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RESEARCH

The Podcast Citation Effect: Entertainment

The Hollywood Reporter: 97/288 returned four-engine answers (33.7%; 95% interval 28.5–39.3%). The two leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.

288

AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity

33.7%

of answers named The Hollywood Reporter, the most-named (97 of 288)

17

tracked sources named at least once (of 18)

98.5%

of Google searches showed an AI Overview (67 of 68)

Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published June 25, 2026. It uses measured counts, so the two versions are not comparable. Version 2 asks 24 questions three times each on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity (288 answers) and adds Google AI Overviews. Every rate comes with its count and a 95% interval.

What the data shows

01

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter: 97/288 returned four-engine answers (33.7%; 95% interval 28.5–39.3%). The two leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.
02

31/288 (10.8%)

Variety was the first source named in 31 of 288 answers, more than any other tracked source. Its average first position was 2.3. The Hollywood Reporter was named first in 13 of 288.
03

27/72 (37.5%)

Gemini named Puck in 27 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 5 to 10 of 72.
04

22/72 (30.6%)

Claude named Deadline in 22 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 9 to 12 of 72.
05

17/288 (5.9%)

Variety's own domains were cited in 17 of 288 grounded answers, more than any other tracked source. The Ankler and TheWrap followed at 16 of 288 each. 7 of 18 tracked sources had 0 of 288.
06

67/68 (98.5%)

Google AI Overviews appeared on 67 of 68 searches (CI 92.1–99.7%). On the other search, no overview was shown.
07

16/67 (23.9%)

The Hollywood Reporter was the source named most often in AI Overviews, at 16 of 67, followed by Variety at 14 of 67 (20.9%). In the four-engine set, The Hollywood Reporter was named in 97 of 288 answers (33.7%).
08

85/288 (29.5%)

en.wikipedia.org was cited in 85 of 288 grounded four-engine answers, with 163 of 2,415 citations (6.7%). podcasts.apple.com received the second-most citation links (142) across 54 answers (18.8%); millionpodcasts.com appeared in more answers, 67 of 288 (23.3%).
09

0/12 (0.0%)

For 'Which podcasts cover the music industry business?', none of the tracked sources was named in any of 12 four-engine answers.

Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.

Which sources AI engines name

The Hollywood Reporter
33.7%
Variety
28.8%
The Town with Matthew Belloni
20.8%
Deadline
18.4%
Puck
18.1%
The Ankler
12.8%
IndieWire
10.8%
TheWrap
10.4%
The Big Picture
6.3%
Pivot
5.9%
The Watch
4.9%
Decoder
2.1%
Vanity Fair
2.1%
The Bill Simmons Podcast
1.4%
Press Box
1.0%
#NameNamed inAppearance rate95% interval
1The Hollywood Reporter97/28833.7%28.5–39.3%
2Variety83/28828.8%23.9–34.3%
3The Town with Matthew Belloni60/28820.8%16.5–25.9%
4Deadline53/28818.4%14.4–23.3%
5Puck52/28818.1%14.0–22.9%
6The Ankler37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%
7IndieWire31/28810.8%7.7–14.9%
8TheWrap30/28810.4%7.4–14.5%
9The Big Picture18/2886.3%4.0–9.7%
10Pivot17/2885.9%3.7–9.2%
11The Watch14/2884.9%2.9–8.0%
12Decoder6/2882.1%1.0–4.5%
13Vanity Fair6/2882.1%1.0–4.5%
14The Bill Simmons Podcast4/2881.4%0.5–3.5%
15Press Box3/2881.0%0.4–3.0%

The full list

Own-domain citation is the share of 288 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,415 citations.

