{
  "kind": "answer",
  "studySlug": "citation-sources",
  "slug": "which-sources-dominate-ai-citations",
  "title": "Which sources dominate AI citations?",
  "description": "YouTube leads the current Trakkr index with 2.75% of citation appearances, followed by google.com at 1.56% and Reddit at 1.50%. Together, the top three account for 5.82%.",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-10-14",
  "lastTested": "2026-10-14",
  "sourceStudyUrl": "/trakkr-research/citation-sources",
  "sourceStudyTitle": "AI Citation Index",
  "claimIds": [
    "citation-sources:youtube-share",
    "citation-sources:google-share",
    "citation-sources:top-three-share",
    "citation-sources:total-citations"
  ],
  "relatedSlugs": [
    "answer:how-concentrated-is-the-ai-citation-landscape",
    "answer:does-ai-rely-more-on-reference-sites-than-the-open-web",
    "fact:youtube-leads-the-current-citation-index",
    "tracker:source-category-share-tracker"
  ],
  "methodologySummary": "Built from 80,769,585 citation appearances across 725,777 unique domains in the latest valid snapshot for 1,928 tracked brands, observed from October 3, 2025 to October 14, 2026.",
  "limitations": [
    "The index is a changing panel of tracked brands and prompts, not a random sample of all AI responses.",
    "Domain share is observational. It does not establish causal influence or reveal the full retrieval set.",
    "The hand-maintained source taxonomy is partial: 88.40% of citation appearances remain in “other”.",
    "Model attribution, response-level citation denominators, geography, raw prompts, and raw responses are not retained in the public aggregate."
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "AI citations",
    "citation sources",
    "AI source preferences",
    "domain authority in AI",
    "dominant AI sources",
    "top AI citation sources"
  ],
  "schemaHints": {
    "pageType": "Article",
    "includeDataset": true
  },
  "question": "Which sources dominate AI citations?",
  "directAnswer": "YouTube leads the current Trakkr index with 2.75% of citation appearances, followed by google.com at 1.56% and Reddit at 1.50%. Together, the top three account for 5.82%.",
  "answerSummary": "The head is visible, but no single domain dominates the tracked panel. The current index spans more than 700,000 domains.",
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "YouTube share",
      "value": "2.75%",
      "detail": "youtube.com ranks first with 2,222,347 citation appearances.",
      "claimId": "citation-sources:youtube-share"
    },
    {
      "label": "google.com share",
      "value": "1.56%",
      "detail": "google.com ranks second with 1,261,575 citation appearances.",
      "claimId": "citation-sources:google-share"
    },
    {
      "label": "Top three domain share",
      "value": "5.82%",
      "detail": "YouTube, google.com, and Reddit together account for 5.82%.",
      "claimId": "citation-sources:top-three-share"
    },
    {
      "label": "Citation appearances",
      "value": "80.8M",
      "detail": "80,769,585 appearances in the verified October 14, 2026 snapshot.",
      "claimId": "citation-sources:total-citations"
    }
  ],
  "evidenceTable": [
    {
      "label": "YouTube share",
      "value": "2.75%",
      "note": "youtube.com ranks first with 2,222,347 citation appearances."
    },
    {
      "label": "google.com share",
      "value": "1.56%",
      "note": "google.com ranks second with 1,261,575 citation appearances."
    },
    {
      "label": "Top three domain share",
      "value": "5.82%",
      "note": "YouTube, google.com, and Reddit together account for 5.82%."
    },
    {
      "label": "Citation appearances",
      "value": "80.8M",
      "note": "80,769,585 appearances in the verified October 14, 2026 snapshot."
    }
  ],
  "whyItMatters": "This answer matters because it turns a study finding into an operating rule teams can use when they decide what to publish, refresh, or measure next.",
  "whatToDo": [
    "Audit the domains that already dominate your category and decide which ones are realistic citation targets.",
    "Build source-worthy pages for the query shapes where AI is already citing third parties.",
    "Treat reference, review, and social sources as part of your AI visibility surface, not as noise."
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "question": "Which sources dominate AI citations?",
      "answer": "YouTube leads the current Trakkr index with 2.75% of citation appearances, followed by google.com at 1.56% and Reddit at 1.50%. Together, the top three account for 5.82%."
    },
    {
      "question": "Which numbers from AI Citation Index matter most here?",
      "answer": "YouTube share: 2.75%. youtube.com ranks first with 2,222,347 citation appearances. google.com share: 1.56%. google.com ranks second with 1,261,575 citation appearances."
    },
    {
      "question": "What should a team do next?",
      "answer": "Audit the domains that already dominate your category and decide which ones are realistic citation targets. Build source-worthy pages for the query shapes where AI is already citing third parties. Treat reference, review, and social sources as part of your AI visibility surface, not as noise."
    }
  ]
}