Original research on AI search
Studies of what ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews cite, quote and recommend, run on real searches. Every number is computed from the collected data and checked twice, and anything that tells you what to do is marked as a bet to test.
8 studies · newest first
- 50%of ChatGPT's answers in October warned that a ranking or an agency's own claims may not be independent, against 13% for ChatGPT in SeptemberChatGPTAI OverviewsPublished 15 October 2026
After GPT-6, 50% of ChatGPT's Answers About Hiring an SEO Agency Warn That a Ranking or Claim May Not Be Independent, Up From 13% (Same 300 Searches, Before and After)
TL;DRIf your agency publishes a "best agencies" list with itself on it, my bet is that the list still helps on ChatGPT but now arrives with a warning: in October ChatGPT recommended the agency in 27% of the runs where it cited the agency's own list, against 9% when it did not, and 43% of its answers warned that a ranking may not be independent.
- 58%of the YouTube citations in Google's AI Overviews went to independent creatorsAI OverviewsYouTubePublished 13 October 2026
58% of the YouTube Citations in Google's AI Overviews Go to Independent Creators; in Legal Searches, 68% Go to Businesses' Own Channels (Study of 2,929 YouTube Citations)
TL;DRIf you want your industry's YouTube citations in Google's AI Overviews, my bet is to check the table below first: in legal, insurance, real estate, baby and SEO searches about half or more went to businesses' own channels, so test your own videos; in gaming, personal finance, beauty, consumer tech and fashion creators took 75% or more, so test the creators the table names.
- 86%of the links in AI Overviews for auto repair searches went to Google-owned destinationsAI OverviewsAI ModePublished 9 October 2026
How Many AI Overview Links Stay With Google? From 3% to 86%, Depending on the Search (Study of 3,288 AI Overviews)
TL;DRIf you want the click from Google's AI Overviews, my bet is to check your own searches first: the share of links that went to Google swung from 3% to 86% by kind of search. For a local business, the page AI Overviews link is your Google Business Profile (62% of local links opened a Google page). For how-to topics, YouTube took 41% of the AI Overview links. And before you plan for AI Overview links into AI Mode, check for them on your own searches: none of the 29,982 October links opened it.
- 18%of the pages ChatGPT cited didn't show up in any Google search for the pageChatGPTIndexingPublished 30 September 2026
Google Didn't Show 18% of the Pages ChatGPT Cites, Against 6% of the Pages Its Own AI Overviews Cite (Study of 2,232 Pages)
TL;DRIf you track where ChatGPT gets its sources, my bet is: don't assume Google has them. 18% of the pages ChatGPT cited didn't show up in any of up to four Google searches for the page, against 6% of the pages Google's AI Overviews cited, and 33% of the pages ChatGPT cited for local questions. And a single site: search is no index check: it missed 24% of the pages Google's AI Overviews were citing.
- 64%of the passages AI Overviews quoted start at a heading or right below one, against 31% of other passages on the same pageAI OverviewsOn-page SEOPublished 25 September 2026
64% of the Passages Google's AI Overviews Quote Start at a Heading or Right Below One, Against 31% of Other Passages on the Same Page (Study of 3,224 Quotes)
TL;DRIf you want Google's AI Overviews to quote your page, my bet is: put the answer in the block right under its heading, use the searcher's words in that heading and passage, and answer early on the page, in the first sentence of its paragraph. And question-style headings didn't stand out: quoted passages sat under one no more often than other passages on the same page.
- 83%of Google AI Overviews for how-to questions cited a YouTube videoAI OverviewsYouTubePublished 23 September 2026
83% of Google AI Overviews for How-To Questions Cite a YouTube Video (Study of 1,777 AI Overviews)
TL;DRIf you want your videos cited in Google's AI Overviews, my bet is: answer the question in the first 30 seconds, say the words people search out loud, and start the answer with "Here's how to..." right before you show it. And you don't need to be YouTube's top result: most cited videos weren't in its top 20.
- 82%of the pages ChatGPT cites when it recommends a local business are directories and review sitesChatGPTAI OverviewsLocal searchPublished 19 September 2026
82% of the Pages ChatGPT Cites When Recommending a Local Business Are Directories and Review Sites (Study of 2,112 AI Searches)
TL;DRIf you want AI to recommend your local business, my bet is: for ChatGPT, get onto the directories it cites and work on the Google Business Profile behind its map cards; for Google's AI Overviews, get your own site onto Google's first page. And ChatGPT almost never cites the business's own site: when it recommended a business, that site was among its sources 1% of the time.
- 66%of the pages ChatGPT cites when it recommends SEO agencies are published by agenciesChatGPTAI OverviewsSEO agenciesPublished 14 September 2026 · Updated 8 October 2026
66% of the Pages ChatGPT Cites When Recommending SEO Agencies Are Written by SEO Agencies (Study of 3,000 AI Searches)
TL;DRIf you want ChatGPT to recommend your agency, my bet is: get onto the directory pages it cites for city searches, and say plainly on your homepage and industry pages what you do and for whom. And being cited is not being recommended: when ChatGPT cited an agency's own "best agencies" list, it recommended that agency only 35% of the time.
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About the author
I study how Google and AI assistants choose what to cite, using public data I collect myself, and I publish the method and limits with every study.