building.