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, in keeping with Similarweb’s 2026 Generative AI Panorama report. The figures cowl U.S. desktop use.
Similarweb sells AI visibility monitoring merchandise, and the report is gated behind a obtain type.
How usually 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 web site can seem in.
How Typically ChatGPT Cites Sources, By Subject
Similarweb ranked 9 sectors primarily based on the proportion of solutions that included at the very 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 beneath this common, with training on the lowest at 4.8%.
In accordance with Similarweb, ChatGPT goes to the net most when individuals examine merchandise, plan purchases, or ask about issues that change.
The General Charge Climbed By The 12 months
The general fee 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 noticed ChatGPT citing about 20% fewer web sites per response after the GPT-5.3 Immediate replace. The stories 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 take a look at particular subjects, the patterns may be fairly completely different. For instance, in magnificence, retail and e-commerce websites are the most typical, 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 concentrate on understanding which forms of websites are most continuously cited inside their explicit areas.
In the meantime, SEJ has checked out this from a unique angle. Roger Montti’s Might article discusses how supply preferences range between AI engines. Similarweb’s evaluation, nonetheless, focuses on subjects.
What The Knowledge Covers
All figures discuss with U.S. desktop utilization. The supply combine is predicated on what Similarweb labels the highest 10,000 citations in Might. The report states that each one of its knowledge are estimates and extrapolations drawn from third-party sources, and aren’t warranted for accuracy or completeness. The report doesn’t embody API utilization, desktop purposes, or AI options built-in into different cellular and internet 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 range 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 sphere, and the forms of referenced content material can range vastly throughout areas.
Wanting Forward
Quotation charges moved rather a lot throughout the twelve months Similarweb tracked, and never in a straight line. The speed counts solutions that carry at the very least one exterior hyperlink, and it could possibly transfer by itself with out something a writer does.
Keep watch over how the speed adjustments over time, not simply its present stage. The general fee dipped through the winter however then bounced again. Additionally, do not forget that Similarweb’s matter breakdown solely seems to be at a single month.
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