Wikipedia: 112/282 (39.7%; 95% interval 34.2–45.5%). Reddit: 22/282 (7.8%; 95% interval 5.2–11.5%). Three untracked sites, dealstream.com, feedspot.com and guides.loc.gov, were each cited in 24 of 282 grounded answers, more than Reddit (22), the second tracked source.
RESEARCH · Published June 21, 2026 · Updated November 6, 2026
Trade Press Index 2.0: Wikipedia Leads Citations
288
AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity
39.7%
of 282 grounded answers cited Wikipedia (112/282)
44
tracked sources cited at least once (of 59)
100%
of Google searches showed an AI Overview (64 of 64)
Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published June 21, 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
112/282 (39.7%)
Wikipedia leads this measured set. Wikipedia: 112/282 (39.7%; 95% interval 34.2–45.5%). Reddit: 22/282 (7.8%; 95% interval 5.2–11.5%). The ranking covers tracked sources only. Untracked cited domains include dealstream.com (24 answers), feedspot.com (24 answers), guides.loc.gov (24 answers), thectoclub.com (19 answers), digitalconvex.com (18 answers), channelvmedia.com (17 answers), modernsoapmaking.com (15 answers), pmc.com (14 answers), bmsg.org (13 answers), datassential.com (13 answers).
02
20/288 (6.9%)
Variety was the first source named in 20 of 288 answers, more than any other tracked source. Its average first position was 1.5. Wikipedia was named first in 5 of 288.
03
41/72 (56.9%)
ChatGPT named Wikipedia in 41 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 0 to 1 of 72.
04
112/282 (39.7%)
Wikipedia's own domains were cited in 112 of 282 grounded answers, more than any other tracked source. Reddit followed at 22 of 282. 15 of 59 tracked sources had 0 of 282.
05
64/64 (100%)
Google AI Overviews appeared on 64 of 64 searches (CI 94.3–100%).
06
8/64 (12.5%)
Wikipedia was the source named most often in AI Overviews, at 8 of 64, followed by Reddit at 7 of 64 (10.9%). In the four-engine set, Wikipedia was named in 112 of 288 answers (39.7%).
07
94/282 (33.3%)
en.wikipedia.org was cited in 94 of 282 grounded four-engine answers, with 201 of 2,481 citations (8.1%). thectoclub.com came second with 37 citations in 19 answers (6.7%).
Ranking of tracked sources by citation penetration across 282 grounded answers; not textual mentions.
Tracked sources by cited-answer penetration
Wikipedia
39.7%
Reddit
7.8%
Axios
5.0%
Becker's Hospital Review
5.0%
Forbes
4.6%
Glossy
3.9%
Nation's Restaurant News
3.5%
Cosmetics Business
3.2%
Fierce Biotech
3.2%
The Hill
3.2%
BeautyMatter
2.8%
Hospitality Net
2.8%
Skift
2.8%
Adweek
2.5%
Punchbowl News
2.5%
| # | Name | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wikipedia | 112/282 | 39.7% | 34.2–45.5% |
| 2 | 22/282 | 7.8% | 5.2–11.5% | |
| 3 | Axios | 14/282 | 5.0% | 3.0–8.2% |
| 4 | Becker's Hospital Review | 14/282 | 5.0% | 3.0–8.2% |
| 5 | Forbes | 13/282 | 4.6% | 2.7–7.7% |
| 6 | Glossy | 11/282 | 3.9% | 2.2–6.8% |
| 7 | Nation's Restaurant News | 10/282 | 3.5% | 1.9–6.4% |
| 8 | Cosmetics Business | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6.0% |
| 9 | Fierce Biotech | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6.0% |
| 10 | The Hill | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6.0% |
| 11 | BeautyMatter | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% |
| 12 | Hospitality Net | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% |
| 13 | Skift | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% |
| 14 | Adweek | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5.0% |
| 15 | Punchbowl News | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5.0% |
The full list
Tracked platforms only. Text mention and first-mention data remain separate in the evidence.
