Original research
AI visibility study 2026: who ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google cite and recommend, by industry
Babel42 asked five AI assistants the same 257 questions, in 10 industries, once a day for three days, and recorded every site each answer cited and every brand it recommended. Each assistant leans on a different set of websites, yet they mostly agree on which brands to recommend, and only 15% of those recommendations cited the brand's own site.
- By:
- Babel42 Research
- Published:
- 4 November 2026
- Data collected:
- 1 to 3 November 2026
- Market:
- United States, English
- Assistants:
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode
- Answers recorded:
- 3,776: 257 questions x 5 assistants x 3 days, less 79 Google searches with no AI Overview
Key findings
- 01
Google's AI Overviews cited YouTube in 76% of answers and Reddit in 39%. Perplexity cited neither: its top source was Forbes, in 42% of answers. See the data
- 02
ChatGPT's web search results included Reddit threads for 85% of its 771 answers, yet no answer linked to Reddit or mentioned it by name. Wikipedia (58%) and YouTube (34%) were the same. See the data
- 03
On 286 occasions all five assistants cited sources for the same question on the same day. Only 23 times (8%) was there one site all five cited. See the data
- 04
ChatGPT and Google AI Mode shared at least one cited site for only 23% of questions, the lowest of any pair. See the data
- 05
Perplexity cited 91% of the same sites again the next day. Gemini cited 40%. See the data
- 06
ChatGPT cited 1.8 sites per answer on average, Perplexity 8.6. Gemini cited any source in only 46% of its answers. See the data
- 07
The assistants disagree on sources but agree on brands: when all five named brands for the same buying question, they had at least one in common 77% of the time, and the same first pick 27% of the time. See the data
- 08
Only 15% of brand recommendations cited the brand's own site (11,147 recommendations). In beauty it was 2%. See the data
- 09
NerdWallet is the only site in the top three for all five assistants in any industry (personal finance). See the data
About this data
The study covers 257 US English questions, asked to five AI assistants once a day on 1, 2 and 3 November 2026.
- The questions.21 to 29 in each of 10 industries: beauty, business software, gifts, health and supplements, HR, legal services, marketing services, personal finance, sportswear and travel. Each started as a real, high-volume Google search and was rewritten as the question a person would type into a chat assistant. Some are buying questions (“What's the best reef-safe sunscreen?”), the rest ask how something works.
- The assistants.ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini were asked through each company's API with web search on, from a US location. ChatGPT was required to search, and Gemini decided for itself. Google AI Overviews and AI Mode were collected from US Google results for the original search.
- How we count.A site counts once per answer, and subdomains count with their main site. Google's own shopping cards and links back to Google search are left out: they appeared in 26% of AI Overviews and 23% of AI Mode answers. A share is the share of that assistant's answers citing the site at least once.
- What it does not cover. The API versions of ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini can cite differently from their apps. The questions come from high-volume US searches, not a random sample of everything people ask, and three days is a short window.
The full method is at the end of the page, and every cited link is in the data download.
Finding 1
What sources does ChatGPT use? Each assistant has its own favourites: YouTube is in 76% of AI Overviews and 0% of ChatGPT answers
Google's two AI answers lean on YouTube and Reddit. Perplexity leans on large publishers, led by Forbes at 42%. ChatGPT cites official bodies and specialist sites, led by the US National Institutes of Health.
