1.92x
median lift — specific statistics
76%
of cited passages contain a number
55%
of citations go to domains cited by 5+ models
16
content audits in sample

The features that lift citations

Median citations-per-page lift, pages with the feature vs without: specific statistics 1.92x (6 audits); named author 1.91x (6 audits); comparison table 1.44x (6 audits); structured data 1.19x (5 audits); visible pricing 1.05x (6 audits); visible publish date 1.02x (5 audits).

Figure 1Median citation lift by page feature
Median citation lift by page feature Specific statistics: 1.9 Specific statistics 1.9 Named author: 1.9 Named author 1.9 Comparison table: 1.4 Comparison table 1.4 Structured data: 1.2 Structured data 1.2 Visible pricing: 1.1 Visible pricing 1.1 Visible publish date: 1 Visible publish date 1 Specifications: 1 Specifications 1 Direct answer in first 100 words: 0.8 Direct answer in first 100 words 0.8
Citations per page for pages with the feature, divided by pages without. 1.0 = no difference.
Data table
Seriesmedian lift
Specific statistics1.9
Named author1.9
Comparison table1.4
Structured data1.2
Visible pricing1.1
Visible publish date1
Specifications1
Direct answer in first 100 words0.8

What the citable page already looks like

Share of AI-cited pages carrying each trait (median across audits): direct answer in first 100 words 35%; named author 34%; visible pricing 31%; visible publish date 28%; comparison table 27%; updated in last 12 months 25%.

Figure 2What the citable page looks like
What the citable page looks like Direct answer in first 100 words: 34.9% Direct answer in first 100 words 34.9% Named author: 33.5% Named author 33.5% Visible pricing: 30.6% Visible pricing 30.6% Visible publish date: 28% Visible publish date 28% Comparison table: 27.4% Comparison table 27.4% Updated in last 12 months: 25.4% Updated in last 12 months 25.4% Specific statistics: 24.9% Specific statistics 24.9% Specifications: 19.7% Specifications 19.7% Structured data: 18.6% Structured data 18.6% Cites its own sources: 3.2% Cites its own sources 3.2% Article schema: 1.9% Article schema 1.9% Original data or research: 1.6% Original data or research 1.6% FAQ schema: 0.4% FAQ schema 0.4%
Median share of AI-cited pages carrying each trait, across audits.
Data table
Seriesshare of cited pages
Direct answer in first 100 words34.9%
Named author33.5%
Visible pricing30.6%
Visible publish date28%
Comparison table27.4%
Updated in last 12 months25.4%
Specific statistics24.9%
Specifications19.7%
Structured data18.6%
Cites its own sources3.2%
Article schema1.9%
Original data or research1.6%
FAQ schema0.4%

The formats that win

Median citations per profiled page by content format: mixed 4.8/page; prose 4.5/page; bulleted 3.9/page.

Figure 3Median citations per page by content format
Median citations per page by content format mixed: 4.8 mixed 4.8 prose: 4.5 prose 4.5 bulleted: 3.9 bulleted 3.9
Median across audits with enough profiled pages of the format.
Data table
Seriescitations/page
mixed4.8
prose4.5
bulleted3.9

How long cited content runs

Median citations per page by word count: under 500 words 2.4/page; 500-1,000 words 3.2/page; 1,000-2,000 words 6.3/page; over 2,000 words 7.1/page.

Figure 4Median citations per page by length
Median citations per page by length under 500 words: 2.4 under 500 words 2.4 500-1,000 words: 3.2 500-1,000 words 3.2 1,000-2,000 words: 6.3 1,000-2,000 words 6.3 over 2,000 words: 7.1 over 2,000 words 7.1
Word count of the profiled page.
Data table
Seriescitations/page
under 500 words2.4
500-1,000 words3.2
1,000-2,000 words6.3
over 2,000 words7.1

Which content types earn citations

Median citations per profiled page by content type: listicle 8.7/page; review 7.0/page; comparison 6.7/page; category-page 6.5/page; editorial 5.3/page; pricing 5.3/page.

