What Top Brands Are Doing Differently

If you want your brand to stay relevant in search, you need to understand how to get cited by AI.

AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are starting to shape what users see first. Instead of ten blue links, users now get direct answers, and those answers often reference just a few trusted sources. And if your brand isn’t part of that pool, it’s not part of the conversation.

This blog will walk you through how citation works across major AI engines, what makes content citation-worthy, and how to track your AI visibility so you can build a smarter strategy.

Why AI visibility is important for your brand

AI visibility affects whether or not your content is included in AI-generated answers—and that directly impacts your discoverability, authority, and brand trust.

Today, when someone asks an AI tool like ChatGPT for the best email marketing platforms or how to reduce churn in SaaS, the answers don’t just come from thin air. They’re pulled from specific web sources. 

These mentions act like mini-endorsements, putting your brand in front of users who may never even click on a traditional search result.

For example, if you ask Perplexity the difference between GEO and SEO, you can see that it cites Writesonic as a source:

This means content teams can no longer afford to think only in terms of Google rankings. If your site is getting traffic, but AI crawlers aren’t seeing your pages (or worse, never citing them), you’re missing out on a massive opportunity for visibility. With the growing use of AI search engines, this potential for visibility is only increasing. 

This is where Writesonic’s GEO (AI Traffic Analytics) feature really steps up. While most teams are focused on traditional SEO, this GEO tool gives you a window into how AI engines actually see and surface your brand.

With Writesonic’s GEO tool, you can track:

• Which AI platforms are crawling your site (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc.)
• How often your content is being cited or surfaced in AI-generated answers.
• Share of voice and brand sentiment across AI search results.
• Your competitor’s AI visibility.

You can use these insights to double down on the pages AI engines already favor, identify content that’s being ignored, and spot opportunities to improve content or topical coverage.

How do different AI engines choose their sources?

Each AI search engine has its preferences when deciding what to cite. If you want your brand to show up in responses, understanding these patterns can help you optimize for AI search. 

Some models prioritize factual, high-authority content. Others are more open to blogs, community forums, or even vendor-authored posts. Your content strategy needs to reflect where each model looks for answers.

According to an AI citation analysis by Search Engine Journal, here are the kinds of sources top AI search engines like to cite from:

ChatGPT (OpenAI GPT-4o)

ChatGPT leans heavily on high-authority, neutral content. Based on external citation tracking, approximately 27% of its citations originate from Wikipedia, followed by trusted news organizations such as Reuters. 

Commercial product blogs or sales-driven pages are barely included, often <3%.

What it wants: Objective, factual, well-documented sources.
What it avoids: Anything that looks promotional or biased.

If you’re in B2B, ensure your brand is featured in trusted comparison articles and industry roundups. Consider contributing to or editing a Wikipedia page if your brand meets notability guidelines. Aim for neutral mentions in authoritative third-party blogs.

Google Gemini

Gemini references a mix of blogs (~39%), news (~26%), and user-centric platforms like YouTube (~3%). It’s more open to community-driven content than ChatGPT, although it still favors structured and informative content.

What it wants: Informative blog content, expert media coverage, and multimedia sources.
What it avoids: Low-effort product pages, unstructured content.

What to do:
Publish in-depth blog content on your own domain and partner blogs. Optimize YouTube explainers and interviews. Google Gemini likes content that feels educational and authentic, especially for B2C or SaaS tool queries.

Perplexity AI

Perplexity is one of the most niche-aware engines. It favors structured reviews, editorial comparisons, and expert-authored blogs. Roughly 38% of citations come from blogs, 23% from news, and 9% from review aggregators. 

What it wants: Fact-heavy content with clear structure and niche authority.
What it avoids: Light takes or overly generic product descriptions.

What to do:
Pitch articles or get listed on review-heavy platforms relevant to your industry. For SaaS, that could be G2 or Capterra. For finance, aim for NerdWallet or MoneyControl. 

Build deep, structured comparisons—even if hosted on your own blog—because Perplexity doesn’t mind citing well-executed vendor content when it meets editorial standards.

