Business websites accounted for nearly 60% of Gemini’s citations in local AI search, according to a new study. Steady Demand’s analysis of 14,472 citations from 1,487 local search queries across 50 U.S. metro areas also found that identical searches often produced different AI recommendations.
Business websites beat directories. Nearly 60% of Gemini’s citations pointed directly to businesses’ own websites. That was more than the combined total for directories, review platforms, and forums.
- Reddit ranked second, accounting for 13.7% of citations. It outperformed the entire local-service directory category, including Angi, Thumbtack, and HomeAdvisor.
AI answers weren’t repeatable. The report’s biggest finding was what Steady Demand co-founder Ben Fisher called “Grounding Drift.”
- Repeating the same Gemini query produced overlapping cited sources only about 40% of the time.
- In a control test, Google’s local pack returned the same top listing about 90% of the time.
- Gemini recommended the same top business only about 7% of the time.
- Fisher said a single AI search should be treated as a snapshot, not a reliable measure of long-term visibility.
ChatGPT cited different sources. The same 1,487 local search queries were also run through ChatGPT:
- Both AI platforms cited many of the same domains only 8% of the time. They recommended the same top business just 4.2% of the time.
- Gemini mainly cited business websites, while ChatGPT relied much more on Reddit and business directories.
Why we care. Never assume success in one AI engine will carry over to another. Gemini and ChatGPT rarely cited the same sources or recommended the same businesses. Monitoring only one platform could give you a misleading picture of your AI visibility.
About the data. Steady Demand analyzed 14,472 citations from 1,487 Gemini local search queries across 50 of the largest U.S. metro areas and 10 service categories. The researchers also repeated the same queries in ChatGPT to compare citation patterns across AI platforms.
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Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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