44.9% of the Websites AI Engines Cite Are Small, Low-Authority Sites

    44.9% of the 10,000 websites ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode cite most often are low-authority sites, and together they collect 10.1% of all AI citations. Being cited does not take a famous domain, though the biggest sites still win the most: the top 3.6% by authority take 34.7% of citations.

    Share of cited websites by authority score
    0 to 99
    9.3%
    100 to 199
    12.9%
    200 to 299
    22.7%
    300 to 399
    25%
    400 to 499
    17.9%
    500 to 599
    8.7%
    600+
    3.6%

    Source: Suff Digital analysis of the 10,000 most-cited websites and 348,925 AI citations · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, September 2026

    AI citations by low-authority website
    babygearlab.com
    345
    smokedbbqsource.com
    163
    bodyspec.com
    134
    hostingstep.com
    132
    thebarbecuelab.com
    96

    Source: Suff Digital analysis of the 10,000 most-cited websites and 348,925 AI citations · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, September 2026

    Source: 44.9% of the Websites AI Engines Cite Are Small, Low-Authority Sites - Suff Digital