Google AI Overviews

AI Overviews draw from the widest range of sources, including blogs (46%), news (20%), forums such as Reddit (4%), and LinkedIn articles. It values deep internal pages—more than 80% of citations come from non-homepage URLs.

What it wants: Content that reflects user discussions, expertise, and specificity.
What it avoids: Thin content, homepages, or overly broad articles.

To rank in AI Overviews, structure every key page as a standalone resource. Utilize listicle blogs, FAQs, comparison pages, and quotes from contributors. Contribute to relevant Reddit threads. Repurpose blog content as expert posts on LinkedIn. 

Structure matters more than style here.

💡Learn more about: How to Get Brand Mentions in AI

Common factors that make content citation-worthy

Citations from generative AI models aren’t random. They follow patterns based on content quality, structure, authority, and experience—all core principles of Google’s E-E-A-T framework (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

If your content doesn’t demonstrate these characteristics, it won’t be cited by AI, regardless of how well it ranks in SERPs. Let’s break this down with depth, examples, and supporting research.

1. Domain authority and trust signals

Generative AI heavily prioritizes domains with a long-standing footprint of credibility across the web. This credibility includes backlinks from trusted domains, presence in top-tier publications, and brand mentions across neutral third-party sources.

Similarly, in early testing of Google’s AI Overviews, sites with high authority and structured internal pages were more likely to be featured, even if they weren’t in position #1. 

For example, if you search for “best summer travel destinations in Europe,” you’ll see that the AI overview and featured snippet results don’t mention the top-ranking pages from SERPs:

What this means for you:

• Get mentioned in trusted third-party publications (not just backlinks—mentions matter).
• Build citations from domains that AI already favors or industry-specific hubs.
• Use GEO tools (like Writesonic’s AI Traffic Tracker) to map which engines crawl which pages, then prioritize outreach to domains feeding those models.

2. Content depth, originality, and comprehensiveness

Generative engines cite content that provides complete, unique, and data-backed answers, especially if it aligns with user intent.

According to Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, high-quality content: “should be created with a high degree of effort, originality, talent, or skill and be accurate, comprehensive, and clearly communicate the topic.”

This trait is now showing up in AI citations. For example:

• Blogs that included original data or firsthand experience were cited more often by Perplexity and Gemini.
• ChatGPT favors pages that offer clear, neutral, and factually structured insights, particularly those that combine internal knowledge with verified external references.

What improves citation chances:

• Adding real examples, charts, or use-case scenarios not found elsewhere
• Writing content that covers a topic end-to-end (not just a sliver of the query)
• Including source attribution: linking to government databases, studies, or standards (e.g., linking to NIST or Gartner)

3. E-E-A-T: What it actually means—and why it matters

While E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor, it’s baked into Google’s AI training and increasingly mirrored by other LLMs.

E-E-A-T stands for:

• Experience: Have you personally used or tested what you’re writing about?
• Expertise: Are you (or the author) qualified to write about the topic?
• Authoritativeness: Is your domain recognized as a reliable source?
• Trustworthiness: Is your content accurate, well-sourced, and up to date?

Google has made it clear in their Helpful Content Update that AI systems favor high-quality content with E-E-A-T signals, whatever the creation method. So if your content is made purely just to rank, but lacks valuable insights for readers, traditional search engines, and even AI will not cite or rank it.

4. Structure that’s machine and human readable

AI search tools don’t just read content like humans do. They break down structure using headings, semantic HTML, and schema to understand what’s where. Incomplete or disorganized formatting makes it harder to extract useful answers.

In fact, Google has explicitly stated that:

“We use structured data to better understand the content on a page, which can help our systems surface your content in places like rich snippets and AI-powered features.”

Citation-ready structure includes:

• Logical heading hierarchy (H1 > H2 > H3)
• Clean sectioning (e.g., a clear “Pros & Cons” or “Comparison” block)
• Tables, charts, or visual elements with captions or summaries
• Embedded schema: especially FAQ, HowTo, and Review markup

In fact, 87% of top-ranking AI-featured content uses schema markup, and more than 72% of sites on Google’s first page search results use this form of structured data. 

