Snapshot 30 October 2026 · updated daily
Who gets the spot in the answer?
The sources behind AI answers split into first party (businesses in the niche) and third parties (intermediaries and content). Each source is classified per page from its address, title and snippet.
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.
First party gets 63% of the spots, and ChatGPT is the most generous
Share of citations per AI. First party is producers that make what is searched for, and sellers that sell others' products.
Intermediaries are marketplaces, price comparison, lists, directories and Google's own cards. Content is media, reviews, forums, video and wikis.
The product page takes 36%, the rest is shared
Which page on the company's site the AI cites. Share of first-party citations.
What does it mean? Product pages are cited most often (36%), home page pages next (20%). What you write counts as much as what you sell.
Transactional searches give first party the most, local/geographic the least
First-party share of citations per query type.
What does it mean? When people are ready to buy, the AI cites the companies themselves. When they search locally or compare, it fetches lists, directories and Google's cards instead.
Platforms: Google Business in front, and none above 1.8%
Share of all citations pointing at a public platform. 6% combined. Companies and media are never named individually, only as a type.
The numbers may be quoted with attribution to CiteWhy.