#BrandNamed inAppearance rate95% intervalFirst mentionOwn-domain citationCitation share
1The Hollywood Reporter97/28833.7%28.5–39.3%2.53.8% (11/288)0.8%
2Variety83/28828.8%23.9–34.3%2.35.9% (17/288)0.9%
3The Town with Matthew Belloni60/28820.8%16.5–25.9%2.21% (3/288)0.1%
4Deadline53/28818.4%14.4–23.3%2.93.5% (10/288)0.5%
5Puck52/28818.1%14–22.9%2.53.1% (9/288)0.4%
6The Ankler37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%3.45.6% (16/288)0.7%
7IndieWire31/28810.8%7.7–14.9%53.1% (9/288)0.4%
8TheWrap30/28810.4%7.4–14.5%4.55.6% (16/288)0.8%
9The Big Picture18/2886.3%4–9.7%2.50.3% (1/288)0%
10Pivot17/2885.9%3.7–9.2%1.50% (0/288)0%
11The Watch14/2884.9%2.9–8%1.51% (3/288)0.1%
12Decoder6/2882.1%1–4.5%20% (0/288)0%
13Vanity Fair6/2882.1%1–4.5%1.80.3% (1/288)0%
14The Bill Simmons Podcast4/2881.4%0.5–3.5%20% (0/288)0%
15Press Box3/2881%0.4–3%1.70% (0/288)0%
16The Powers That Be3/2881%0.4–3%3.70% (0/288)0%
17The Plot Thickens2/2880.7%0.2–2.5%30% (0/288)0%
18SmartLess0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%

Question group: Podcasts and news

156 returned four-engine answers to this group's 13 questions. No pooled group leader is asserted.

#NameNamed answersRate95% intervalNamed first
1The Hollywood Reporter87/15655.8%47.9–63.3%12
2Variety66/15642.3%34.8–50.2%19
3The Town with Matthew Belloni52/15633.3%26.4–41.1%24
4Puck51/15632.7%25.8–40.4%11
5Deadline45/15628.8%22.3–36.4%12
6The Ankler37/15623.7%17.7–31.0%11
7IndieWire30/15619.2%13.8–26.1%0
8TheWrap28/15617.9%12.7–24.7%0
9The Big Picture18/15611.5%7.4–17.5%6
10Pivot17/15610.9%6.9–16.8%15
11The Watch14/1569.0%5.4–14.5%8
12Decoder6/1563.8%1.8–8.1%0
13Vanity Fair6/1563.8%1.8–8.1%3
14The Bill Simmons Podcast4/1562.6%1.0–6.4%1
15Press Box3/1561.9%0.7–5.5%1
16The Powers That Be3/1561.9%0.7–5.5%0
17The Plot Thickens2/1561.3%0.4–4.6%0
18SmartLess0/1560.0%0.0–2.4%0

Question group: Industry questions

132 returned four-engine answers to this group's 11 questions. No pooled group leader is asserted.

#NameNamed answersRate95% intervalNamed first
1Variety17/13212.9%8.2–19.7%12
2The Hollywood Reporter10/1327.6%4.2–13.4%1
3Deadline8/1326.1%3.1–11.5%6
4The Town with Matthew Belloni8/1326.1%3.1–11.5%5
5TheWrap2/1321.5%0.4–5.4%1
6IndieWire1/1320.8%0.1–4.2%0
7Puck1/1320.8%0.1–4.2%1
8Decoder0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
9Pivot0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
10Press Box0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
11SmartLess0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
12The Ankler0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
13The Big Picture0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
14The Bill Simmons Podcast0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
15The Plot Thickens0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
16The Powers That Be0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
17The Watch0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0
18Vanity Fair0/1320.0%0.0–2.8%0