💡You might also like: Will AI Replace Search Engines?

Strategies to get your brand cited by AI

As AI-driven search tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity become integral to how users discover information, ensuring your brand is cited by these platforms is crucial. This requires a multifaceted approach that combines authoritative content creation, strategic distribution, and technical optimization.

1. Establish and demonstrate topical authority

AI models prioritize content from sources that exhibit deep expertise and authority in their respective domains. To position your brand as a go-to resource:

• Publish comprehensive content: Develop in-depth articles, whitepapers, and case studies that thoroughly cover topics relevant to your industry.
• Cite credible sources: Reference reputable publications and studies to bolster the credibility of your content.
• Showcase expertise: Highlight the qualifications and experiences of content authors to reinforce authority and share personal insights and anecdotes to boost credibility. 

2. Leverage structured data and schema markup

Implementing structured data helps AI models better understand and index your content. Utilize schema markup to provide context about the purpose and structure of your content. 

Structured data is coded using in-page markup on the page to which the information applies. The structured data on the page describes the content of that page.

Even Google recommends incorporating schemas like Article, FAQ, Product, and HowTo to categorize content effectively, allowing search engines to crawl your web pages more efficiently.
In short, structured data can lead to rich snippets in search results, increasing the likelihood of AI citation.

3. Engage in thought leadership and PR initiatives

Building a strong online presence through thought leadership can increase your brand’s chances of being cited by AI models.

• Contribute to industry publications: Write articles or provide expert commentary for reputable industry websites and journals.
• Participate in interviews and webinars: Share insights on relevant topics to establish authority and reach wider audiences.
• Press releases: Announce significant company developments to attract media coverage and backlinks.
• Collaborate with industry experts and guest post opportunities: The more you collaborate with influencers, industry experts, or share thoughts through guest posting, the more you’ll leave a digital footprint that signals to AI search engines that you are a credible source. 

4. Optimize for conversational queries

AI models often process natural language queries. Tailoring your content to answer specific questions can enhance its visibility. You can do this by:

• Implementing FAQ sections: Address common questions related to your industry or products. Cover semantically related queries and questions mentioned in Google’s People Also Ask for a targeted approach.
• Using clear and concise language: Ensure your content is easily understandable and directly answers potential user queries. Provide direct answers immediately below headings and questions so AI can easily retrieve answers. Incorporate proper use of H2, H3 headings, diagrams, and lists. 
• Address long-tail queries: Long and conversational questions have higher chances of citing your content as they are niche and very specific. Creating detailed content specific to these questions helps you get cited by AI. 

By implementing these strategies, your brand can enhance its visibility and authority in the evolving landscape of AI-driven search.

Measure and track your AI citation success with Writesonic!

Getting cited by AI is no longer a nice bonus—it’s the new benchmark for content visibility. But here’s the truth most teams miss: you can’t improve what you don’t track.

Most marketers have no idea if ChatGPT is crawling their blog. Or if Gemini is pulling answers from their pricing page, or if Perplexity is completely skipping over their entire domain.

That’s where Writesonic’s GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Traffic Analytics tool changes the game.

It gives you clear, real-time visibility into how AI crawlers interact with your website. You’ll see:

• Your brand’s AI visibility percentage, sentiment score, and ranking position.
• A clear view of which prompts and topics your brand shows up in.
• Real-time insights into which platforms mention you, and how often.
• Competitor benchmarking across visibility, sentiment, and share of voice.

No more guessing if your content is citation-worthy. Now you’ll know exactly what’s attracting attention—and what needs work. It’s like having a Google Search Console, but for the AI web.

Whether you’re a content marketer trying to optimize thought leadership pieces, a founder writing product comparisons, or an SEO lead tracking performance, GEO puts you in control of your AI footprint.

Ready to see how visible your content really is in AI search?

Start tracking your AI visibility with Writesonic.