- YouTube
Google AI Overviews
76.2%39.2%Google AI Mode
35.7%25.0%Perplexity
0.4%0.0%Gemini
18.7%16.0%ChatGPT
0.0%0.0%
3,776 answers, 1 to 3 November 2026. AI Overviews: the 692 searches that showed one. Other assistants: 771 answers each. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Assistant | YouTube | |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 76.2% | 39.2% |
| Google AI Mode | 35.7% | 25% |
| Perplexity | 0.4% | 0% |
| Gemini | 18.7% | 16% |
| ChatGPT | 0% | 0% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews692 answers | youtube.com76.2% | reddit.com39.2% | facebook.com13.3% | forbes.com12.1% | amazon.com10.5% |
| Google AI Mode771 answers | youtube.com35.7% | reddit.com25% | forbes.com7.5% | zapier.com6.6% | usnews.com6.6% |
| Perplexity771 answers | forbes.com42.4% | goodhousekeeping.com18.5% | nytimes.com16% | cnn.com14.5% | usnews.com14.4% |
| Gemini771 answers | youtube.com18.7% | reddit.com16% | forbes.com7% | cnbc.com5.3% | outdoorgearlab.com4.4% |
| ChatGPT771 answers | nih.gov7.3% | aad.org6.1% | nerdwallet.com4% | rei.com4% | gusto.com3.1% |
What this means
There is no single list of sites that AI cites. A brand covered on YouTube and Reddit is well placed for Google's AI answers and invisible to Perplexity's sources, which come from the large publishers in each field.
Finding 2
Does ChatGPT cite Reddit? Reddit was in its search results for 85% of answers, and it never linked to it or named it
Before it answers, ChatGPT runs web searches, and it reports every page those searches returned, not only the pages it used. For 85% of its 771 answers, the search results included at least one Reddit thread. Yet not one answer linked to Reddit as a source, and not one mentioned Reddit by name. Wikipedia (in the results for 58% of answers) and YouTube (34%) were the same: never linked, never named.
- Returned by the search
- Cited when returned
reddit.com
84.8%0.0%wikipedia.org
58.2%0.0%youtube.com
34.0%0.0%techradar.com
27.2%4.3%goodhousekeeping.com
12.1%24.7%nerdwallet.com
9.1%44.3%
771 ChatGPT answers, 1 to 3 November 2026. The four sites its searches returned most often, plus two specialists for comparison. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Site | Returned by the search | Cited when returned |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 84.8% | 0% |
| wikipedia.org | 58.2% | 0% |
| youtube.com | 34% | 0% |
| techradar.com | 27.2% | 4.3% |
| goodhousekeeping.com | 12.1% | 24.7% |
| nerdwallet.com | 9.1% | 44.3% |
Perplexity's search, through its API, returned no Reddit pages at all in the three days.
What this means
ChatGPT sees what people say about your category on Reddit, but a citation report will never show it. If you only count cited links, ChatGPT looks as if it ignores forums entirely.
Finding 3
All five assistants shared one source on only 8% of questions
On 286 occasions all five assistants cited at least one site for the same question on the same day. Only 23 times was there one site all five cited. ChatGPT is the outlier in every pair.
- AI Overviews + Gemini83.1%
- AI Overviews + AI Mode80.3%
- AI Overviews + Perplexity77.8%
- Perplexity + Gemini76.1%
- AI Mode + Gemini73.1%
- AI Mode + Perplexity68.2%
- Perplexity + ChatGPT44.2%
- Gemini + ChatGPT38.4%
- AI Overviews + ChatGPT30.7%
- AI Mode + ChatGPT22.8%
Only questions where both assistants cited at least one site that day. The number of comparisons is in the table. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Pair | Shared at least one site | Comparisons |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and Gemini | 83.1% | 320 |
| Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode | 80.3% | 549 |
| Google AI Overviews and Perplexity | 77.8% | 690 |
| Perplexity and Gemini | 76.1% | 352 |
| Google AI Mode and Gemini | 73.1% | 308 |
| Google AI Mode and Perplexity | 68.2% | 601 |
| Perplexity and ChatGPT | 44.2% | 755 |
| Gemini and ChatGPT | 38.4% | 352 |
| Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT | 30.7% | 675 |
| Google AI Mode and ChatGPT | 22.8% | 596 |
What this means
Being cited by Google's AI tells you little about ChatGPT, and the reverse is also true. Check each assistant you care about. For Google's two answers, see our study of AI Overviews and AI Mode sources.
