---
title: "AI Home Improvement Answers: Gemini Cites No Source in 82.2%"
url: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions
description: "AI home improvement answers: Gemini cites no source for 82.2% of questions, against 2.2% for ChatGPT, and energy.gov is the top cited site. See the data."
lang: en
---
Share
Share on X: https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suffdigital.com%2Fresources%2Fdata-studies%2Fai-sources-home-improvement-questions&text=Gemini%20Gives%20No%20Source%20in%2082.2%25%20of%20Home%20Improvement%20Answers%20vs%202.2%25%20for%20ChatGPT
Share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suffdigital.com%2Fresources%2Fdata-studies%2Fai-sources-home-improvement-questions
Share on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suffdigital.com%2Fresources%2Fdata-studies%2Fai-sources-home-improvement-questions
Share on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suffdigital.com%2Fresources%2Fdata-studies%2Fai-sources-home-improvement-questions&title=Gemini%20Gives%20No%20Source%20in%2082.2%25%20of%20Home%20Improvement%20Answers%20vs%202.2%25%20for%20ChatGPT
Gemini answers **82.2%** of home improvement questions without citing a single source, against 2.2% for ChatGPT. When AI answers do cite, government agencies and universities dominate: energy.gov leads, and government and university websites take 39.2% of all citations.
Analysis of 1,600 AI answers to 400 home improvement questions · ChatGPT and Gemini, September 2026
## Key Findings
1. 1. Gemini answers **82.2%** of home improvement questions without citing any source, against 2.2% for ChatGPT. Copy stat
2. 2. energy.gov is the most-cited website in AI answers to home improvement questions, appearing in **11.8%** of ChatGPT and Gemini answers that cite a source. Copy stat
3. 3. Government and university websites take **39.2%** of the citations in AI answers to home improvement questions, the second-highest share of 12 industries and almost level with the 40.3% for all companies. Copy stat
4. 4. Seven state universities rank in the top 15 websites cited in AI answers to home improvement questions, led by Iowa State at **6.5%** of sourced answers. Copy stat
5. 5. When Gemini does cite a source for a home improvement question, its top choice is reddit.com, in **14.1%** of its sourced answers. Copy stat
## Summary
A homeowner asks an AI assistant whether to insulate the attic before winter or when to plant a new lawn. On ChatGPT, the sources listed under the answer look like a reading list from a land-grant university: the Department of Energy, the EPA, Iowa State, NC State. On Gemini, more than eight times in ten there are no sources at all.
Contractors, retailers and home publishers compete for citations alongside those sources. A citation is the link an AI answer shows as its evidence, and it is one of the few ways an answer sends a reader to a website. If the answer has no citation, no website gets the visit, however much of its advice the answer repeats.
Gemini cites no source in **82.2%** of home improvement answers, against 2.2% for ChatGPT. When answers do cite, energy.gov leads at 11.8%, and government and university websites take 39.2% of citations, nearly as much as every company, retailer and manufacturer combined.
## What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Gemini 400 home improvement questions, each twice, as part of a wider study of AI sources across 12 industries. That gave 1,600 answers, 924 of which cited at least one source, and 874 different websites were cited across them.
A website's share is the percentage of sourced answers that cite it at least once, counting all pages from the same site together. We also sorted every citation by the kind of website behind it: government and education (.gov, .edu and .mil addresses), nonprofits and associations (.org), media and reference publishers, user-generated sites such as forums, social media and video platforms, and companies and other commercial websites. The same measures were taken for the other 11 industries.
## Gemini rarely shows its sources
82.2%
of Gemini's answers to home improvement questions cite no source at all.
Gemini cites a source in 17.8% of home improvement answers. Only recipe questions, at 82.6%, go unsourced on Gemini more often. ChatGPT cites a source in 97.8% of home improvement answers and lists 2.8 websites on average, more than in most industries. Across both engines, 42.2% of home improvement answers cite nothing, almost all of them from Gemini.
ChatGPT
Answers with no source
2.2%
Share of sourced answers citing it
13.6%
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 1,600 AI answers to 400 home improvement questions · ChatGPT and Gemini, September 2026
| Measure | ChatGPT | Gemini |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Answers with no source | 2.2% | 82.2% |
| Websites per sourced answer | 2.8 | 3.6 |
| Most-cited website | energy.gov | reddit.com |
| Share of sourced answers citing it | 13.6% | 14.1% |
The few Gemini answers that do cite lean on crowd and reference sites: Reddit leads at 14.1% of its sourced answers and Wikipedia follows at 11.3%. ChatGPT's leader is energy.gov at 13.6%, and the university sites that fill its list barely appear on Gemini. A home improvement business has two very different engines to plan for: one that credits experts and one that mostly credits no one.
## Universities and energy agencies top the source list
11.8%
of sourced AI answers to home improvement questions cite energy.gov.
After the Department of Energy come openstax.org (8.4%), the free textbook library run by Rice University, and the EPA (6.6%). Then comes a run of state universities: Iowa State (6.5%), NC State (6.3%), Minnesota (5.2%), Maryland (4.4%), Florida (3.9%), Penn State (3.7%) and Clemson (3.1%). Most are land-grant schools whose extension services publish practical guides on lawns, gardens, pests, insulation and home energy, and extension.org itself ranks 14th at 3.6%.