| # | Tracked source | Cited answers | Citation penetration | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wikipedia | 112/282 | 39.7% | 34.2–45.5% | 3.3 | 39.7% (112/282) | 8.8% |
| 2 | 22/282 | 7.8% | 5.2–11.5% | 5.8 | 7.8% (22/282) | 0.9% | |
| 3 | Axios | 14/282 | 5% | 3–8.2% | 4.5 | 5% (14/282) | 0.6% |
| 4 | Becker's Hospital Review | 14/282 | 5% | 3–8.2% | 1.4 | 5% (14/282) | 1% |
| 5 | Forbes | 13/282 | 4.6% | 2.7–7.7% | 3.3 | 4.6% (13/282) | 0.8% |
| 6 | Glossy | 11/282 | 3.9% | 2.2–6.8% | 3.4 | 3.9% (11/282) | 0.4% |
| 7 | Nation's Restaurant News | 10/282 | 3.5% | 1.9–6.4% | 1.9 | 3.5% (10/282) | 0.5% |
| 8 | Cosmetics Business | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6% | 3.9 | 3.2% (9/282) | 0.4% |
| 9 | Fierce Biotech | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6% | 3.1 | 3.2% (9/282) | 0.5% |
| 10 | The Hill | 9/282 | 3.2% | 1.7–6% | 3.5 | 3.2% (9/282) | 0.4% |
| 11 | BeautyMatter | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% | 1.9 | 2.8% (8/282) | 0.3% |
| 12 | Hospitality Net | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% | 3.7 | 2.8% (8/282) | 0.4% |
| 13 | Skift | 8/282 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.5% | 1.5 | 2.8% (8/282) | 0.4% |
| 14 | Adweek | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5% | 2.7 | 2.5% (7/282) | 0.3% |
| 15 | Punchbowl News | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5% | 2.8 | 2.5% (7/282) | 0.3% |
| 16 | Retail Dive | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5% | 1.5 | 2.5% (7/282) | 0.3% |
| 17 | Roll Call | 7/282 | 2.5% | 1.2–5% | 2.3 | 2.5% (7/282) | 0.3% |
| 18 | BioPharma Dive | 6/282 | 2.1% | 1–4.6% | 3.8 | 2.1% (6/282) | 0.2% |
| 19 | CNBC | 6/282 | 2.1% | 1–4.6% | 4.9 | 2.1% (6/282) | 0.2% |
| 20 | Digiday | 6/282 | 2.1% | 1–4.6% | 3.9 | 2.1% (6/282) | 0.2% |
| 21 | Restaurant Business | 6/282 | 2.1% | 1–4.6% | 2.7 | 2.1% (6/282) | 0.4% |
| 22 | Bloomberg | 5/282 | 1.8% | 0.8–4.1% | 4.3 | 1.8% (5/282) | 0.2% |
| 23 | Business of Fashion | 5/282 | 1.8% | 0.8–4.1% | 2.5 | 1.8% (5/282) | 0.2% |
| 24 | Modern Healthcare | 5/282 | 1.8% | 0.8–4.1% | 1.9 | 1.8% (5/282) | 0.2% |
| 25 | The Information | 5/282 | 1.8% | 0.8–4.1% | 3.5 | 1.8% (5/282) | 0.2% |
| 26 | CIO.com | 4/282 | 1.4% | 0.6–3.6% | 1.7 | 1.4% (4/282) | 0.2% |
| 27 | Travel Weekly | 4/282 | 1.4% | 0.6–3.6% | 2.7 | 1.4% (4/282) | 0.2% |
| 28 | Food Dive | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 2.2 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.1% |
| 29 | Politico | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 1.8 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.1% |
The full list (continued)
| # | Tracked source | Cited answers | Citation penetration | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | STAT | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 2.5 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.1% |
| 31 | The Hollywood Reporter | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 2 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.4% |
| 32 | The Verge | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 4.4 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.1% |
| 33 | WWD | 3/282 | 1.1% | 0.4–3.1% | 2.4 | 1.1% (3/282) | 0.1% |
| 34 | Beverage Digest | 2/282 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 1.7 | 0.7% (2/282) | 0.1% |
| 35 | PhocusWire | 2/282 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 2.2 | 0.7% (2/282) | 0.1% |
| 36 | The Wall Street Journal | 2/282 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 3.7 | 0.7% (2/282) | 0.1% |
| 37 | Variety | 2/282 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 1.5 | 0.7% (2/282) | 0.1% |
