Top sources driving AI search answers
Across 623,900 citations, the top 15 sources account for 9.3% of everything AI models referenced. youtube.com leads the index with 11,792 citations, representing a share of 1.9% and a previous share of 1.4%, giving a change of 0.4 percentage points. facebook.com follows closely with 9,371 citations, amounting to a 1.5% share after rising 1.1 percentage points from 0.4%.
Data table
| Series | share |
|---|---|
| youtube.com | 1.9% |
| facebook.com | 1.5% |
| reddit.com | 1.5% |
| instagram.com | 1.2% |
| google.com | 0.7% |
| linkedin.com | 0.5% |
| tiktok.com | 0.4% |
| wikipedia.org | 0.4% |
| carwow.co.uk | 0.2% |
| which.co.uk | 0.2% |
Quarter on quarter movement in domain visibility
Movement between the latest 13 weeks and the previous 13 weeks shows distinct shifts in AI referencing behavior. facebook.com rose 1.1pts quarter on quarter, moving from a 0.4% share to 1.5%. instagram.com also saw substantial movement, climbing 0.9 percentage points to reach a 1.2% share with 7,621 citations. Meanwhile, google.com dipped 0.1 percentage points to 0.7%.
Data table
| Series | previous quarter | this quarter | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| facebook.com | 0.4% | 1.5% | +1.1pp |
| instagram.com | 0.3% | 1.2% | +0.9pp |
| youtube.com | 1.4% | 1.9% | +0.5pp |
| linkedin.com | 0.1% | 0.5% | +0.4pp |
| reddit.com | 1.2% | 1.5% | +0.3pp |
Model-specific citation favourites
Different AI models display distinct source preferences across their respective citation totals. Perplexity accumulated 172,926 citations, with facebook.com leading at 3.1% share and instagram.com at 3%. Gemini recorded 150,31 citations, favoring youtube.com at 1.4% and reddit.com at 1.3%. Google AIO reached 72,044 citations, placing youtube.com first with a 4.4% share.
Citation half-life and survival rates
Of domains newly earning AI citations, survival rates track their persistence over subsequent weeks. In the cohort of 427 domains measured at afterWeeks four, 20.6% are still being cited four weeks later. At afterWeeks one, 44% of 434 cohort domains retained citations, while at afterWeeks twelve, 17.7% of 395 domains remained in the index.
Data table
| Series | first week | 1w | 2w | 4w | 8w | 12w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still cited | 100% | 44% | 26.9% | 20.6% | 33.8% | 17.7% |
The four-week cliff — 79% of newcomers have stopped being cited (4w)
Full report availability and access
The complete analysis covering all 623,900 citations, 7 AI models, and detailed domain metrics is available as a PDF and PPTX download directly on the BrandInsightAI Source Index page for marketing and SEO professionals.
Data table
| Series | Units per 100 |
|---|---|
| youtube.com | 1.9 |
| facebook.com | 1.5 |
| reddit.com | 1.5 |
| instagram.com | 1.2 |
| google.com | 0.7 |
| linkedin.com | 0.5 |
Method & limitations
- The data reflects observed citation patterns across 7 AI models over a 13-week window and does not imply direct causation or official endorsement by any platform.
- Changes in model interfaces or underlying retrieval systems can influence citation shares between measurement periods.
How every figure on this page is counted, floored and reviewed: our methodology.