Figure 5Median citations per page by content type
Median citations per page by content type listicle: 8.7 listicle 8.7 review: 7 review 7 comparison: 6.7 comparison 6.7 category-page: 6.5 category-page 6.5 editorial: 5.3 editorial 5.3 pricing: 5.3 pricing 5.3 news: 4.7 news 4.7 how-to: 4.6 how-to 4.6 product-page: 3.1 product-page 3.1 press-release: 2.5 press-release 2.5 faq: 2.5 faq 2.5
Median across audits with enough profiled pages of the type. The classifier's catch-all bucket is excluded.
Data table
Seriescitations/page
listicle8.7
review7
comparison6.7
category-page6.5
editorial5.3
pricing5.3
news4.7
how-to4.6
product-page3.1
press-release2.5
faq2.5

The words in AI-cited titles

Terms most common in third-party cited page titles: "best" (35.2% of titles); "2026" (33.8% of titles); "kitchen" (23.6% of titles); "shoes" (21.8% of titles); "running" (19.0% of titles); "running shoes" (17.6% of titles); "ireland" (13.4% of titles); "guide" (12.0% of titles).

Figure 6Terms most common in AI-cited titles
Terms most common in AI-cited titles best: 35.2% best 35.2% 2026: 33.8% 2026 33.8% kitchen: 23.6% kitchen 23.6% shoes: 21.8% shoes 21.8% running: 19% running 19% running shoes: 17.6% running shoes 17.6% ireland: 13.4% ireland 13.4% guide: 12% guide 12% cruise: 12% cruise 12% de: 9.7% de 9.7% the best: 8.8% the best 8.8% shoes for: 8.3% shoes for 8.3% deals: 7.4% deals 7.4% in 2026: 6.9% in 2026 6.9% kitchens: 6.9% kitchens 6.9%
Share of third-party cited page titles containing the term. Only terms recurring across many pages and domains are shown.
Data table
Seriesshare of titles
best35.2%
202633.8%
kitchen23.6%
shoes21.8%
running19%
running shoes17.6%
ireland13.4%
guide12%
cruise12%
de9.7%
the best8.8%
shoes for8.3%
deals7.4%
in 20266.9%
kitchens6.9%

Schema on cited pages

Structured-data types on AI-cited pages (median share of pages): BreadcrumbList 13%; Organization 7%; WebSite 6%; ItemList 4%.

Figure 7Structured data on cited pages
Structured data on cited pages BreadcrumbList: 12.9% BreadcrumbList 12.9% Organization: 7.4% Organization 7.4% WebSite: 5.8% WebSite 5.8% ItemList: 4.5% ItemList 4.5%
Median share of AI-cited pages carrying each schema.org type.
Data table
Seriesshare of cited pages
BreadcrumbList12.9%
Organization7.4%
WebSite5.8%
ItemList4.5%

How models actually quote

The passages citations trace to run a median 131 words; 76% contain at least one number, and 19% were matched to the AI answer verbatim (across 5 attribution-depth audits).

The median cited page answers 3.0 questions outright, and 90% of cited pages answer at least one question directly.

Do the models agree?

A median 44% of profiled cited pages are cited by more than one model, and those consensus pages earn 2.8x the citations of single-model pages.

At domain level: 112,624 domains cited by one model only carry 15.8% of citation volume; 45,070 domains cited by 2-4 models carry 28.9% of citation volume; 7,237 domains cited by 5+ models carry 55.3% of citation volume.

Figure 8Citation volume by model consensus
Citation volume by model consensus cited by one model only: 15.8% cited by one model only 15.8% cited by 2-4 models: 28.9% cited by 2-4 models 28.9% cited by 5+ models: 55.3% cited by 5+ models 55.3%
Share of all citations going to domains cited by one model, a few, or most — do the models read the same web?
Data table
Seriesshare of citations
cited by one model only15.8%
cited by 2-4 models28.9%
cited by 5+ models55.3%

How much brands actually control

Across 6 audited projects, the median brand holds 14% of the citations it could control, while third parties earn 83% of all citations — the earned layer, not the owned one, decides most AI visibility.

Method & limitations

  • Benchmarks are medians over 16 completed content audits (6 projects) — cumulative evidence to date, not a monthly movement.
  • Feature lifts and prevalence figures are correlational; the audits observe pages as they are, they do not run controlled experiments.
  • Title terms and schema types come exclusively from public third-party pages, and only where they recur across many pages and domains.
  • Every audit ran the same profiler, feature detection and denominators, so comparisons are like for like.

How every figure on this page is counted, floored and reviewed: our methodology.