| 38 | Ad Age | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 2.4 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 39 | Billboard | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 1.2 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 40 | Business Insider | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 4.6 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 41 | Food Business News | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 1.6 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 42 | Marketing Brew | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 4 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 43 | TechRadar | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 7 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 44 | The Points Guy | 1/282 | 0.4% | 0.1–2% | 3 | 0.4% (1/282) | 0% |
| 45 | Allure | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 6 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 46 | Ars Technica | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | – | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 47 | Axios Vitals | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 4.4 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 48 | Chain Store Age | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | – | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 49 | Deadline | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 2.8 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 50 | Eater | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 2.3 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 51 | Endpoints News | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 2.3 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 52 | Modern Retail | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 2.9 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 53 | PCMag | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | – | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 54 | Puck | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 5.4 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 55 | Reuters | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 5.1 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 56 | TechCrunch | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 3.4 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 57 | The New York Times | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 4.6 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 58 | Vogue Business | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 3.2 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
| 59 | Wired | 0/282 | 0% | 0–1.3% | 4.8 | 0% (0/282) | 0% |
Top untracked domains beside the tracked ranking
The ranking covers tracked sources only. Untracked cited domains include dealstream.com (24 answers), feedspot.com (24 answers), guides.loc.gov (24 answers), thectoclub.com (19 answers), digitalconvex.com (18 answers), channelvmedia.com (17 answers), modernsoapmaking.com (15 answers), pmc.com (14 answers), bmsg.org (13 answers), datassential.com (13 answers).
| Domain | Cited answers | Penetration | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|
| dealstream.com | 24/282 | 8.5% | 1.2% |
| feedspot.com | 24/282 | 8.5% | 1.0% |
| guides.loc.gov | 24/282 | 8.5% | 1.1% |
| thectoclub.com | 19/282 | 6.7% | 1.5% |
| digitalconvex.com | 18/282 | 6.4% | 0.7% |
| channelvmedia.com | 17/282 | 6.0% | 0.7% |
| modernsoapmaking.com | 15/282 | 5.3% | 0.6% |
| pmc.com | 14/282 | 5.0% | 0.6% |
| bmsg.org | 13/282 | 4.6% | 0.5% |
| datassential.com | 13/282 | 4.6% | 0.5% |
| guides.library.upenn.edu | 13/282 | 4.6% | 0.6% |
| vogue.com | 13/282 | 4.6% | 0.5% |
| bcg.com | 12/282 | 4.3% | 0.6% |
| guides.library.ucla.edu | 12/282 | 4.3% | 0.6% |
| lightspeedhq.com | 12/282 | 4.3% | 0.5% |
| shopify.com | 12/282 | 4.3% | 0.7% |
| bevindustry.com | 11/282 | 3.9% | 0.9% |
| feedly.com | 11/282 | 3.9% | 0.4% |
| hark.news | 11/282 | 3.9% | 0.4% |
| ciodive.com | 10/282 | 3.5% | 0.4% |
Secondary measure: text mentions
Answers naming each tracked source in text, out of 288 four-engine answers. This is secondary; the main ranking above is citation penetration of grounded answers.
