Masking Ad Impressions as clicks?

I plan on finding an ad serving network that would give me some freedom to operate but basically, I need a way to track my ads placed on third party websites, but not just for clicks, but i need to track the impressions in GA as well. My guess is the best way to do this is to somehow create a URL that automatically fires/redirects when the ad is served regardless if it is actually clicked or not. Just make the URL in a way so that when it is served, it acts as a click. I am a bit of a novice and understand that there are some scripts that can help with this, but i was hoping someone can explain if its even possible and if so, provide a solution in layman's terms.

Pros might read this and think i am an idiot, but i just need an ideal way to track the impressions in GA and figured this would be a good way.