Snapshot 30 October 2026 · updated daily
Do the AIs cite what Google ranks?
For every query we store Google's organic top 10 next to the AI answer. That shows how much of the AI's sources also rank at the top of Google, and how much Google's own AI sends to Google itself.
Source: a page the AI links to in an answer. Mention: a name the AI writes in the text. The AI's searches: what the AI itself searches for before it answers. All shares are of sources unless the box says otherwise.
Only 1% of ChatGPT's sources are in Google's top 10
Share of the AI's citations whose page is in Google's organic top 10 for the same query in the same market.
AI Overview: same domain 29% · AI Mode: same domain 11% · Gemini: same domain 13% · ChatGPT: same domain 7%
Same page is a strict measure; same domain also counts when the AI cites another page on a site that ranks in the top 10. Only answers where Google's results were fetched count.
Google's AI cites Google
Share of citations pointing to Google's own pages: Google Business profiles, Google Shopping, Google's tools and documentation.
What does it mean? In AI Mode, 19% of citations go to Google itself: 11% to Business profiles and 7% to Shopping. Your Google Business profile and your Shopping feed are AI sources, not just search results.
Mentioned, but not cited
The AI names brands and products. But how often does the mentioned name get its own page as a source?
What does it mean? Being mentioned is not the same as being cited. In 74% of the answers that mention a name, the AI bases what it says on other people's pages, not the name's own.
The numbers may be quoted with attribution to CiteWhy.