ChatGPT included citations in 22.6% of journey solutions and 4.8% of training solutions in Might, towards a median of 6.8% throughout all solutions, based on Similarweb’s 2026 Generative AI Landscape report. The figures cowl U.S. desktop use.
Similarweb sells AI visibility monitoring merchandise, and the report is gated behind a obtain type.
How typically a ChatGPT reply carries any hyperlink differs sharply by matter in Similarweb’s knowledge. The place fewer solutions carry hyperlinks, there are fewer solutions your website can seem in.
How Usually ChatGPT Cites Sources, By Subject
Similarweb ranked 9 sectors based mostly on the proportion of solutions that included at the least one quotation. Journey led at 22.6%, adopted by retail at 13.5% and sports activities at 10.7%. Finance was at 8.0%, barely greater than the general common of 6.8%. Know-how, well being, media and leisure, and training all fell under this common, with training on the lowest at 4.8%.
Based on Similarweb, ChatGPT goes to the net most when individuals evaluate merchandise, plan purchases, or ask about issues that change.
The General Charge Climbed By The 12 months
The general price went up from about 1.3% in June 2025 to six.8% in Might 2026, one thing that Similarweb describes as greater than a fivefold improve in lower than a 12 months.
The rise wasn’t regular: it went over 6% in October, then dropped again to round 4.5% by February, earlier than climbing once more by means of spring. That rise sits subsequent to SEJ’s April report, which famous that Resoneo observed ChatGPT citing about 20% fewer websites per response after the GPT-5.3 Instantaneous replace. The experiences come from separate datasets that rely various things. One seems to be at whether or not a solution features a quotation in any respect, and the opposite counts what number of domains seem inside a single response.
ChatGPT Cites Completely different Websites In Completely different Subjects
Similarweb additionally broke down which varieties of websites get cited, utilizing what it labels the highest 10,000 citations recorded on U.S. desktop in Might.
Throughout all ChatGPT solutions, opinions and user-generated content material (UGC) accounted for 28.9% of citations, whereas information and writer websites account for 26.0%. Retail and e-commerce web sites symbolize 14.1%.
However, after we have a look at particular matters, the patterns might be fairly completely different. For instance, in magnificence, retail and e-commerce websites are the commonest, making up 54.7% of citations. In journey, opinions and UGC accounted for 54.1%. In finance, finance-specific websites maintain 36.6%, with information and writer websites at 28.0%.
General, Similarweb highlights that no single playbook covers each matter. As a substitute, manufacturers ought to give attention to understanding which forms of websites are most steadily cited inside their specific areas.
In the meantime, SEJ has checked out this from a special angle. Roger Montti’s May article discusses how supply preferences fluctuate between AI engines. Similarweb’s evaluation, nonetheless, focuses on matters.
What The Knowledge Covers
All figures discuss with U.S. desktop utilization. The supply combine relies on what Similarweb labels the highest 10,000 citations in Might. The report states that every one of its knowledge are estimates and extrapolations drawn from third-party sources, and will not be warranted for accuracy or completeness. The report doesn’t embody API utilization, desktop functions, or AI options built-in into different cell and net apps.
Why This Issues
Quotation charges differed sharply by matter in Might. Lower than 5% of training solutions carried hyperlinks, whereas over 20% of journey solutions did. A quotation push in training is chasing a much smaller pool of cited solutions than the identical work in journey.
Moreover, the sources of citations fluctuate by area. In magnificence, most citations are from retail and e-commerce websites, whereas in finance, they arrive primarily from finance-specific web sites and information retailers. A model focusing by itself area of interest may observe completely different web sites being cited relying on the sector, and the forms of referenced content material can fluctuate tremendously throughout areas.
Trying Forward
Quotation charges moved lots throughout the twelve months Similarweb tracked, and never in a straight line. The speed counts solutions that carry at the least one exterior hyperlink, and it will possibly transfer by itself with out something a writer does.
Keep watch over how the speed modifications over time, not simply its present degree. The general price dipped in the course of the winter however then bounced again. Additionally, do not forget that Similarweb’s matter breakdown solely seems to be at a single month.
Featured Picture: Floor Image/Shutterstock
Source link