The top eight, side by side

#NameAppearance rateAnswers and intervalOther measures
1The Hollywood Reporter33.7%97/288 answers · 95% CI 28.5–39.3%first-mention position: 2.5; owned-domain citation (11/288): 3.8%; citation share: 0.8%
2Variety28.8%83/288 answers · 95% CI 23.9–34.3%first-mention position: 2.3; owned-domain citation (17/288): 5.9%; citation share: 0.9%
3The Town with Matthew Belloni20.8%60/288 answers · 95% CI 16.5–25.9%first-mention position: 2.2; owned-domain citation (3/288): 1%; citation share: 0.1%
4Deadline18.4%53/288 answers · 95% CI 14.4–23.3%first-mention position: 2.9; owned-domain citation (10/288): 3.5%; citation share: 0.5%
5Puck18.1%52/288 answers · 95% CI 14–22.9%first-mention position: 2.5; owned-domain citation (9/288): 3.1%; citation share: 0.4%
6The Ankler12.8%37/288 answers · 95% CI 9.5–17.2%first-mention position: 3.4; owned-domain citation (16/288): 5.6%; citation share: 0.7%
7IndieWire10.8%31/288 answers · 95% CI 7.7–14.9%first-mention position: 5; owned-domain citation (9/288): 3.1%; citation share: 0.4%
8TheWrap10.4%30/288 answers · 95% CI 7.4–14.5%first-mention position: 4.5; owned-domain citation (16/288): 5.6%; citation share: 0.8%

Gemini named Puck in 27 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 5 to 10 of 72. Claude named Deadline in 22 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 9 to 12 of 72.

ChatGPT

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Same questions, different answers

The Hollywood Reporter
36.1%
Variety
30.6%
Deadline
16.7%
Puck
13.9%
The Ankler
13.9%
TheWrap
13.9%

Claude

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

The Hollywood Reporter
37.5%
Variety
34.7%
Deadline
30.6%
The Town with Matthew Belloni
22.2%
IndieWire
20.8%
Puck
13.9%

Gemini

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Puck
37.5%
The Hollywood Reporter
36.1%
Variety
33.3%
The Town with Matthew Belloni
31.9%
Deadline
12.5%
The Ankler
11.1%

Perplexity

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

The Hollywood Reporter
25.0%
The Ankler
18.1%
Variety
16.7%
The Town with Matthew Belloni
16.7%
Deadline
13.9%
Puck
6.9%

Google AI Overviews were captured through 68 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 67 = 355 answers.

The fifth engine

99%

Trigger rate: 67 of 68 searches

Google AI Overviews appeared on 67 of 68 searches (98.5%, CI 92.1–99.7%). The other search showed no overview. Within the 67 overviews, The Hollywood Reporter was named in 16 (23.9%), Variety was named in 14 (20.9%), The Town with Matthew Belloni was named in 13 (19.4%), Puck was named in 10 (14.9%). youtube.com was the most-cited source, with 39 citations and an appearance in 19 of 67 overviews.

Five-engine rankNameFive-engine rateFour-engine rank
1The Hollywood Reporter31.8%1
2Variety27.3%2
3The Town with Matthew Belloni20.6%3
4Puck17.5%5
5Deadline16.9%4
6The Ankler12.7%6
7IndieWire9.6%7
8TheWrap9.0%8
9The Big Picture6.8%9
10Pivot5.4%10

Who each question surfaces first

Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.

QuestionLeaderNextAI Overview
Q01 · 12 answersThe Hollywood Reporter 100.0%The Town with Matthew Belloni 66.7%; The Big Picture 50.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q02 · 12 answersThe Town with Matthew Belloni 100.0%The Ankler 100.0%; Variety 83.3%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q03 · 12 answersVariety 58.3%The Hollywood Reporter 50.0%; Pivot 41.7%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q04 · 12 answersVariety 100.0%The Hollywood Reporter 100.0%; Deadline 100.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q05 · 12 answersThe Town with Matthew Belloni 66.7%Variety 50.0%; The Hollywood Reporter 50.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q06 · 12 answersPuck 8.3%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches

The four engines produced 2,415 citations in total. en.wikipedia.org was cited most often, with 163 citations (6.7%) across 85 answers. Next came podcasts.apple.com (142), millionpodcasts.com (107), podcast.feedspot.com (52), vitrina.ai (41), reddit.com (32).