| # | Tracked source | Named answers | Appearance rate | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bloomberg | 66/288 | 22.9% | 3 |
| 2 | The Wall Street Journal | 66/288 | 22.9% | 18 |
| 3 | Wikipedia | 42/288 | 14.6% | 5 |
| 4 | WWD | 37/288 | 12.8% | 13 |
| 5 | Variety | 36/288 | 12.5% | 20 |
| 6 | Politico | 32/288 | 11.1% | 18 |
| 7 | Reuters | 32/288 | 11.1% | 0 |
| 8 | Forbes | 31/288 | 10.8% | 8 |
| 9 | Business of Fashion | 29/288 | 10.1% | 9 |
| 10 | Food Dive | 28/288 | 9.7% | 15 |
| 11 | Fierce Biotech | 27/288 | 9.4% | 1 |
| 12 | Glossy | 26/288 | 9.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Nation's Restaurant News | 26/288 | 9.0% | 13 |
| 14 | Vogue Business | 26/288 | 9.0% | 0 |
| 15 | The Hollywood Reporter | 25/288 | 8.7% | 4 |
| 16 | Becker's Hospital Review | 24/288 | 8.3% | 17 |
| 17 | Modern Healthcare | 24/288 | 8.3% | 5 |
| 18 | STAT | 24/288 | 8.3% | 12 |
| 19 | The New York Times | 24/288 | 8.3% | 0 |
| 20 | Roll Call | 23/288 | 8.0% | 4 |
| 21 | Skift | 23/288 | 8.0% | 18 |
| 22 | Adweek | 22/288 | 7.6% | 3 |
| 23 | Axios | 22/288 | 7.6% | 2 |
| 24 | BeautyMatter | 21/288 | 7.3% | 13 |
| 25 | TechCrunch | 21/288 | 7.3% | 0 |
| 26 | Digiday | 20/288 | 6.9% | 0 |
| 27 | The Hill | 20/288 | 6.9% | 0 |
| 28 | Food Business News | 19/288 | 6.6% | 8 |
| 29 | The Information | 18/288 | 6.3% | 4 |
Secondary measure: text mentions (continued)
| # | Tracked source | Named answers | Appearance rate | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Ad Age | 17/288 | 5.9% | 9 |
| 31 | Cosmetics Business | 17/288 | 5.9% | 0 |
| 32 | CNBC | 16/288 | 5.6% | 0 |
| 33 | Deadline | 15/288 | 5.2% | 0 |
| 34 | Retail Dive | 15/288 | 5.2% | 12 |
| 35 | Travel Weekly | 15/288 | 5.2% | 0 |
| 36 | CIO.com | 14/288 | 4.9% | 10 |
| 37 | Beverage Digest | 13/288 | 4.5% | 10 |
| 38 | Billboard | 13/288 | 4.5% | 12 |
| 39 | BioPharma Dive | 12/288 | 4.2% | 1 |
| 40 | Endpoints News | 12/288 | 4.2% | 0 |
| 41 | PhocusWire | 12/288 | 4.2% | 0 |
| 42 | Punchbowl News | 12/288 | 4.2% | 4 |
| 43 | Axios Vitals | 11/288 | 3.8% | 0 |
| 44 | Business Insider | 8/288 | 2.8% | 0 |
| 45 | Modern Retail | 8/288 | 2.8% | 0 |
| 46 | Restaurant Business | 7/288 | 2.4% | 0 |
| 47 | Allure | 6/288 | 2.1% | 0 |
| 48 | Hospitality Net | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1 |
| 49 | Puck | 5/288 | 1.7% | 0 |
| 50 | 5/288 | 1.7% | 0 | |
| 51 | The Verge | 5/288 | 1.7% | 0 |
| 52 | Eater | 4/288 | 1.4% | 0 |
| 53 | Wired | 4/288 | 1.4% | 0 |
| 54 | The Points Guy | 3/288 | 1.0% | 0 |
| 55 | Marketing Brew | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0 |
| 56 | TechRadar | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0 |
| 57 | Ars Technica | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0 |
| 58 | Chain Store Age | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0 |
| 59 | PCMag | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0 |
The top eight, side by side
| # | Name | Appearance rate | Answers and interval | Other measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wikipedia | 39.7% | Cited in 112/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 34.2–45.5% | first-mention position: 3.3; owned-domain citation (112/282): 39.7%; citation share: 8.8% |
| 2 | 7.8% | Cited in 22/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 5.2–11.5% | first-mention position: 5.8; owned-domain citation (22/282): 7.8%; citation share: 0.9% | |
| 3 | Axios | 5.0% | Cited in 14/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 3.0–8.2% | first-mention position: 4.5; owned-domain citation (14/282): 5%; citation share: 0.6% |
| 4 | Becker's Hospital Review | 5.0% | Cited in 14/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 3.0–8.2% | first-mention position: 1.4; owned-domain citation (14/282): 5%; citation share: 1% |
| 5 | Forbes | 4.6% | Cited in 13/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 2.7–7.7% | first-mention position: 3.3; owned-domain citation (13/282): 4.6%; citation share: 0.8% |
| 6 | Glossy | 3.9% | Cited in 11/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 2.2–6.8% | first-mention position: 3.4; owned-domain citation (11/282): 3.9%; citation share: 0.4% |
| 7 | Nation's Restaurant News | 3.5% | Cited in 10/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 1.9–6.4% | first-mention position: 1.9; owned-domain citation (10/282): 3.5%; citation share: 0.5% |
| 8 | Cosmetics Business | 3.2% | Cited in 9/282 grounded answers · 95% interval 1.7–6.0% | first-mention position: 3.9; owned-domain citation (9/282): 3.2%; citation share: 0.4% |
Cited-answer penetration for tracked sources, using each engine’s own grounded-answer denominator.