Finding 4
Perplexity cited 91% of the same sites the next day, Gemini 40%
Of the sites each assistant cited for a question on 1 November, this is the share it cited again for the same question on 2 November.
- Perplexity91.0%
- Google AI Mode69.4%
- Google AI Overviews63.7%
- ChatGPT53.7%
- Gemini40.0%
Only questions where the assistant cited at least one site on both days. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Assistant | Cited again the next day |
|---|---|
| Perplexity | 91% |
| Google AI Mode | 69.4% |
| Google AI Overviews | 63.7% |
| ChatGPT | 53.7% |
| Gemini | 40% |
What this means
One check of ChatGPT or Gemini shows you one day. Whether you are cited is better measured as how often, across many days. Our AI Overviews study tracked the same effect over 15 days.
Finding 5
ChatGPT cites 1.8 sites per answer, Perplexity 8.6
The assistants differ in how much they cite as well as what. Perplexity cited sources in every answer. Gemini cited any source in only 46% of its answers, because it decides for itself whether to search: 55% of buying questions, and 17% of questions about how something works.
- Google AI Overviews6.9
- Google AI Mode5.2
- Perplexity8.6
- Gemini6.4
- ChatGPT1.8
Answers citing at least one site, 1 to 3 November 2026. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Assistant | Sites per answer | Answers citing any site |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 6.9 | 99.7% |
| Google AI Mode | 5.2 | 78% |
| Perplexity | 8.6 | 100% |
| Gemini | 6.4 | 45.7% |
| ChatGPT | 1.8 | 97.9% |
What this means
A ChatGPT answer names one or two sources, so each slot is scarce. A Perplexity answer names eight or nine, so there is more room, but the large publishers take most of it.
See which sources AI cites for your brand
Babel42 AI Visibility checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode cite and recommend your brand, and lists every source they used.
Finding 6
The assistants disagree on sources but agree on brands: all five named a common brand on 77% of buying questions
We read every answer to the 188 buying questions that named products or companies, such as “What's the best payroll software for a small business?”, and recorded the brands each assistant recommended. On 344 occasions all five assistants named brands for the same question on the same day. They had at least one brand in common 266 times (77%), against 8% for cited sites. They put the same brand first only 94 times (27%).
- At least one brand in common
- Same first-named brand
Perplexity + Gemini
96.4%45.8%Perplexity + ChatGPT
94.6%56.2%AI Overviews + Gemini
94.3%39.6%AI Overviews + AI Mode
93.8%51.7%AI Overviews + Perplexity
93.7%46.6%Gemini + ChatGPT
93.7%51.3%AI Mode + Gemini
92.2%42.6%AI Mode + Perplexity
92.1%42.9%AI Overviews + ChatGPT
89.4%45.6%AI Mode + ChatGPT
88.5%49.1%
Buying questions where both assistants named at least one brand that day. The number of comparisons is in the table. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Pair | At least one brand in common | Same first-named brand | Comparisons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perplexity and Gemini | 96.4% | 45.8% | 500 |
| Perplexity and ChatGPT | 94.6% | 56.2% | 409 |
| Google AI Overviews and Gemini | 94.3% | 39.6% | 470 |
| Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode | 93.8% | 51.7% | 439 |
| Google AI Overviews and Perplexity | 93.7% | 46.6% | 442 |
| Gemini and ChatGPT | 93.7% | 51.3% | 413 |
| Google AI Mode and Gemini | 92.2% | 42.6% | 500 |
| Google AI Mode and Perplexity | 92.1% | 42.9% | 469 |
| Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT | 89.4% | 45.6% | 360 |
| Google AI Mode and ChatGPT | 88.5% | 49.1% | 393 |
| Assistant | Answers naming a brand | Brands per answer | Same first brand all 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews501 answers | 94.2% | 4.8 | 59.3% |
| Google AI Mode576 answers | 87.3% | 4.5 | 50% |