Four AI engines · share of 288 grounded answers

Most-cited domains

en.wikipedia.org
29.5%
millionpodcasts.com
23.3%
podcasts.apple.com
18.8%
podcast.feedspot.com
13.5%
reddit.com
11.1%
vitrina.ai
10.1%
theringer.com
8.3%
forbes.com
8.3%
feedspot.com
8.3%
apple.com
8.0%

Google AI Overviews · share of 67 overviews

youtube.com
28.4%
facebook.com
20.9%
reddit.com
20.9%
en.wikipedia.org
16.4%
podcasts.apple.com
11.9%
quora.com
9.0%
podcast.feedspot.com
6.0%
boxofficemojo.com
4.5%
open.spotify.com
4.5%
aperionaudio.com
4.5%

Citation share by source type

Share of all citations by the type of site cited.

Source typeFour AI engines (of 2,415 citations)Google AI Overviews (of 181 citations)
Other / unclassified1,001 (41.4%)43 (23.8%)
Company / brand sites418 (17.3%)26 (14.4%)
Directories / rankings283 (11.7%)5 (2.8%)
General news / business press239 (9.9%)10 (5.5%)
Reference189 (7.8%)13 (7.2%)
Community / social85 (3.5%)80 (44.2%)
Trade / specialist press73 (3%)1 (0.6%)
General news / sports media41 (1.7%)0 (0%)
Review / comparison publishers37 (1.5%)3 (1.7%)
Research / data providers24 (1%)0 (0%)
Official / government22 (0.9%)0 (0%)
Institutions / trade bodies3 (0.1%)0 (0%)

How can podcasts and outlets improve their AI visibility?

These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.

StepWhat this study measured
Put your facts on your own domain.Variety's own domains were cited in 5.9% of grounded answers, TheWrap's in 5.6% and The Ankler's in 5.6%.
Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite.The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were en.wikipedia.org (in 29.5% of grounded answers), millionpodcasts.com (23.3%), podcasts.apple.com (18.8%), podcast.feedspot.com (13.5%) and reddit.com (11.1%). Directories and rankings supplied 11.7% of citations and general news and business press 9.9%.
Check each engine separately.Gemini named Puck in 37.5% of answers against 6.9% on Perplexity. Gemini named The Town with Matthew Belloni in 31.9% of answers against 12.5% on ChatGPT.
Watch names outside the tracked list.Pop Culture Happy Hour (25 answers), The Ringer (22 answers) and The Prestige TV Podcast (14 answers) were named often but were not tracked.
Re-run the same questions every month.Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix.

What AI answers

Which entertainment podcasts and outlets appear in these AI answers?

The Hollywood Reporter: 97/288 returned four-engine answers (33.7%; 95% interval 28.5–39.3%). The two leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.

Which tracked name is named first most often?

Variety was the first source named in 31 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 2.3.

How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?

An overview appeared on 67 of 68 searches (98.5%, CI 92.1–99.7%). Within those 67 overviews, The Hollywood Reporter was named most often, in 16 (23.9%).

Which sources do the engines cite?

Across 2,415 four-engine citations, en.wikipedia.org was cited most (163 citations, in 85 of 288 grounded answers), followed by podcasts.apple.com (142 citations).

Do the four engines agree?

Only in part. Gemini named Puck in 27 of 72 answers, against 5 to 10 of 72 on the other engines. Claude named Deadline in 22 of 72 answers, against 9 to 12 of 72 on the other engines.

How this study was measured

24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 68 Google searches · 67 AI Overviews

24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured November 6 to 7, 2026. United States, English; Google retrieval uses desktop results. Models: gpt-5-mini, claude-sonnet-5-5, gemini-3.6-flash only, sonar-pro. Google AI Overviews come from DataForSEO, not inferred chat answers. Appearance counts returned text, including ungrounded answers; citation rates use grounded answers. Longer overlapping names suppress shorter ones; First mention is the earliest eligible name order. Own-domain rates include declared domains and subdomains; shared parent scopes may count for multiple names and cannot be summed as unique citations.