All answers by rank
1
11.8%
2
8.4%
3
6.6%
4
6.5%
5
6.3%
6
6.1%
7
5.2%
8
4.7%
9
4.4%
10
4.3%
11
3.9%
12
3.8%
13
3.7%
14
3.6%
15
3.1%
| Rank | Website | All answers | ChatGPT | Gemini |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | energy.gov | 11.8% | 13.6% | 2.1% |
| 2 | openstax.org | 8.4% | 10% | 0% |
| 3 | epa.gov | 6.6% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
| 4 | iastate.edu | 6.5% | 7.7% | 0% |
| 5 | ncsu.edu | 6.3% | 7.4% | 0% |
| 6 | wikipedia.org | 6.1% | 5.1% | 11.3% |
| 7 | umn.edu | 5.2% | 6.1% | 0% |
| 8 | eia.gov | 4.7% | 5.4% | 0.7% |
| 9 | umd.edu | 4.4% | 5.2% | 0% |
| 10 | rhs.org.uk | 4.3% | 4.5% | 3.5% |
| 11 | ufl.edu | 3.9% | 4.5% | 0.7% |
| 12 | usgs.gov | 3.8% | 4.5% | 0% |
| 13 | psu.edu | 3.7% | 4.3% | 0% |
| 14 | extension.org | 3.6% | 4.2% | 0% |
| 15 | clemson.edu | 3.1% | 3.6% | 0.7% |
Government and university websites take 39.2% of home improvement citations, almost level with the 40.3% for companies and other commercial websites, and second only to fitness among the 12 industries. The one manufacturer in the top 25 is the HVAC maker Carrier, at 1.9%. No website reaches one sourced answer in eight, so the list is spread across hundreds of sites and open to a specialist that answers a question well.
## How home improvement compares with other industries
Home improvement ranks 2nd of 12 industries for government and university citations. User-generated content, meaning forums, social media and video, takes 1.6% of home improvement citations.
Share of sourced answers by industry
Legal
14.7%
Health
32.3%
Money
13.8%
Real estate
27.2%
Home improvement
11.8%
Travel
13.2%
Cars
6.7%
Software
24.3%
College
13.1%
Fitness
41.5%
Pets
18.4%
Recipes
37.5%
| Industry | Top source | Share of sourced answers | Government and university share | User-generated share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Legal | americanbar.org | 14.7% | 20.6% | 3.8% |
| Health | nih.gov | 32.3% | 36.2% | 0.6% |
| Money | irs.gov | 13.8% | 30.2% | 1.7% |
| Real estate | consumerfinance.gov | 27.2% | 26.9% | 1.6% |
| Home improvement | energy.gov | 11.8% | 39.2% | 1.6% |
| Travel | delta.com | 13.2% | 8.1% | 2.8% |
| Cars | consumerreports.org | 6.7% | 11.4% | 2.9% |
| Software | apple.com | 24.3% | 4.7% | 3.2% |
| College | consumerfinance.gov | 13.1% | 32.1% | 2.1% |
| Fitness | nih.gov | 41.5% | 45.5% | 0.2% |
| Pets | vcahospitals.com | 18.4% | 10.1% | 3.1% |
| Recipes | usda.gov | 37.5% | 31.8% | 2.1% |
The pattern is unusual for a consumer category. In travel and software, companies take three quarters of citations; in home improvement, a question about a furnace, a lawn or a leaky basement is answered first from government research and university guides, and the businesses that do the work come second.
## What this means for contractors and home brands
Your pages are cited alongside university guides and the Department of Energy, not just the contractor down the road, so build pages that complement them. The extension guides explain the principle; your pages can add the cost of the job in your area, the local code or permit rules, the products you install and why, and photos of real projects. Cite the energy.gov or university guide you agree with, then add the detail only a working contractor knows.
Plan for Gemini separately. It names no source in more than eight of ten home improvement answers, so what counts there is being named in the answer: a consistent business name, service area and specialty across your website, Google Business Profile and directories. Our seo for contractors (https://www.suffdigital.com/seo/seo-for-contractors) programs build the cost, code and project pages that AI answers can cite.
## Embed this research
Paste this on your site to embed the charts. It links back to the source automatically.
