ResearchFirst finding, 16 October 2026
AI cites the seller, not the reviews.
We read 1,857 AI answers about AI visibility and GEO tools, on 5 AI apps, and recorded where every citation went.
Where the citations went
82.4%of citations went to the vendor's own website
Review directories
0.7%went to a review directory
What it rests on
1,857AI answers read, across two runs
Two runs: 597 readings on 15 and 16 October 2026 and 1,260 on 16 October 2026. The narrower run put own-site citations at 85.6% and review directories at 0.8%.
More categories, then cities and languages.
One category is read. A review directory is almost never what an AI app quotes. The seller's own pages almost always are. These are the cuts the next editions add.
- Which domains the engines cite for Indian commercial questions.
- How that differs by category, such as software, finance, education, health and home services.
- How it differs by city, for questions that name a place.
- How it differs by language, for questions in English, Hindi and other Indian languages.
- How often each engine searches the live web before answering.
- What kind of source wins: brand sites, review sites, directories, communities or media.
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