GEO Insights for Brand Marketers
The HR & Payroll Playbook for AI Search: Your Own Pages Are 90% of the Answer
HR and payroll tools get shortlisted by AI now, and in India that shortlist is built almost entirely from companies' own pages. In the Cited Index, 90% of HR & Payroll citations are brand-owned, the highest share of any category. Review sites are a rounding error and LinkedIn is the largest off-site source, so your comparison and compliance pages are where the citation is won. Here is what to publish.
How Google AI Mode Decides Which Brands to Recommend (and Why It Cites Your Competitor)
Google AI Mode gives only about three sources per answer, the fewest of any engine, and its top source is Amazon. Where AI Overviews rewards being everywhere, AI Mode rewards being the obvious answer, the same company playing almost the reverse game. Here is how it picks the few brands that make the cut.
How Google AI Overviews Decides Which Brands to Recommend (and Why It Cites Your Competitor)
Google AI Overviews casts the widest net of any engine, about ten sources per answer, and it leans hard on social. In the Cited Index its top source is Instagram, then YouTube, then Amazon. It rewards being present everywhere. Here is how it picks brands, and why breadth beats depth for it.
How Gemini Decides Which Brands to Recommend (and Why It Cites Your Competitor)
Gemini is the one AI engine that mostly reads your own website. In the Cited Index, 72% of its citations are brand sites and just 2% are community, the opposite of ChatGPT. If you have only optimized your own pages, Gemini is the engine you are already playing. Here is how it picks brands.
How Perplexity Decides Which Brands to Recommend (and Why It Cites Your Competitor)
Perplexity shows its work: every answer comes with its sources. In the Cited Index it reaches deepest into niche and long-tail sources, led by YouTube, then Reddit, then publishers you have probably never optimized for. Here is how it picks brands, and why your competitor keeps appearing in the citations.
How ChatGPT Decides Which Brands to Recommend (and Why It Cites Your Competitor)
When ChatGPT recommends a brand, it is repeating what its sources said, and its single largest source is Reddit. In the Cited Index, ChatGPT is the least likely of the five engines to just read your website. Here is how it builds a shortlist, and why your competitor keeps making it.
In Indian Skincare, Gemini Reads Your Website and ChatGPT Doesn't
Run the same skincare prompt through Gemini and ChatGPT and they read almost opposite sources: Gemini pulls 62% of its citations from brand sites, ChatGPT just 26%. That 36-point split, plus Instagram as the top source overall, decides whether your website or your off-site presence does the work.
How to Get ChatGPT to Recommend Your D2C Brand (It Is Not Amazon)
Ask ChatGPT for the best sunscreen or earbuds in India and it does not read Amazon to answer. In the Cited Index, editorial and your own site are its two biggest D2C sources, with community close behind, and marketplaces are just 8%. Here is where the recommendation is actually built.
The B2B SaaS Playbook for Winning 'Alternatives' Queries in AI Search
When a buyer asks an AI engine for alternatives to a CRM, the answer is built almost entirely from brand websites. In the Cited Index, 84% of CRM citations are brand sites and marketplaces barely register. It is the one category where you can publish your way into the answer, and most teams do not.
How to Get ChatGPT to Recommend Your SaaS for 'Best Software' Queries
When a buyer asks ChatGPT for the best software, it builds the shortlist from a specific set of sources. In the Cited Index, 72% of what it cites for B2B software are brand websites, and the review sites most teams optimize for barely register. Here is where the answer is actually decided.
Every AI Engine Cites Brand Sites First. The Difference Is What It Reads Second.
We classified 8,493 citations across five AI engines in the August 2026 Cited Index. Every engine reaches for brand-owned websites first, from 42% on ChatGPT to 72% on Gemini. The split that matters is the second source each one goes to.