The sites AI answers cite most.
Losing the Google click is half the story. The other half is who gets named in the answer instead. These counts come from the Ahrefs index of AI responses, captured 28 October 2026, for every site in the cohort.
Big sites get named more often than they get linked.
We asked ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini five questions built from each site's own top Google keywords. Then we checked whether the answer named the site, and whether it linked to it.
Australia
named
linked
1,499 checks across three engines.
United States
named
linked
1,499 checks across three engines.
United Kingdom
named
linked
1,499 checks across three engines.
When AI skips a site, Wikipedia gets the link most often.
The sites cited most often in answers that did not link to the site the question came from.
Australia
- wikipedia.org15.0%
- google.com9.4%
- fifa.com3.4%
- nih.gov3.3%
- nsw.gov.au2.7%
- healthdirect.gov.au2.0%
- abc.net.au2.0%
- medium.com1.9%
- vic.gov.au1.8%
- cambridge.org1.8%
United States
- wikipedia.org12.2%
- google.com8.6%
- mlb.com3.9%
- nih.gov3.8%
- britannica.com3.2%
- apnews.com2.9%
- nfl.com2.7%
- reddit.com2.6%
- youtube.com2.4%
- espn.com2.4%
United Kingdom
- wikipedia.org14.5%
- google.com10.1%
- gov.uk8.7%
- bbc.co.uk5.1%
- nhs.uk3.3%
- theguardian.com3.0%
- britannica.com2.8%
- fifa.com2.7%
- service.gov.uk2.5%
- skysports.com2.3%
Share of answers citing each site, among answers that did not link to the target site. Automatic text and link check of answers captured to 2026-11-04. A fixed sample of questions, not a measure of real demand. Named means the site's name or domain appears in the answer. Hand review is still to come.
Citation counts across the whole Ahrefs index.
749 of 900 site and engine counts passed our consistency check. 151 are withheld until Ahrefs confirms them, so some sites are missing from these lists.
Australia
ChatGPT
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| wikipedia.org | 50,717 | −20% |
| productreview.com.au | 17,438 | +10% |
| apple.com | 12,587 | +40% |
| abc.net.au | 12,025 | +9% |
| healthdirect.gov.au | 11,574 | −14% |
| coles.com.au | 10,321 | −38% |
| theguardian.com | 7,785 | +20% |
| clevelandclinic.org | 6,521 | +7% |
| canstar.com.au | 5,001 | +163% |
| news.com.au | 4,893 | −37% |
| healthline.com | 3,274 | −57% |
| qantas.com | 3,149 | −7% |
Google AI Mode
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 94,216 | +83% |
| wikipedia.org | 65,890 | −20% |
| amazon.com.au | 13,666 | −17% |
| linkedin.com | 10,717 | +30% |
| nih.gov | 9,322 | −11% |
| carsales.com.au | 8,937 | +43% |
| healthline.com | 7,314 | −57% |
| quora.com | 7,294 | −29% |
| woolworths.com.au | 7,275 | +14% |
| tiktok.com | 7,223 | −21% |
| canstar.com.au | 6,965 | +163% |
| apple.com | 6,762 | +40% |
Gemini
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| wikipedia.org | 41,285 | −20% |
| youtube.com | 12,679 | +29% |
| facebook.com | 9,701 | +67% |
| productreview.com.au | 8,093 | +10% |
| healthline.com | 4,134 | −57% |
| fandom.com | 4,072 | −45% |
| trustpilot.com | 3,766 | +211% |
| carsales.com.au | 3,693 | +43% |
| canstar.com.au | 3,171 | +163% |
| apple.com | 3,149 | +40% |
| coles.com.au | 2,807 | −38% |
| nsw.gov.au | 2,717 | −22% |
United States
ChatGPT
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| wikipedia.org | 368,892 | −20% |
| nih.gov | 183,764 | −6% |
| cambridge.org | 83,059 | +72% |
| apple.com | 80,046 | +114% |
| target.com | 58,882 | −6% |
| homedepot.com | 51,265 | −22% |
| edmunds.com | 47,692 | −30% |
| cdc.gov | 46,256 | −23% |
| lowes.com | 45,886 | +17% |
| clevelandclinic.org | 45,812 | −10% |
| yahoo.com | 41,852 | +3% |
| trustpilot.com | 40,105 | +287% |
Google AI Mode
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 926,050 | +72% |
| facebook.com | 507,053 | +151% |
| wikipedia.org | 446,066 | −20% |
| instagram.com | 169,804 | +10% |
| amazon.com | 113,442 | −34% |
| quora.com | 97,460 | −53% |
| yahoo.com | 90,683 | +3% |
| tiktok.com | 84,345 | +3% |
| fandom.com | 82,784 | −33% |
| walmart.com | 71,486 | −15% |
| linkedin.com | 70,442 | +66% |
| nih.gov | 70,130 | −6% |
Gemini
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 541,869 | +72% |
| wikipedia.org | 304,559 | −20% |
| facebook.com | 208,902 | +151% |
| youtube.com | 130,948 | +70% |
| walmart.com | 71,800 | −15% |
| fandom.com | 46,940 | −33% |
| edmunds.com | 38,923 | −30% |
| target.com | 37,596 | −6% |
| kbb.com | 36,008 | −26% |
| ebay.com | 34,525 | −18% |
| apple.com | 26,231 | +114% |
| healthline.com | 22,981 | −62% |
United Kingdom
ChatGPT
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| wikipedia.org | 118,277 | −27% |
| www.gov.uk | 67,108 | −43% |
| www.nhs.uk | 48,804 | −21% |
| service.gov.uk | 35,460 | +80% |
| theguardian.com | 31,675 | −27% |
| apple.com | 23,026 | +53% |
| independent.co.uk | 19,045 | −55% |
| tesco.com | 18,814 | −17% |
| boots.com | 13,066 | −30% |
| moneysavingexpert.com | 12,042 | −20% |
| argos.co.uk | 10,799 | −14% |
| johnlewis.com | 10,047 | −0% |
Google AI Mode
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 197,257 | +120% |
| wikipedia.org | 147,196 | −27% |
| facebook.com | 109,817 | +111% |
| amazon.co.uk | 58,749 | −27% |
| instagram.com | 38,848 | −5% |
| tripadvisor.co.uk | 33,590 | −21% |
| trustpilot.com | 27,301 | +150% |
| tiktok.com | 19,997 | −2% |
| www.gov.uk | 19,456 | −43% |
| linkedin.com | 19,183 | +30% |
| quora.com | 19,030 | −22% |
| www.nhs.uk | 18,792 | −21% |
Gemini
| Site | Citations | Search traffic |
|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | 126,688 | +120% |
| wikipedia.org | 85,906 | −27% |
| facebook.com | 41,711 | +111% |
| youtube.com | 33,102 | +63% |
| trustpilot.com | 16,561 | +150% |
| google.com | 10,854 | n/a |
| independent.co.uk | 9,554 | −55% |
| fandom.com | 9,197 | −43% |
| moneysavingexpert.com | 7,503 | −20% |
| theguardian.com | 6,530 | −27% |
| apple.com | 6,159 | +53% |
| www.gov.uk | 6,063 | −43% |
1,500 questions, three engines.
Every site gets five questions written from its own top Google keywords, keeping the intent of the original search. Each site's page shows how the three engines answered.