When people ask Gemini "Is [brand] good?", 21.3% of its sourced answers cite the website of one of that brand's competitors. Across ChatGPT and Gemini, 11% of answers about what a brand is and whether it is good cite a rival's site, and 46% of "Is it good?" answers leave out the brand's own website.
Analysis of 5,460 sourced AI answers about 500 brands · answers from ChatGPT and Gemini, September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.Gemini cites a competitor's website in 21.3% of its answers to "Is [brand] good?", twice ChatGPT's 10.4%.
- 2.11% of ChatGPT and Gemini answers to "Is [brand] good?" and "What is [brand]?" cite a competitor's website, 16.5% on Gemini against 6.8% on ChatGPT.
- 3.AI answers to "Is [brand] good?" cite the brand's own website 53.7% of the time, against 79.8% for "What is [brand]?".
- 4.33.3% of ChatGPT answers to "What are the best alternatives to [brand]?" cite a competitor's website, against 20.3% of Gemini answers.
- 5.AI answers about insurance brands cite a competitor's website 24.5% of the time, the highest of 16 industries, against 2.3% for plumbing brands.
Summary
A buyer close to a decision types "Is [brand] good?" into Gemini. The answer arrives with a list of sources, and in one case in five one of them is a competitor's website. The brand being asked about has handed part of its most important sales conversation to someone else.
"Is it good?" and "What are the alternatives?" are the questions people ask just before they buy or switch. The sources an AI engine cites shape its answer and are the links the buyer clicks next. If those sources belong to a competitor, the competitor frames the comparison.
It happens often. Gemini cites a competitor's website in 21.3% of its answers to "Is [brand] good?" and ChatGPT in 10.4%. Across both engines and both everyday questions, 11% of answers about a brand cite a rival, about one in nine.
What we measured
In September 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Gemini three questions about each of 500 brands, twice each: "Is [brand] good?", "What is [brand]?" and "What are the best alternatives to [brand]?". 5,460 of the answers cited sources, 3,523 of them for the first two questions. For each, we checked whether a source was the website of another brand in the same industry, and whether the brand's own website was cited.
A competitor is another of the 500 brands in the same industry, so a bank's competitors are other banks on the list. A sourced answer is one that shows at least one source link. The industry figures cover the 16 industries with at least 100 sourced answers to the first two questions.
Evaluation questions send buyers to rivals
The evaluation question draws far more competitor sources than the simple description. On Gemini, 21.3% of "Is [brand] good?" answers cite a rival against 8.5% of "What is [brand]?" answers. On ChatGPT the rates are 10.4% and 3.2%, more than three times higher for the evaluation question.
The brand's own website loses ground at the same moment. AI answers cite it in 79.8% of "What is [brand]?" answers but in 53.7% of "Is [brand] good?" answers, so 46% of answers to the question buyers ask before they purchase do not use the brand's own site at all. For "What are the best alternatives to [brand]?", the brand's own site is cited 21% of the time.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 5,460 sourced AI answers about 500 brands · answers from ChatGPT and Gemini, September 2026
One AI answer about a brand in nine cites a rival
Across the two everyday questions, 11% of sourced answers cite a competitor's website. Gemini does it more than twice as often as ChatGPT: 16.5% of its answers against 6.8%. For "alternatives" questions the order flips, and ChatGPT cites a competitor in 33.3% of answers against 20.3% for Gemini.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 5,460 sourced AI answers about 500 brands · answers from ChatGPT and Gemini, September 2026
| Question | ChatGPT | Gemini |
|---|---|---|
| What is [brand]? | 3.2% | 8.5% |
| Is [brand] good? | 10.4% | 21.3% |
| Best alternatives to [brand]? | 33.3% | 20.3% |
A third of ChatGPT's answers about switching send the reader to a rival's own website. That is the point where a customer is most open to leaving, and the competitor's page is the one doing the persuading.
Insurance and home security brands are most exposed
The risk varies sharply by industry. AI answers about insurance brands cite a competitor 24.5% of the time, about one in four, followed by home security at 20%, banking and loans at 16.5%, mortgage at 16.1% and accounting at 16%. These are industries where buyers compare providers side by side before they sign.
| Industry | AI answers citing a competitor's website |
|---|---|
| Insurance | 24.5% |
| Home Security | 20% |
| Banking and Loans | 16.5% |
| Mortgage | 16.1% |
| Accounting | 16% |
| HVAC | 13% |
| Weddings | 12.7% |
| Dental | 9.9% |
| IT Services | 8% |
| Auto Dealers | 7.5% |
| Real Estate | 7.3% |
| Home Remodeling | 6.7% |
| Moving Companies | 6.2% |
| Personal Injury Law | 2.8% |
| Solar | 2.4% |
| Plumbing | 2.3% |
At the other end, answers about plumbing, solar and personal injury law brands cite a competitor less than 3% of the time, and no answers about roofing, plastic surgery, senior care or SaaS brands cite another brand on the list. In these local and specialist industries, AI engines rarely send a reader to a rival.
What this means for brand and content teams
Ask ChatGPT and Gemini "Is [your brand] good?" and "What are the best alternatives to [your brand]?", and read the sources. If a competitor's comparison page appears, publish a clear, honest page of your own that answers the same question: pricing, what customers say, who you suit best and how you compare. A brand with no such page leaves the answer to whoever wrote one.
Then own the switching question. A fair "alternatives to" or comparison page that includes your brand gives AI engines a source for the moment a customer considers leaving, a question where ChatGPT cites a rival's website a third of the time. If you are in insurance, home security or finance, treat this as urgent. As an ai seo company, Suff Digital builds comparison and answer pages designed to be cited by AI engines.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-answers-cite-competitor-sites">Ask Gemini if a Brand Is Good and 21.3% of Answers Cite a Competitor's Website - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). Ask Gemini if a Brand Is Good and 21.3% of Answers Cite a Competitor's Website. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-answers-cite-competitor-sites
Ask Gemini if a Brand Is Good and 21.3% of Answers Cite a Competitor's Website - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-answers-cite-competitor-sites
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