The Most Cited AI Sources
In July 2026, we asked Perplexity (sonar) three questions about each of 101 SaaS brands and recorded 2,469 citations. This is a source-share ranking for that study, not a leaderboard of every AI engine or the whole web.
Data collected July 2026 · 101 brands · 2,469 structured citations · engine: Perplexity (sonar)
The AI Visibility Benchmark comes from this same measurement — one run over these 101 brands, read two ways. Two pages, not two studies: reading both is not corroboration.
of all AI citations point to Reddit — the single largest source
point to YouTube, ahead of any dedicated review platform
of everything AI cites is third-party content, not the brand's own site
structured AI citations analyzed across 101 brands
The 15 sources AI cites most, ranked by citation share
Across 2,469 structured citations, Reddit (9.1%) and YouTube (8%) are the two biggest sources AI draws on — ahead of every dedicated review platform like G2 or Trustpilot. A backlink database would rank these hosts by link authority; this table ranks them by how much of what AI reads actually comes from each one.
| # | Source | Share of all citations | Cited for # of brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | reddit.com | 9.1% | 98 |
| 2 | youtube.com | 8% | 89 |
| 3 | g2.com | 3.9% | 73 |
| 4 | trustpilot.com | 3.7% | 73 |
| 5 | en.wikipedia.org | 2.5% | 55 |
| 6 | linkedin.com | 1.9% | 45 |
| 7 | glassdoor.com | 1.5% | 35 |
| 8 | merriam-webster.com | 1.3% | 31 |
| 9 | producthunt.com | 1.2% | 25 |
| 10 | instagram.com | 1.1% | 28 |
| 11 | facebook.com | 1.1% | 21 |
| 12 | github.com | 1.1% | 18 |
| 13 | capterra.com | 1.1% | 24 |
| 14 | play.google.com | 1% | 22 |
| 15 | apps.apple.com | 0.9% | 19 |
Only hosts cited across at least 5 different brands are listed, so no single brand's footprint can be reverse-engineered.
The sources shift with buyer intent
Which sources AI leans on changes with the question. On reviews and alternatives queries — the moments closest to a purchase — community and review platforms dominate even more heavily than they do overall.
Top sources on reviews queries
- 1reddit.com11.4%
- 2youtube.com10.7%
- 3trustpilot.com8.7%
- 4g2.com7.5%
- 5glassdoor.com4.2%
Top sources on alternatives queries
- 1reddit.com11%
- 2youtube.com4.8%
- 3g2.com2.3%
- 4thedigitalprojectmanager.com1.4%
- 5facebook.com1%
How this ranking is built
We asked an AI answer engine (Perplexity (sonar)) about 101 SaaS brands in July 2026 — three query types per brand — and parsed every source it cited, 2,469 structured citations in total.
Each host's share is its portion of all citations; the brands column counts how many distinct brands that host was cited for. Both figures come straight from the aggregate run — no estimates, and no backlink or domain-rating data.
This ranking is one module of our broader AI visibility research, which also measures how often AI recommends SaaS brands across brand-name, reviews and alternatives queries.
Part of the AI Visibility Benchmark →
Use the source evidence
This study describes Perplexity sources in its own window. Compare monitoring workflows, inspect the alternatives-query findings, or run a separate check on your domain.
FAQ
What are AI citation sources?+
They are the websites an AI answer engine draws on when it answers a question. When AI recommends software it cites specific hosts — Reddit, YouTube, G2 and others — and this page ranks them by how often they are cited across 2,469 structured citations.
Why rank sources by AI citation share instead of domain rating?+
Backlink databases rank domains by link authority (like Ahrefs DR), which says nothing about whether AI actually cites a page. This ranking measures the dimension that matters for AI visibility: how much of what AI reads comes from each source.
Why do Reddit and YouTube rank so high?+
AI answer engines lean heavily on community discussion and video, where real users compare tools. In our data Reddit (9.1%) and YouTube (8%) together outweigh every dedicated review platform.
Is this based on real data?+
Yes. Every figure comes from 2,469 structured citations collected from a live AI answer engine across 101 SaaS brands. Only aggregate host shares are published here — no brand is named, and we never share one brand's result with anyone else.
What are the most popular AI citations?+
The most popular AI citations point to community and review content, not brand websites. In this ranking Reddit (9.1% of all citations) and YouTube (8%) lead, and 90% of everything AI cites is third-party content the recommended brand does not control.
How often does AI cite a brand's own website?+
Rarely. Across 2,469 structured citations for 101 SaaS brands, only 10% pointed at the brand's own domain; the other 90% went to third-party sources like Reddit, YouTube and review platforms.
See which sources cite your brand
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