The most cited sources in AI answers
Every AI answer is assembled from sources it already trusts. This is the ranking of the domains ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews actually quote — measured by AI Domain Authority from live answers, not backlinks.
Top 25 most cited domains across AI engines
| # | Domain | Type | AI DA | Citation share | ChatGPT | Google AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | reddit.com | Forum · UGC | 95.2 | 10.3% | #1 | #3 |
| 2 | youtube.com | Forum · UGC | 84.8 | 8.4% | #30 | #2 |
| 3 | forbes.com | Media | 72.9 | 0.71% | #2 | #27 |
| 4 | rtings.com | Media | 72.7 | 0.44% | #27 | #7 |
| 5 | homedepot.com | Retail | 71.5 | 0.43% | #8 | #20 |
| 6 | walmart.com | Retail | 71.0 | 0.42% | #9 | #22 |
| 7 | consumerreports.org | Media | 70.8 | 0.37% | #12 | #17 |
| 8 | bestbuy.com | Retail | 68.9 | 0.34% | #61 | #6 |
| 9 | outdoorgearlab.com | Review aggregator | 64.8 | 0.17% | #46 | #24 |
| 10 | lowes.com | Retail | 64.2 | 0.20% | #28 | #55 |
| 11 | target.com | Retail | 64.2 | 0.19% | #32 | #46 |
| 12 | bhphotovideo.com | Retail | 63.6 | 0.15% | #48 | #32 |
| 13 | apple.com | Brand-owned | 63.6 | 0.18% | #86 | #15 |
| 14 | wired.com | Media | 62.8 | 0.22% | #21 | #67 |
| 15 | techgearlab.com | Media | 61.5 | 0.12% | #82 | #30 |
| 16 | soundguys.com | Media | 59.5 | 0.09% | #81 | #51 |
| 17 | businessinsider.com | Media | 58.0 | 0.09% | #60 | #70 |
| 18 | wayfair.com | Retail | 57.1 | 0.10% | #44 | #78 |
| 19 | google.com | Brand-owned | 100.0 | 26.2% | — | #1 |
| 20 | techradar.com | Media | 81.5 | 0.60% | #3 | — |
| 21 | tomsguide.com | Media | 80.2 | 0.51% | #4 | — |
| 22 | goodhousekeeping.com | Media | 79.1 | 0.45% | #5 | — |
| 23 | alibaba.com | マーケットプレイス | 78.1 | 0.40% | #6 | — |
| 24 | eufy.com | Brand-owned | 77.2 | 0.36% | — | #4 |
| 25 | bhg.com | Media | 76.5 | 0.33% | #7 | — |
Ranked by engines-citing then mean AI Domain Authority · 215.6K eligible domains across 2 engines · data as of 2026-07-10 · source: www.geoly.ai / GEOly MCP Server.
See the full top 100 by engine
Citations concentrate, and each engine concentrates differently
A handful of domains absorb most of what AI quotes. In ChatGPT, Reddit alone takes 17.4% of all citations — more than the next fifty domains combined — and editorial review media fills most of the rest of the top 20. In Google AI Overviews, Google’s own surfaces and YouTube absorb the majority before any independent source appears, with brand-owned manufacturer pages punching far above their traditional authority.
That difference is the practical takeaway: the same content investment pays off very differently per engine. Use the cross-engine table to find the sources that carry weight everywhere, then open a single engine board when you need to know where to spend next. For category-level decisions, the topic boards show which domains are cited for your specific products.
Browse citations by topic
24 topic boards · 12,047 citations analysed.
FAQ
What are the most cited sources in AI answers?
Across ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, the most cited sources are community platforms (Reddit leads ChatGPT with 17.4% of all citations), editorial review media such as Forbes, TechRadar and Tom's Guide, and — inside Google AI — Google's own surfaces including YouTube. The table on this page ranks the 25 domains with the highest cross-engine citation weight; each engine board carries the full top 100.
How is AI Domain Authority different from DR or Domain Authority?
Traditional DR and DA are computed from backlinks — who links to a site. AI Domain Authority (AI DA) is a 0–100 score computed from live AI answers: how often a domain is cited, across how many topics, and how prominently. A site can have a high DR and near-zero AI DA, which is exactly why backlink reports fail to predict AI citations.
Do ChatGPT and Google AI cite the same domains?
Only partly. Of the top 25 cross-engine sources here, 18 are cited by both engines; the rest are engine-specific. ChatGPT leans on forums and hands-on review media, while Google AI Overviews concentrate citations on Google-owned surfaces and brand-owned manufacturer pages. Optimising for one engine does not automatically win the other — compare the two boards side by side.
How do I get my own domain cited by AI platforms?
Two routes, and you need both. Earn presence on the sources AI already trusts (reviews, forum threads, media round-ups in your category — start from the topic boards to see which ones matter for your products), and make your own pages citable: crawler access for AI bots, structured data, clear answerable sections. GEOly tracks both sides and tells you which citation gaps cost you answer share.
See which prompts cite this source in ChatGPT and Google AI — and whether your brand shows up inside those answers.