| Perplexity576 answers | 87% | 4.9 | 69.1% |
| Gemini576 answers | 97.4% | 6.9 | 48.9% |
| ChatGPT576 answers | 71.9% | 3.1 | 63.8% |
ChatGPT is the most cautious: it named no brand at all in 28% of its buying answers, often asking what the person likes first, and named 3.1 brands when it did. Gemini named 6.9. The most-named brands in each industry, across all five assistants:
| Industry | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty and fragrance260 answers | CeraVe24% | La Roche-Posay20% | Neutrogena14% |
| Business software270 answers | Zoho42% | Bitwarden28% | QuickBooks24% |
| Gifts386 answers | Apple10% | Ember9% | Amazon Kindle7% |
| Health and supplements285 answers | Thorne30% | Transparent Labs30% | Optimum Nutrition30% |
| HR and recruiting297 answers | Gusto59% | Rippling43% | QuickBooks33% |
| Legal services187 answers | LegalZoom33% | Trust & Will23% | Quicken WillMaker & Trust22% |
| Marketing services308 answers | Wix42% | Squarespace32% | Hostinger19% |
| Personal finance209 answers | Capital One44% | Chase37% | SoFi26% |
| Sportswear and fitness310 answers | Hoka32% | Brooks26% | Nike24% |
| Travel and hotels293 answers | Royal Caribbean17% | Virgin Voyages15% | Cotopaxi15% |
What this means
The assistants reach similar shortlists from very different sources. Being on the shortlist is the shared prize. Being named first is not: two assistants put the same brand first only 40% to 56% of the time, and Gemini and Google AI Mode changed their first pick between days for about half of all questions.
Finding 7
Only 15% of brand recommendations cited the brand's own site
For 11,147 brand recommendations where we know the brand's official site, the same answer cited that site 15% of the time. Even the brand named first had its own site cited only 21% of the time. The rest of the time, the evidence behind the recommendation was someone else's page.
- HR and recruiting23.5%
- Business software23.3%
- Legal services21.7%
- Personal finance19.4%
- Travel and hotels16.4%
- Marketing services16.2%
- Health and supplements8.6%
- Sportswear and fitness4.9%
- Gifts4.3%
- Beauty and fragrance1.6%
Brands named in buying answers, with a known official site, 1 to 3 November 2026. The number of recommendations is in the table. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Industry | Recommendations | Own site cited |
|---|---|---|
| HR and recruiting | 1680 | 23.5% |
| Business software | 1311 | 23.3% |
| Legal services | 446 | 21.7% |
| Personal finance | 902 | 19.4% |
| Travel and hotels | 1159 | 16.4% |
| Marketing services | 1628 | 16.2% |
| Health and supplements | 952 | 8.6% |
| Sportswear and fitness | 1216 | 4.9% |
| Gifts | 1054 | 4.3% |
| Beauty and fragrance | 799 | 1.6% |
| Assistant | Recommendations | Own site cited | Answers citing none of the named brands' sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 2,053 | 26.2% | 42% |
| Google AI Mode | 2,096 | 16.1% | 66.7% |
| Perplexity | 2,243 | 11.2% | 66.9% |
| Gemini | 3,568 | 6% | 76.1% |
| ChatGPT | 1,187 | 23.8% | 56.7% |
Software, HR and legal brands were cited on their own sites most, at around one recommendation in five. Consumer brands almost never were: 5% in sportswear, 4% in gifts and 2% in beauty, where reviewers and retailers supplied the evidence instead.
What this means
Your own site is rarely what gets you recommended. For consumer brands in particular, the recommendation rests on reviews, retailers and roundups written by others, so your presence on those pages matters more than your product page.
Finding 8
The top 5 sources by industry and assistant
The most-cited sites change with both the industry and the assistant. NerdWallet in personal finance is the only site in the top three for all five assistants in any industry.
Each figure is the share of that assistant's answers in that industry that cited the site, pooled over the three days. The number under each assistant is the answers behind its row.
