Websites registered more than 20 years ago collect 79.8% of the citations ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode give out, four in every five. Young sites still get in: 8.7% of cited websites are less than two years old, but together they collect 1.45% of AI citations.
Analysis of 7,609 AI-cited websites with a public registration date · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.79.8% of AI citations from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode go to websites registered more than 20 years ago, though those sites are 46.9% of the websites AI engines cite.
- 2.8.7% of the websites AI engines cite are less than two years old, and together they collect 1.45% of AI citations.
- 3.A website over 20 years old receives 57 AI citations on average, against 6 for a website less than two years old, nine times as many.
- 4.The median website cited by AI engines is 18.5 years old, and 15.2% of cited websites are less than five years old.
- 5.The most-cited young website, cuddlesandcarriages.com, earned 120 AI citations at 1.8 years old.
Summary
A founder launches a new site, publishes a set of careful guides and waits for ChatGPT to start citing them. A few citations arrive. Meanwhile the same questions keep sending most of their citations to sites that have been online since the early 2000s: publishers, government agencies, forums and brands with two decades of history.
How much a domain's age matters is a practical question for anyone starting a business, launching a content site or deciding whether to move to a new web address. A new domain starts with no history, no links and no track record, and the question is how far that holds it back in AI answers.
The answer is: less than you might fear for getting in, and a great deal for getting cited often. Websites registered more than 20 years ago collect 79.8% of AI citations. Websites less than two years old make up 8.7% of cited sites, one in eleven, but collect 1.45% of citations. The median cited website is 18.5 years old.
What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode 5,417 questions from a US location and recorded every website their answers cited. We took the 10,000 websites cited most often and looked up when each domain was first registered in the public domain records; 7,609 had a registration date. For each, we calculated its age on September 23, 2026 and counted the AI citations it received across all answers.
A domain's age is the time since its web address was first registered. A young website is one registered less than two years before collection, after September 23, 2024. We grouped websites by age and compared each group's share of cited websites with its share of AI citations. The median is the middle website: half are older, half younger.
Old domains collect four in five AI citations
Websites over 20 years old make up 46.9% of the sites AI engines cite, but they collect 79.8% of the citations. Each step up in age brings more citations per site: a website under two years old averages 6 AI citations, one aged 10 to 20 years averages 18, and one over 20 years averages 57, nine times the youngest group.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 7,609 AI-cited websites with a public registration date · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, September 2026
| Domain age | Share of cited websites | Share of AI citations | AI citations per website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 years | 8.7% | 1.45% | 6 |
| 2 to 5 years | 6.5% | 1.6% | 8 |
| 5 to 10 years | 12.8% | 3.3% | 9 |
| 10 to 20 years | 25.1% | 13.8% | 18 |
| Over 20 years | 46.9% | 79.8% | 57 |
Age is a stand-in for everything a domain accumulates over time: links from other sites, a body of content, a brand people search for and a track record search engines trust. The oldest group includes the web's giants, but the pattern runs through every band. The longer a domain has existed, the more citations each site tends to earn.
Young websites get in but collect few citations
New websites are not shut out. 8.7% of cited websites, 663 domains, were registered less than two years before collection, and 15.2% are less than five years old. An AI engine will cite a young site when that site has the answer to the question.
What young sites lack is volume. Together the under-two-year group collects 1.45% of AI citations, about six each. For a new business, that means the first citations are achievable, but the heavy, repeated citation that brings real traffic builds over years as the site earns links, mentions and a reputation.
The young sites that break through
The most-cited young website, cuddlesandcarriages.com, earned 120 AI citations at 1.8 years old. The next nine each earned between 47 and 88, and every one of the ten has a low authority score, under 300 out of 1,000: small, focused sites rather than new arms of big brands.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 7,609 AI-cited websites with a public registration date · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, September 2026
None of these sites had years of links behind them, and several were less than a year old. They earned dozens of AI citations each on the strength of their pages alone, before their second birthday.
What this means for new businesses and publishers
A new domain is not disqualified from AI answers. Start narrow: pick one topic, cover it in more depth than anyone else, and build pages that answer specific questions with real detail. The young sites that break through are specialists, not generalists.
Expect a slow build. Older domains collect far more citations per site, so plan for AI visibility to grow over years, not weeks, and invest early in the links and mentions that age brings with it. If you are considering a rebrand or relaunch, weigh the history an established domain carries before moving to a new one; redirecting the old address to the new one preserves much of it.
Working with an ai seo company like Suff Digital helps new and established brands plan content that earns AI citations at every stage.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/new-websites-ai-citations">Old Domains Win AI Search: Websites Over 20 Years Old Collect 79.8% of AI Citations - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). Old Domains Win AI Search: Websites Over 20 Years Old Collect 79.8% of AI Citations. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/new-websites-ai-citations
Old Domains Win AI Search: Websites Over 20 Years Old Collect 79.8% of AI Citations - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/new-websites-ai-citations
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