EngineModel IDs calledAskedReturnedGrounded
ChatGPTgpt-5-mini727272
Claudeclaude-sonnet-5-5727272
Geminigemini-3.6-flash727272
Perplexitysonar-pro727272
Google AI OverviewsDataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced)6867 shown67

Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.

Definitions

  • Appearance rate: answers naming the tracked name ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
  • First mention: average order in which the tracked name first appears (1 = first).
  • Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the tracked name's domains ÷ grounded answers.
  • Citation share: citations to the tracked name's domains ÷ all citations.

Limits

  • Only 18 tracked sources are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
  • Only the tracked sources were scored. The untracked sources named most often were Pop Culture Happy Hour (25 answers), The Ringer (22 answers) and The Prestige TV Podcast (14 answers); studios, agencies and companies were not counted.
  • 356 of 360 planned results were returned: 4 of 72 AI Overview lookups were excluded after three attempts because Google search retrieval failed or returned incomplete results. They are not counted as no-overview results.
  • 68 successful Google searches: 67 overviews shown; 1 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
  • All returned chat answers had search sources.
  • No Core question names a tracked name.
  • Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official sites; other unresolved sites are Other / unclassified.
  • Wilson 95% intervals are descriptive; overlapping leading intervals do not establish a sole leader. Measurements do not endorse medical, legal, financial or product claims.
  • The Ringer shows (The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Watch, Press Box, The Big Picture) and The Ankler and Verge shows are path-scoped on shared domains. Show names that are common phrases were checked by hand.
  • Google Shopping and unresolved google.com/goto links are excluded from cited sources; original URLs remain in the evidence.
  • Appearance rates use all returned four-engine answers; own-site citation rates use grounded answers, so the two are separate measures.
  • Answers were collected through each engine's API using the model IDs listed in the methodology. The consumer ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity apps can answer differently.

Appendix: The 24 questions

Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.

#QuestionGroupSource
01What are the best podcasts about the entertainment industry?Podcasts and newsCore question
02Which podcasts cover Hollywood business and streaming?Podcasts and newsCore question
03Which podcasts do media executives listen to?Podcasts and newsCore question
04What are the best sources for entertainment industry news?Podcasts and newsCore question
05Who are the most powerful executives in Hollywood?Industry questionsCore question
06What are the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood?Industry questionsCore question
07Which streaming service has the best original content?Industry questionsCore question
08What are the best podcasts about movies and TV?Podcasts and newsCore question
09Which podcasts interview Hollywood executives?Podcasts and newsAdded question
10Which newsletters cover the business of Hollywood?Podcasts and newsAdded question
11Which podcasts cover the box office each week?Podcasts and newsAdded question
12Which podcasts cover the media and tech business?Podcasts and newsAdded question
13Which publications break entertainment industry deals first?Podcasts and newsAdded question
14Which podcasts review new TV shows?Podcasts and newsAdded question
15Which podcasts cover the music industry business?Podcasts and newsAdded question
16Which podcasts cover the sports media business?Podcasts and newsAdded question
17Which studios released the highest-grossing movies this year?Industry questionsAdded question
18Which streaming services have the most subscribers?Industry questionsAdded question
19Who runs the major Hollywood studios?Industry questionsAdded question
20Which production companies make the most acclaimed TV series?Industry questionsAdded question
21What are the biggest media mergers of recent years?Industry questionsAdded question
22Which films are leading the awards season?Industry questionsAdded question
23Which agencies represent the biggest movie stars?Industry questionsAdded question
24What are the most influential entertainment industry events?Industry questionsAdded question

About 5W

5W is an independent PR, creative and GEO agency founded in 2003, and we get you in the chatbox. All of our work is done in house, including media relations, site building and content. Learn more about our GEO practice or write to info@5wpr.com.

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