Google's AI Overviews do not only quote the page that ranks. They lean on a small set of other websites again and again. If you know which sites those are in your industry, you know where else your brand needs to be seen.
We recorded the sources behind 8,295 AI Overviews over 16 days. YouTube was cited in 63.3% of them, and Reddit came second at 24.0%. Below are the 10 most cited sites in AI Overviews overall, and the five most-cited sites in each of six industries. The full study, with a free data download, is on our AI Overviews research page.
Which sites do Google's AI Overviews cite most?
YouTube is cited most, in 63.3% of the AI Overviews in our sample. That is more than twice as often as the next site, Reddit, at 24.0%. Google's own pages came third at 17.5%. Almost all of those were Google shopping product pages and flight searches.
The table shows the share of AI Overviews that cited each site at least once. It covers 8,295 AI Overviews that cited at least one site, from 600 generic searches.
| Rank | Site | Share of AI Overviews citing it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | YouTube | 63.3% |
| 2 | 24.0% | |
| 3 | Google's own pages | 17.5% |
| 4 | NerdWallet | 10.0% |
| 5 | 9.7% | |
| 6 | Forbes | 8.0% |
| 7 | Mayo Clinic | 6.6% |
| 8 | U.S. News | 6.3% |
| 9 | Cleveland Clinic | 6.3% |
| 10 | Zapier | 5.4% |
Three kinds of site fill the list: video, forums and social, and specialists. NerdWallet, Mayo Clinic and Zapier each lead the specialists in one industry, which is enough to put them in the overall top 10.
How we counted the most-cited sites
The study covers 660 US English Google searches in six industries. 600 were generic searches, 100 per industry, picked by a fixed rule from the highest-volume searches. The other 60 were "[brand] reviews" searches.
On day one we recorded the organic top 10, the AI Overview and the AI Mode answer, and measured the pages. The 601 searches that showed an AI Overview were then run again every day for 15 days.
The most-cited lists use the 600 generic searches, collected between 26 September and 12 October 2026. These are high-volume commercial US searches, not a random sample of everything people search. The dataset held 8,295 AI Overviews that cited at least one site.
Three counting rules matter for the tables in this post:
- A site counts once per answer. An AI Overview that cites three YouTube videos counts as one YouTube citation.
- Subdomains count with their main site. Two Cleveland Clinic subdomains count as one site.
- Google's own pages are kept. Links to google.com, such as product pages and flight searches, are reported as "Google's own pages", not dropped.
The full method is on the research page.
AI Overview sources by industry: the five most-cited sites
The five most-cited sites differ by industry, but YouTube is first in all six. Each figure is the share of that industry's AI Overviews that cited the site. The answer count under each industry is the number of AI Overviews behind its row.
| Industry (answers) | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B software (1,514) | YouTube 83.7% | Reddit 42.9% | Zapier 29.8% | PCMag 22.9% | Forbes 18.5% |
| Finance (1,519) | YouTube 48.4% | NerdWallet 40.9% | Bankrate 23.2% | Fidelity 22.1% | Reddit 18.6% |
| Health (1,545) | YouTube 66.9% | Mayo Clinic 35.6% | Cleveland Clinic 32.8% | Healthline 23.0% | NIH 21.7% |
| Local services (1,127) | YouTube 43.7% | Angi 23.2% | Reddit 22.8% | Facebook 13.1% | HomeGuide 11.2% |
| Online shopping (1,331) | YouTube 68.2% | Google's own pages 68.0% | Reddit 26.3% | RTINGS 23.1% | New York Times 18.5% |
| Travel (1,259) | YouTube 64.7% | Facebook 27.6% | Reddit 26.2% | Google's own pages 25.8% | Expedia 19.8% |
After video and forums, each industry is led by a few specialists. The sections below go through each industry using the figures from this table.
B2B software: YouTube, Reddit and Zapier
B2B software leans on YouTube more than any other industry, at 83.7% of 1,514 AI Overviews. The forum site is second at 42.9%, its highest share in any industry. Zapier is the leading specialist at 29.8%, followed by PCMag at 22.9% and Forbes at 18.5%. No other industry gives a forum site such a large share.
