Snapshot 30 October 2026 · updated daily

Products and services are two different AIs

When people search for a product, the AI cites retailers and category pages. When they search for a service, it cites the provider's home page, price comparison sites and directories. Here is the difference across all AIs and markets.

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.

SourcesBiggest difference in sourcesSeller -33 ppProducts 36% · Services 2%
SourcesBiggest difference in page typeHome page +26 ppProducts 9% · Services 35%
SourcesOwn page6% vs 15%Share of citations pointing to the mentioned name's own page.
People's queries

What people search for

Query types in the two groups.

Products
Services
CommercialTransactionalLocal/geographicInformational
The AI's searches

The AI's own searches

Share of the AI's searches with the word class. First number products, second services.

Per answer1.9 vs 2.0
Evaluation41% vs 29%
Price24% vs 26%
Year23% vs 13%
Place46% vs 58%
Brand36% vs 26%
Only Gemini and ChatGPT report their searches.
Sources

Source types: products versus services

Share of citations per source type. The line shows the difference.

ProductsServices
ProductsServicesDifference
First party66%61%-4
Producer30%59%+29
Seller36%2%-33
Third party: intermediaries23%26%+3
Marketplace4%2%-2
Price comparison2%9%+7
Lists/digital PR10%6%-4
Directory1%7%+6
Google Business2%2%0
Google Shopping2%0%-2
Third party: content11%7%-4
Media7%4%-3
Reviews0%1%+1
Forum2%1%-1
Video1%0%-1
Sources

Which page on the company's site gets cited

First-party citations per page type.

Product39%36%-4
Category30%4%-26
Content19%17%-2
Home page9%35%+26
Other3%8%+6

What does it mean? For product searches the product is the page cited most often (39% of first-party citations); for service searches it is the product (36%). That page has to say exactly what you sell, to whom and where.

The numbers may be quoted with attribution to CiteWhy.