GEO Industry Report 2026: 1,000 AI Citations Analyzed
We analyzed 1,000 AI-search citations across 10 industries, five AI platforms, and six weeks of sampling. The data reveals where AI assistants get their answers, who they cite, and why some brands win disproportionate visibility. Three findings drive the report.
What We Did
We sampled 1,000 high-intent commercial queries across 10 verticals (B2B SaaS, e-commerce, healthcare, legal, financial services, education, manufacturing, real estate, travel, agency services). Each query was issued to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek across a 6-week window. Citations were extracted, normalized to canonical domains, and scored for position and sentiment. The full methodology is documented at the end of this report.
Top-Line Findings
Finding 1: The top 100 domains win 67% of citations.
Across 1,000 queries and 5 platforms, the top 100 cited domains accounted for 67% of all citations. The long tail is real but compressed. If your brand is not in the top 100 in your category, you are competing for the remaining 33% of citation share.
Finding 2: Schema density correlates with citation frequency at r=0.71.
Pages with 4+ schema types per URL (Organization, Product, FAQPage, plus one category-specific) were cited 3.2x more often than pages with 0-1 schema types. This is the single most actionable finding in the report.
Finding 3: Perplexity updates citations 4.6x faster than ChatGPT.
When we published new content and tracked time-to-first-citation, Perplexity surfaced the new source in a median 8 days. ChatGPT took 37 days. Gemini fell in between at 22 days. If you need fast feedback loops, optimize for Perplexity first.
Finding 4: Listicle inclusion accounts for 31% of all branded citations.
When AI models cite a brand by name in 'best X' queries, 31% of the time the source page is a third-party listicle, not the brand's own site. Listicle authority is a foundational GEO asset, not a nice-to-have.
Finding 5: Verticals vary by 4x in AI citation density.
Healthcare and financial services queries generate 4x more citations per query than e-commerce queries. AI assistants cite more sources in regulated, high-trust categories. If you are in a regulated vertical, citation share is more important; if you are in commodity e-commerce, brand mention sentiment matters more.
What This Means for Your GEO Program
- Audit your schema density. If you have fewer than 4 schema types on revenue pages, this is the highest-leverage fix.
- Build listicle authority. Outreach to get included in 'best X' roundups on DR 40+ sites is mandatory infrastructure, not optional PR.
- Optimize for Perplexity first. The fastest feedback loop is your best learning environment. Treat ChatGPT and Gemini as eventual consistency targets.
- Vertical-specific strategy beats horizontal SEO. The same playbook does not work across healthcare and e-commerce. Tailor schema and content density to your category.
Methodology in Detail
We sampled queries from three sources: keyword tools (Ahrefs, Semrush), reverse-engineered query logs from public AI search transcripts, and our own client panel of 40+ B2B brands. Each query was issued to ChatGPT (GPT-4o, 4.5), Perplexity (Sonar Pro), Gemini (2.5 Pro), Claude (Opus 4.5), and DeepSeek over a 6-week sampling window. Citations were extracted and normalized to canonical domain. Sentiment was scored by a 3-rater panel using a rubric (positive, neutral, qualified, negative). Inter-rater agreement was 0.81 on Cohen's kappa.
Limitations
This study reflects a single sampling window. AI models update retrieval and ranking continuously, so any specific finding may shift inside a quarter. We re-run the panel each quarter to track drift.
Want the Raw Data?
The query set, the citation logs, and the scoring rubric are available on request to vetted research and product teams. Request the dataset.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do you update this study?
Quarterly. The next refresh will sample the same query set and report drift in citation share and platform behavior.
Can I cite this report?
Yes, with attribution to AY Rank and a link back to this page. We encourage citation in research, internal decks, and press.
Did you control for personalization?
Partly. Sessions were issued from clean profiles with no chat history. ChatGPT and Gemini still show some session drift even within clean sessions; we ran each query 3 times and report the modal citation.
Why these platforms and not others?
These five represent over 92% of AI assistant search volume in our internal panel. We omit niche platforms with under 1% share to keep the panel reproducible.
Ready to Get Cited by AI?
AY Rank builds the entity infrastructure, structured data, and citation-ready content that gets brands recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Book a free GEO audit or see our case studies.
Related reading: What is AI SEO · Topical Authority for AI Search · Schema Markup Guide for GEO.
