Industry AI Citation Report: Who Gets Recommended and Why
About This Report
1,200 queries across 6 industries on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to map citation patterns.
Key Finding 1: The Power Law of AI Citations
Top 3 brands capture 65-80% of all AI mentions per category. Brands 4-10 share 15-25%. Everything below top 10 splits 5-10%.
Key Finding 2: Cross-Platform Consistency
SaaS: 85%+ overlap in top 5 across platforms. Professional services and healthcare: only 50-60% overlap.
Industry Breakdowns
Professional Services
Most fragmented. Niche authority content is key differentiator.
SaaS
Most concentrated. G2/Capterra review presence correlates strongly with AI recommendations.
E-commerce
Product comparison content drives citations. Product-level SEO critical.
Healthcare
Strongest safety-filter influence. Institutional authority and credentials dominate.
Education
Most "citable" industry. Content depth and free-tier access drive citations.
Travel
Aggregator platforms dominate. Review volume on major platforms is primary driver.
Key Finding 3: What Differentiates Cited Brands
- 3.2x more referring domains than uncited competitors
- 89% appear in major industry lists
- 4.7x more reviews on G2/Capterra (SaaS)
- 2.8x more content in their topic area
- 72% have Wikipedia (vs 12% of uncited brands)
Conclusion
AI citations follow a steep power law. The factors driving citation eligibility are measurable and actionable.