Linear attribution
Updated 2026-11-02
Definition
Linear attribution splits the credit for a sale equally across every visit in the attribution window. Four visits means each gets 25%.
It's a form of multi-touch attribution. It assumes every visit mattered the same amount. That's rarely exactly true, but it's a fair starting point when you have no strong reason to favor one stage.
Example
This example uses made-up numbers. A buyer pays $1,000 after four visits:
| Visit | Channel | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Organic search | $250 |
| 2 | $250 | |
| 3 | $250 | |
| 4 | Paid search | $250 |
Grouped by channel, email earns $500, organic search earns $250 and paid search earns $250.
Notice what happens to repeat visits. Email earned twice as much because it brought the buyer back twice. Channels that drive frequent return visits can look better under linear than under models that focus on the first and last touch.
Strengths and limits
Linear is simple, and every channel in the journey gets something. It works well as a neutral view for comparing channels. Its weakness is that a quick return visit counts as much as the visit that introduced your product.
How Headstream measures it
Linear is Headstream's default model across the API, CLI and MCP server. Each session in the window counts as one touchpoint. Amounts are divided in the smallest currency unit, and any leftover cents go to the largest remainders, so the credits always add up to the exact payment. A $100.00 payment across three visits becomes $33.34, $33.33 and $33.33.
Attribution relies on Stripe, and connecting Stripe is in beta. For a view that weights the ends of the journey, see U-shaped attribution. The methodology page covers the details.