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews62 answers | youtube.com76% | reddit.com31% | byrdie.com26% | allure.com24% | amazon.com19% |
| Google AI Mode75 answers | youtube.com27% | reddit.com23% | nytimes.com15% | instagram.com9% | instyle.com9% |
| Perplexity75 answers | allure.com52% | byrdie.com51% | everydayhealth.com47% | goodhousekeeping.com43% | nytimes.com27% |
| Gemini75 answers | youtube.com16% | ulta.com11% | dermondemand.com7% | today.com7% | doctorrogers.com5% |
| ChatGPT75 answers | aad.org63% | fda.gov17% | dermnetnz.org5% | glamour.com5% | forbes.com4% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews72 answers | youtube.com99% | reddit.com51% | uschamber.com19% | zapier.com19% | pcmag.com18% |
| Google AI Mode72 answers | reddit.com62% | youtube.com61% | zapier.com25% | hubspot.com19% | pcmag.com19% |
| Perplexity72 answers | forbes.com60% | zapier.com40% | pcmag.com39% | techradar.com38% | salesforce.com29% |
| Gemini72 answers | reddit.com21% | youtube.com14% | cnet.com10% | askleo.com8% | uschamber.com7% |
| ChatGPT72 answers | bitwarden.com14% | zoho.com12% | hubspot.com11% | 1password.com10% | salesforce.com10% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews62 answers | reddit.com45% | youtube.com37% | amazon.com32% | target.com31% | uncommongoods.com31% |
| Google AI Mode81 answers | reddit.com10% | target.com9% | youtube.com9% | uncommongoods.com7% | personalcreations.com5% |
| Perplexity81 answers | goodhousekeeping.com60% | cnn.com51% | nytimes.com42% | target.com33% | forbes.com32% |
| Gemini81 answers | anthropologie.com2% | nbcnews.com2% | sephora.com2% | cnn.com1% | forbes.com1% |
| ChatGPT81 answers | kiplinger.com17% | goodhousekeeping.com10% | theknot.com6% | cpsc.gov5% | americangreetings.com2% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews81 answers | youtube.com84% | amazon.com43% | forbes.com30% | healthline.com28% | reddit.com22% |
| Google AI Mode81 answers | youtube.com68% | healthline.com37% | forbes.com27% | amazon.com26% | clevelandclinic.org25% |
| Perplexity81 answers | healthline.com65% | fortune.com54% | forbes.com52% | everydayhealth.com47% | clevelandclinic.org32% |
| Gemini81 answers | healthline.com26% | youtube.com23% | forbes.com21% | everydayhealth.com11% | goodrx.com10% |
| ChatGPT81 answers | nih.gov68% | nsf.org17% | harvard.edu6% | mayoclinic.org6% | usp.org6% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews78 answers | youtube.com86% | reddit.com53% | gusto.com27% | forbes.com26% | patriotsoftware.com19% |
| Google AI Mode81 answers | youtube.com41% | reddit.com28% | zapier.com20% | gusto.com19% | forbes.com17% |
| Perplexity81 answers | forbes.com56% | peoplemanagingpeople.com47% | capterra.com31% | business.org28% | zapier.com28% |
| Gemini81 answers | youtube.com26% | zapier.com17% | adp.com16% | reddit.com16% | peoplemanagingpeople.com15% |
| ChatGPT81 answers | gusto.com30% | rippling.com19% | adp.com11% | technologyadvice.com11% | bamboohr.com10% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews55 answers | youtube.com67% | reddit.com29% | legalzoom.com22% | quora.com20% | northwestregisteredagent.com16% |
| Google AI Mode63 answers | reddit.com17% | cnbc.com13% | stripe.com8% | ailawyer.pro6% | colombohurdlaw.com6% |
| Perplexity63 answers | investopedia.com29% | bestlawyers.com25% | forbes.com24% | justia.com21% | cnbc.com19% |
| Gemini63 answers | cnbc.com14% | ncoa.org11% | reddit.com11% | bdjexpresslaw.com10% | meetneptune.com10% |
| ChatGPT63 answers | sba.gov17% | uspto.gov14% | ca.gov13% | irs.gov13% | americanbar.org11% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews80 answers | youtube.com88% | reddit.com49% | squarespace.com21% | zapier.com20% | wix.com19% |