ChatGPT
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Same questions, different answers
Wikipedia
56.9%
Axios
12.5%
Becker's Hospital Review
6.9%
Hospitality Net
6.9%
Skift
6.9%
Bloomberg
6.9%
Claude
72 asked · 72 returned · 66 grounded
Wikipedia
71.2%
Becker's Hospital Review
4.5%
Forbes
4.5%
Nation's Restaurant News
4.5%
The Hill
4.5%
Punchbowl News
4.5%
Gemini
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Wikipedia
25.0%
Reddit
19.4%
Forbes
11.1%
Fierce Biotech
8.3%
Cosmetics Business
6.9%
Digiday
6.9%
Perplexity
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Wikipedia
8.3%
Reddit
8.3%
The Hill
8.3%
CNBC
8.3%
Axios
4.2%
Becker's Hospital Review
4.2%
Which platforms each sector cites
Up to three tracked platforms cited in the most grounded answers per sector (three questions each), as cited answers / grounded answers. Platforms with no citations are left out.
| Sector | Four chat engines: most-cited tracked platforms | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|
| beauty and fashion | Wikipedia (14/36), Glossy (11/36), Cosmetics Business (9/36) | Business of Fashion (2/9), Cosmetics Business (1/9), Forbes (1/9) |
| consumer and retail | Wikipedia (9/36), Retail Dive (7/36), Adweek (5/36) | None cited |
| entertainment | Wikipedia (21/33), Reddit (6/33), Axios (4/33) | The Hollywood Reporter (2/8), Billboard (1/8), Deadline (1/8) |
| food and beverage | Wikipedia (18/36), Nation's Restaurant News (10/36), Restaurant Business (6/36) | Food Dive (2/9), Beverage Digest (1/9), Restaurant Business (1/9) |
| healthcare and biotech | Becker's Hospital Review (14/33), Fierce Biotech (9/33), Reddit (9/33) | Modern Healthcare (3/8), BioPharma Dive (2/8), Reddit (2/8) |
| politics and public affairs | Wikipedia (13/36), The Hill (9/36), Punchbowl News (7/36) | Punchbowl News (2/7), Roll Call (2/7) |
| technology | Wikipedia (14/36), Forbes (5/36), CIO.com (4/36) | CIO.com (3/8), Reddit (3/8), TechCrunch (1/8) |
| travel and hospitality | Wikipedia (16/36), Hospitality Net (8/36), Skift (8/36) | CNBC (2/8), Forbes (1/8), Skift (1/8) |
AI Overview rankings below use citations to tracked source domains; they are not pooled with text-mention rankings.
The fifth engine
100%
Trigger rate: 64 of 64 searches
64 of 64 successful searches showed an AI Overview. Reddit was cited in 6/64 overviews (9.4%). Modern Healthcare was cited in 3/64 overviews (4.7%). CIO.com was cited in 3/64 overviews (4.7%). Wikipedia was cited in 2/64 overviews (3.1%).
