Turns out not all AIs source their answers from the same places. New research from Profound looked at 30 million citations and found that platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity play favorites when it comes to where they get their info.
ChatGPT’s top source? Wikipedia—by a landslide, clocking in at nearly 48% of its citations. Meanwhile, Reddit leads the pack for Perplexity (at a whopping 46.7%) and Google AI Overviews prefers to spread the love across Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
This isn’t just trivia for AI nerds—it has big implications for brands angling for visibility. If your content’s not on Wikipedia, good luck getting picked up by ChatGPT. Want to show up in Perplexity? You’d better be active in Reddit threads. And for Google’s AI Overviews, you’ll need a cocktail of formats including video (YouTube), community answers (Quora), and some thought leadership on LinkedIn. In other words, AI optimization means knowing your audience’s platform… and your platform’s audience.
There’s also a subtle war of top-level domains happening: .com sources dominate ChatGPT’s citations at 80%, but .org and even newer domains like .ai are making headway. It’s a reminder that domain authority still counts—but relevance is quickly catching up. Bottom line: a blanket content strategy won’t cut it anymore. Brands need to get tactical about where their content lives to stay visible in this AI-driven world.
Read more at Profound’s Blog.