Finance: NerdWallet, Bankrate and Fidelity
Finance is the industry where one specialist comes closest to YouTube. Of 1,519 finance AI Overviews, 48.4% cited YouTube and 40.9% cited NerdWallet. Bankrate follows at 23.2% and Fidelity at 22.1%, with Reddit fifth at 18.6%. Finance sites carry much of the weight here.
Health: Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic
Health AI Overviews cite medical sites heavily. Video leads at 66.9% of 1,545 answers, then Mayo Clinic at 35.6% and Cleveland Clinic at 32.8%. Healthline (23.0%) and NIH (21.7%) complete the five. Health is the only industry where Reddit and Facebook are both missing from the top five.
Local services: Angi, Reddit and Facebook
Local services has the lowest YouTube share of the six industries, at 43.7% of 1,127 AI Overviews. Angi is second at 23.2%, and the forum site close behind at 22.8%. Facebook (13.1%) and HomeGuide (11.2%) follow. Angi and HomeGuide are both sites for hiring and pricing home services.
Online shopping: YouTube and Google's own pages
Online shopping has two sites at almost the same level. Of 1,331 AI Overviews, 68.2% cited YouTube and 68.0% cited Google's own product pages. Third is the forum site at 26.3%, then the review site RTINGS at 23.1% and the New York Times at 18.5%. Google's product pages on buying searches are the subject of our post on AI Overviews and Google's own product pages.
Travel: Facebook, Reddit and Expedia
Travel is the industry where Facebook ranks highest. Video leads at 64.7% of 1,259 AI Overviews, then Facebook at 27.6% and Reddit at 26.2%. Google's own pages, mostly flight searches, come fourth at 25.8%. Expedia is the leading travel specialist at 19.8%.
YouTube is the most-cited site in every industry
YouTube is first in all six industries. The video site's share runs from 43.7% in local services to 83.7% in B2B software. Overall it was cited in 63.3% of AI Overviews, more than twice as often as Reddit.
| Industry | AI Overviews in the sample | Share citing YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| B2B software | 1,514 | 83.7% |
| Online shopping | 1,331 | 68.2% |
| Health | 1,545 | 66.9% |
| Travel | 1,259 | 64.7% |
| Finance | 1,519 | 48.4% |
| Local services | 1,127 | 43.7% |
For most brands, a page of text is the default way to answer a question. The data shows video is cited more often than any other source, in every industry we measured.
Reddit and Facebook are the forum and community sources
Reddit is in the top five of every industry except health, and Facebook is in the top five for travel and local services. Overall, 24.0% of AI Overviews cited Reddit and 9.7% cited Facebook. The forum's highest share is in B2B software, at 42.9%. Facebook's is in travel, at 27.6%.
Community sites hold first-hand accounts: people describing a product, a service or a trip in their own words. Read the threads in your category by hand. Answer questions where you have real expertise, and make it easy for customers to share their experience where people already talk.
What the most-cited sites mean for your brand
Being cited in AI Overviews is not only about your own website. In every industry the answer leans on video, forums and a few trusted specialists, so being covered on those sites is part of being cited. The table above gives you a starting list for your industry.
Four practical steps follow from the data:
- Find your industry's row in the table. Those five sites were cited most in our sample.
- Check YouTube for your main buying questions. Note whether the videos that answer them mention you.
- Read the forum threads in your category. Note whether your brand comes up.
- List the specialist sites for your industry. In finance that means NerdWallet, Bankrate and Fidelity. Coverage or listings there put your brand inside the sources the answers use.
One check is not enough. AI Overview sources change from day to day, so a single search shows you one day. Our guide to AI Overview tracking covers how to measure citations over time. For the wider picture of what to measure, see what AI search visibility measures.
How Babel42 AI Visibility shows the sources behind AI answers
Babel42 AI Visibility checks whether Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok cite and recommend your brand, and lists the sources they used. It shows which sources the answers cite for you and for your rivals.
That turns the industry tables above into a list for your own brand. You can see which of your industry's most-cited sites already mention you, and which ones the answers use for your competitors instead. Read more about the AI visibility tool, or see the full data behind this post in the AI Overviews study, where every figure can be downloaded as CSV.