| Five-engine rank | Name | Five-engine rate | Four-engine rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9.4% | 2 | |
| 2 | Modern Healthcare | 4.7% | 24 |
| 3 | CIO.com | 4.7% | 26 |
| 4 | Wikipedia | 3.1% | 1 |
| 5 | Forbes | 3.1% | 5 |
| 6 | Punchbowl News | 3.1% | 15 |
| 7 | Roll Call | 3.1% | 17 |
| 8 | BioPharma Dive | 3.1% | 18 |
| 9 | CNBC | 3.1% | 19 |
| 10 | Business of Fashion | 3.1% | 23 |
Who each question surfaces first
Six questions, ranked by cited-domain penetration within each question’s grounded answers.
| Question | Leader | Next | AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q01 · 12 grounded answers | CIO.com 33.3% | Wikipedia 16.7%; Reddit 8.3% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
| Q02 · 12 grounded answers | Glossy 50.0% | BeautyMatter 41.7%; Cosmetics Business 25.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
| Q03 · 12 grounded answers | Retail Dive 58.3% | Forbes 16.7%; Adweek 8.3% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
| Q04 · 12 grounded answers | Wikipedia 50.0% | Food Dive 25.0%; Nation's Restaurant News 16.7% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
| Q05 · 9 grounded answers | Reddit 77.8% | BioPharma Dive 66.7%; Fierce Biotech 55.6% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
| Q06 · 12 grounded answers | Skift 41.7% | Wikipedia 33.3%; Travel Weekly 25.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 successful searches |
The four engines produced 2,481 citations in total. en.wikipedia.org was cited most often, with 201 citations (8.1%) across 94 answers. Next came thectoclub.com (37), dealstream.com (30), themedicalpractice.com (28), guides.loc.gov (27), beckershospitalreview.com (24).
Four AI engines · share of 282 grounded answers
Most-cited domains
en.wikipedia.org
33.3%
dealstream.com
8.5%
guides.loc.gov
8.5%
feedspot.com
8.5%
reddit.com
7.8%
thectoclub.com
6.7%
digitalconvex.com
6.4%
wikipedia.org
6.4%
channelvmedia.com
6.0%
modernsoapmaking.com
5.3%
Google AI Overviews · share of 64 overviews
reddit.com
9.4%
youtube.com
7.8%
beautyindependent.com
4.7%
census.gov
4.7%
cio.com
4.7%
dealstream.com
4.7%
linkedin.com
4.7%
nrf.com
4.7%
sheridancollege.libguides.com
4.7%
streamingmedia.com
4.7%
Citation share by source type
Share of all citations by the type of site cited.
| Source type | Four AI engines (of 2,481 citations) | Google AI Overviews (of 182 citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Other / unclassified | 952 (38.4%) | 57 (31.3%) |
| Company / brand sites | 419 (16.9%) | 24 (13.2%) |
| Trade / specialist press | 310 (12.5%) | 33 (18.1%) |
| Reference | 236 (9.5%) | 2 (1.1%) |
| General news / business press | 214 (8.6%) | 23 (12.6%) |
| Directories / rankings | 131 (5.3%) | 5 (2.7%) |
| Community / social | 78 (3.1%) | 27 (14.8%) |
| Research / data providers | 61 (2.5%) | 5 (2.7%) |
| Official / government | 47 (1.9%) | 6 (3.3%) |
| Review / comparison publishers | 21 (0.8%) | 0 (0%) |
| Institutions / trade bodies | 12 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) |
How can a brand get its facts onto the trade publications AI engines cite?
These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.
| Step | What this study measured |
|---|---|
| Put your facts on your own domain. | Wikipedia's own domains were cited in 39.7% of grounded answers, Reddit's in 7.8% and Becker's Hospital Review's in 5.0%. Wikipedia was named in only 14.6% of answers, yet its own domains were cited in 39.7%. |
| Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite. | The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were dealstream.com (in 8.5% of grounded answers), guides.loc.gov (8.5%), feedspot.com (8.5%), thectoclub.com (6.7%) and digitalconvex.com (6.4%). Trade and specialist press supplied 12.5% of citations and reference sites 9.5%. |
| Check each engine separately. | ChatGPT named Wikipedia in 56.9% of answers against 0.0% on Gemini. Claude named Forbes in 18.1% of answers against 0.0% on Perplexity. |
| Re-run the same questions every month. | Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix. |
What AI answers
Which tracked sources are cited most often?