| Google AI Mode87 answers | youtube.com51% | reddit.com46% | zapier.com20% | quora.com13% | tooltester.com13% |
| Perplexity87 answers | forbes.com45% | hubspot.com36% | gizmodo.com34% | pcmag.com29% | techradar.com24% |
| Gemini87 answers | reddit.com17% | youtube.com10% | zapier.com7% | campaignmonitor.com6% | hubspot.com6% |
| ChatGPT87 answers | wix.com15% | mailchimp.com8% | clutch.co7% | techradar.com7% | buffer.com6% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews65 answers | youtube.com85% | nerdwallet.com29% | chase.com28% | reddit.com23% | bankrate.com20% |
| Google AI Mode66 answers | youtube.com44% | nerdwallet.com29% | usnews.com24% | reddit.com21% | bankrate.com20% |
| Perplexity66 answers | cnbc.com70% | forbes.com68% | nerdwallet.com62% | investopedia.com42% | usnews.com39% |
| Gemini66 answers | cnbc.com35% | nerdwallet.com33% | reddit.com20% | youtube.com20% | bankrate.com15% |
| ChatGPT66 answers | nerdwallet.com33% | naic.org18% | consumerfinance.gov14% | cnbc.com11% | irs.gov9% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews61 answers | youtube.com52% | reddit.com34% | rei.com28% | runrepeat.com21% | outdoorgearlab.com20% |
| Google AI Mode81 answers | youtube.com16% | outdoorgearlab.com14% | reddit.com11% | runrepeat.com11% | treelinereview.com10% |
| Perplexity81 answers | cnn.com47% | nytimes.com43% | forbes.com42% | runrepeat.com40% | nbcnews.com36% |
| Gemini81 answers | youtube.com40% | reddit.com31% | outdoorgearlab.com27% | runrepeat.com22% | switchbacktravel.com17% |
| ChatGPT81 answers | rei.com25% | outdoorgearlab.com15% | outsideonline.com12% | rtings.com12% | goodhousekeeping.com11% |
| Assistant | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews76 answers | youtube.com75% | reddit.com49% | usnews.com38% | facebook.com36% | instagram.com21% |
| Google AI Mode84 answers | youtube.com31% | usnews.com26% | reddit.com21% | google.com20% | facebook.com17% |
| Perplexity84 answers | usnews.com57% | forbes.com31% | thepointsguy.com25% | nerdwallet.com24% | travelandleisure.com24% |
| Gemini84 answers | reddit.com29% | youtube.com27% | outdoorgearlab.com14% | cruiseline.com7% | forbes.com7% |
| ChatGPT84 answers | travelandleisure.com14% | rei.com12% | royalcaribbean.com10% | squaremouth.com8% | cruisecritic.com6% |
What this means
Find your industry and read across the rows. The sites that appear for several assistants are the ones to be covered on first. Our AI Overviews study lists the most-cited sites for six more industries, for Google alone.
Full method
Choosing the questions.We started from the highest-volume US Google searches in each of 10 industries, kept buying and research searches, removed duplicates and off-topic searches, and rewrote each one as a natural chat question with the search's main words kept. That left 257 questions. Each is labelled as a buying question or a question about how something works.
Collecting the answers. Every question went to all five assistants once a day on 1, 2 and 3 November 2026, from a US location, the same way each day. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini were asked through their APIs with web search on. ChatGPT was required to search, and Gemini chose whether to search. Google AI Overviews and AI Mode were collected from US English Google results, without personalisation, for the original search. Across the three days, 79 of the 3,855 results were Google searches that showed no AI Overview. On 1 November, 63 of the Gemini questions were asked about four hours after the rest.
