Zerply Research
Research reports
Findings on how AI engines cite sources, search the web, and talk about brands.
August 2026
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Do AI engines recommend brands or just mention them?
AI engines mention brands but do not recommend them: 0% of mentions were recommendations, 0% were praise, and 71% were neutral. That holds across 1,365 brand mentions in August 2026.
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Which sites does ChatGPT cite most?
ChatGPT cites google.com more than any other site, with 8.6% of citations (5,871 citations). The August 2026 sample covers 4,207 responses and 68,519 total citations.
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How many sources do AI engines cite per answer?
AI engines cite 11.2 sources per answer on average, with Perplexity citing the most at 20.16 and Google AI Overviews citing the fewest at 5.92. The figures come from 10,193 AI answers collected in August 2026.
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How often does ChatGPT search the web before answering?
ChatGPT searches the web before answering 32.8% of the time, far less often than its main rivals. In August 2026, that share comes from 19,491 tracked responses across four AI engines.
July 2026
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Do AI engines recommend brands or just mention them?
AI engines do not recommend brands: 0% of brand mentions carried a recommendation in AI-generated answers, and 51.8% were neutral. The finding draws on 600 brand mentions captured during July 2026.
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Which sites does ChatGPT cite most?
Reddit accounts for 87.6% of citations when ChatGPT references well-known publishers. The finding covers July 2026 and is based on 607 AI responses.
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How many sources do AI engines cite per answer?
AI engines cite an average of 14.62 sources per answer. In July 2026, across 6,481 responses from three AI engines, the number varied sharply by platform.
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How often does ChatGPT search the web before answering?
ChatGPT searched the web before 87.8% of its answers in July 2026. The analysis covers 9,320 responses across four AI engines tracked during the month.