Source: Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT - Suff Digital
## Cite this study
APA
Suff Digital. (2026). Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions
Plain link
Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions
## Frequently asked questions
### Does AI cite sources for home improvement questions?
### What website does AI cite most for home improvement questions?
### Do AI engines cite universities for home improvement questions?
### Do ChatGPT and Gemini use the same sources for home improvement questions?
### How much of AI's home improvement sourcing is user-generated content?
## Related studies
- AI SEO Companies Get 76.2% of AI Citations for Travel Questions vs 8.1% for Government Sites: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-travel-questions
- AI SEO Reddit Is Gemini's Top Source for Car Questions at 14.7% vs 0.3% on ChatGPT: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-car-questions
- AI SEO The Most Academic AI: Perplexity Cites Universities and Government Sites in 58% of Answers: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-government-university-citations
- AI SEO Gemini Answers 77.1% of Health Questions Without Citing a Source vs 2.4% for ChatGPT: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-health-questions
## Structured data
```json
[
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#organization",
"name": "Suff Digital",
"alternateName": "Suff Digital Marketing",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#logo",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/logo.png",
"contentUrl": "https://www.suffdigital.com/logo.png",
"caption": "Suff Digital"
},
"image": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#logo"
},
"description": "Suff Digital is a full-stack digital marketing agency that turns websites into predictable revenue engines, SEO, paid media, content, CRO, and web design built around revenue, not vanity metrics.",
"slogan": "Digital marketing built for what's next.",
"email": "hello@suffdigital.com",
"telephone": "+1-629-236-0099",
"foundingDate": "2022",
"founder": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Matt Suffoletto",
"jobTitle": "Founder & CEO"
},
"contactPoint": [
{
"@type": "ContactPoint",
"telephone": "+1-629-236-0099",
"email": "hello@suffdigital.com",
"contactType": "sales",
"areaServed": "US",
"availableLanguage": [
"en"
]
}
],
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"addressLocality": "Nashville",
"addressRegion": "TN",
"postalCode": "37219",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"areaServed": {
"@type": "Country",
"name": "United States"
},
"sameAs": [
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/suff-digital/",
"https://www.instagram.com/suffdigital/",
"https://www.youtube.com/@suffdigitalmarketing",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@suffdigital"
],
"knowsAbout": [
"Search Engine Optimization",
"Pay-Per-Click Advertising",
"Paid Social Advertising",
"Conversion Rate Optimization",
"Web Design",
"Digital PR",
"Link Building",
"Website Migration",
"Website Maintenance and Support",
"Technical SEO",
"Local SEO",
"AI Search Optimization"
],
"hasOfferCatalog": {
"@type": "OfferCatalog",
"name": "Suff Digital Services",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/ppc"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Paid Social Advertising",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/paid-social"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/cro"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Web Design",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/web-design"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Digital PR & Link Building",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/digital-pr"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Website Migration",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/website-migration"
}
},
{
"@type": "Offer",
"itemOffered": {
"@type": "Service",
"name": "Website Maintenance & Support",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/services/website-maintenance"
}
}
]
}
},
{
"@type": "WebSite",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#website",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/",
"name": "Suff Digital",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#organization"
}
}
]
},
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Article",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions#article",
"headline": "Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT",
"description": "Gemini answers 82.2% of home improvement questions without citing a single source, against 2.2% for ChatGPT. When AI answers do cite, government agencies and universities dominate: energy.gov leads, and government and university websites take 39.2% of all citations.",
"image": [
"https://www.suffdigital.com/images/suff-digital-share-16x9.jpg"
],
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions",
"datePublished": "2026-09-24",
"dateModified": "2026-09-24",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Matt Suffoletto",
"jobTitle": "Founder & CEO",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/who-we-are"
},
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#organization"
},
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions",
"@type": "WebPage"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#website"
}
},
{
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions#breadcrumb",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 1,
"name": "Home",
"item": "https://www.suffdigital.com/"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 2,
"name": "Resources",
"item": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 3,
"name": "Data Studies",
"item": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies"
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 4,
"name": "Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT"
}
]
},
{
"@type": "Dataset",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions#dataset",
"name": "Gemini Gives No Source in 82.2% of Home Improvement Answers vs 2.2% for ChatGPT",
"description": "Gemini answers 82.2% of home improvement questions without citing a single source, against 2.2% for ChatGPT. When AI answers do cite, government agencies and universities dominate: energy.gov leads, and government and university websites take 39.2% of all citations.",
"url": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions",
"creator": {
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/#organization"
},
"datePublished": "2026-09-24",
"dateModified": "2026-09-24",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"isAccessibleForFree": true,
"measurementTechnique": "ChatGPT and Gemini answers"
},
{
"@type": "FAQPage",
"@id": "https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-home-improvement-questions#faq",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Does AI cite sources for home improvement questions?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "ChatGPT almost always does, citing a source in 97.8% of home improvement answers; Gemini answers 82.2% of home improvement questions with no source at all (September 2026)."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What website does AI cite most for home improvement questions?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "energy.gov, which appears in 11.8% of ChatGPT and Gemini answers to home improvement questions that cite a source, followed by openstax.org (8.4%) and epa.gov (6.6%)."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Do AI engines cite universities for home improvement questions?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Yes. Seven state universities rank in the top 15 websites cited in AI answers to home improvement questions, led by Iowa State (6.5%) and NC State (6.3%), and government and university websites take 39.2% of all citations."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Do ChatGPT and Gemini use the same sources for home improvement questions?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "No. ChatGPT's top home improvement source is energy.gov, at 13.6% of its sourced answers, while Gemini's is reddit.com, at 14.1%."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How much of AI's home improvement sourcing is user-generated content?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "1.6% of citations in AI answers to home improvement questions go to forums, social media, video and similar sites."
}
}
]
}
]
}
]
```