Counting citations.A cited site is any link the answer lists as a source. A site counts once per answer, and subdomains count with their main site (ods.od.nih.gov and pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov both count as nih.gov). Gemini links through Google redirects, so its site is the source name Gemini gives. Links to Google's own shopping cards and to Google search are excluded. Shares use every answer as the denominator, including answers that cited nothing, except AI Overviews, which use the searches that showed one.
Finding the brands. For the 188 buying questions whose answers named products or companies, we listed every brand the answers put forward, merged products into their brand (two running shoes from one maker count as one brand) and noted each brand's official site where it is certain. We then searched every answer's text, with links removed, for those names. Brand names that are also everyday words (Close, Square, Away) only count when written with a capital letter in the middle of a sentence, so a few mentions of those brands are missed. A recommendation's own site counts as cited when that same answer cites the brand's official site.
Returned vs cited.ChatGPT's web search lists every page its searches returned. We compared that list with the pages it cited. Perplexity's API lists the pages it used, so the same comparison is not possible for it, and neither is it for Gemini or Google.
Download the data
One zip of plain CSV files: the 257 questions with the original search, every answer with the number of sites it cited, and every cited link from every assistant on every day (21,211 rows), and every brand named in a buying answer (12,174 rows). Answer text is not included.
Cite this study
The findings, figures and data are free to use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Credit Babel42 and link to this page.
Babel42 (2026). AI visibility study 2026: who ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google cite and recommend, by industry. https://babel42.io/research/ai-assistants-citations-2026
To link to one finding, use its section address, for example https://babel42.io/research/ai-assistants-citations-2026#chatgpt-reddit. For questions about the data, or to ask for a cut we have not published, email support@babel42.io.
AI visibility, answered
Which websites do AI assistants cite most?
It depends on the assistant. In Babel42's study of 257 questions over three days, Google's AI Overviews cited YouTube in 76% of answers and Reddit in 39%. Perplexity's top source was Forbes (42%), and ChatGPT's was the US National Institutes of Health (7%).
What sources does ChatGPT use?
Mostly official bodies and specialist or brand sites, and few of them: 1.8 sites per answer on average in Babel42's study. Its most-cited sites were the US National Institutes of Health (7% of answers), the American Academy of Dermatology and NerdWallet. It cited YouTube and Reddit in none of its 771 answers.
Does ChatGPT cite Reddit?
Not in our data. ChatGPT's web search results included Reddit threads for 85% of its 771 answers, but no answer linked to Reddit or mentioned it by name. The same was true of Wikipedia and YouTube. This was ChatGPT through OpenAI's API with web search, which can differ from the ChatGPT app.
Do ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini cite the same sources?
Rarely. When all five assistants cited sources for the same question on the same day, they had one site in common only 8% of the time. ChatGPT was the outlier: it shared a source with Google AI Mode for 23% of questions.
How often do AI citations change from day to day?
It varies by assistant. Of the sites cited for a question on 1 November, Perplexity cited 91% again on 2 November, ChatGPT 54% and Gemini 40%.
Do AI assistants recommend the same brands?
Mostly, yes, even though they cite different sites. When all five assistants named brands for the same buying question on the same day, they had at least one brand in common 77% of the time. They put the same brand first only 27% of the time.
Do AI assistants cite a brand's own website when they recommend it?
Rarely. Only 15% of 11,147{" "}brand recommendations came with a citation to the brand's own site. Software and HR brands did best at about 23%; beauty brands were cited on their own site 2% of the time.
How many sources does ChatGPT cite per answer?
1.8 on average, when it cited any. Perplexity cited 8.6, Google's AI Overviews 6.9, Gemini 6.4 and Google AI Mode 5.2.
Find out where AI cites your brand.
Babel42 AI Visibility checks seven AI assistants, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, and shows which sources they cite for you and for your rivals.