Wikipedia leads this measured set. Wikipedia: 112/282 (39.7%; 95% interval 34.2–45.5%). Reddit: 22/282 (7.8%; 95% interval 5.2–11.5%). The ranking covers tracked sources only. Untracked cited domains include dealstream.com (24 answers), feedspot.com (24 answers), guides.loc.gov (24 answers), thectoclub.com (19 answers), digitalconvex.com (18 answers), channelvmedia.com (17 answers), modernsoapmaking.com (15 answers), pmc.com (14 answers), bmsg.org (13 answers), datassential.com (13 answers).
Which source is named first most often?
Variety was the first source named in 20 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 1.5.
How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?
An overview appeared on 64 of 64 searches (100%, CI 94.3–100%). Within those 64 overviews, Wikipedia was named most often, in 8 (12.5%).
Which sources do the engines cite?
Across 2,481 four-engine citations, en.wikipedia.org was cited most (201 citations, in 94 of 282 grounded answers), followed by thectoclub.com (37 citations).
Do the four engines agree?
Only in part. ChatGPT named Wikipedia in 41 of 72 answers, against 0 to 1 of 72 on the other engines. ChatGPT named Reddit in 5 of 72 answers, against 0 to 0 of 72 on the other engines.
How this study was measured
24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 64 Google searches · 64 AI Overviews
24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured October 30 to 31, 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.
| Engine | Model IDs called | Asked | Returned | Grounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-mini | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Claude | claude-sonnet-5-5 | 72 | 72 | 66 |
| Gemini | gemini-3.6-flash | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Perplexity | sonar-pro | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Google AI Overviews | DataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced) | 64 | 64 shown | 64 |
Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.
Definitions
- Citation penetration: grounded answers citing tracked source domains ÷ grounded answers, with Wilson 95% intervals. Text mentions remain separate in the evidence.
- 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 59 tracked sources are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
- Answers were collected over two days, October 30 and 31, 2026. 352 of 360 planned results were returned. 8 AI Overview lookups were excluded after at most three total attempts.
- 64 successful Google searches: 64 overviews shown; 0 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
- 6 chat answers had no search sources and are left out of the citation figures.
- No Core question names a tracked name.
- Unverified own domains are not available, never zero or guessed. Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official organisations; 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.
- Sources are ranked by how many grounded answers cite them, with text mentions shown separately. Each sector has three questions and compares trade titles with general news on the same base. The first version drew its rankings from third-party studies; those figures are not reused.
- The ranking covers tracked sources only. Untracked cited domains include dealstream.com (24 answers), feedspot.com (24 answers), guides.loc.gov (24 answers), thectoclub.com (19 answers), digitalconvex.com (18 answers), channelvmedia.com (17 answers), modernsoapmaking.com (15 answers), pmc.com (14 answers), bmsg.org (13 answers), datassential.com (13 answers).
- Answers came from each engine's API (model IDs above); the consumer apps can answer differently.
The 24 questions
Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.
| # | Question | Group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | What are the most important technology news sources for CIOs? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 02 | Best beauty industry news sources | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 03 | Where can I follow retail industry trends? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 04 | Best food industry trade publications | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 05 | Best sources for biotech and pharma news | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 06 | Best travel industry news sites | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 07 | Where can I follow Hollywood business news? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 08 | Best sources for Congress and policy news | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 09 | Which publications cover the advertising industry? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 10 | Where do restaurant operators get industry news? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 11 | Best newsletters for healthcare executives | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 12 | Which publications rank the top hotel brands? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 13 | Best technology trade publications for IT leaders | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 14 | Where do software executives get industry news? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 15 | Which publications cover the fashion business? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 16 | Best beauty trade publications for brand founders | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 17 | Best consumer packaged goods industry news sources | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 18 | Which publications cover the beverage industry? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 19 | Where do hospital executives get industry news? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 20 | Which publications cover the airline industry? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 21 | Best sources for streaming industry news | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 22 | Which publications cover the music industry? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 23 | Best sources for state politics news | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 24 | Which publications cover lobbying and public affairs? | Trade Press Index 2.0 | Added question |
About 5W
5W is an independent PR, creative and AI Visibility 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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