Register now to get the actionable AEO framework and trend analysis your team needs to drive visibility and performance in AI-first search.
As SERP features continue to grow and dominate the space above organic, what searchers see and click has changed significantly.
Register now to get the practical, channel-by-channel playbook every small business owner needs to show up confidently in AI search, Google, social, and reviews.
Get the quiz link sent straight to your inbox within minutes & start executing your personalized SEO or AIO action plan.
Register now to access a data-backed, enterprise-tested measurement framework you can apply immediately to your AI search reporting.
A new report compares Google rankings with citations from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, showing different overlap patterns.
Large language models cite sources differently than Google ranks them.
Search Atlas, an SEO software company, compared citations from OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s Gemini, and Perplexity against Google search results.
The analysis of 18,377 matched queries finds a gap between traditional search visibility and AI platform citations.
Here’s an overview of the key differences Search Atlas found.
Perplexity performs live web retrieval, so you would expect its citations to look more like search results. The study supports that.
Across the dataset, Perplexity showed a median domain overlap of around 25–30% with Google results. Median URL overlap was close to 20%. In total, Perplexity shared 18,549 domains with Google, representing about 43% of the domains it cited.
ChatGPT showed much lower overlap with Google. Its median domain overlap stayed around 10–15%. The model shared 1,503 domains with Google, accounting for about 21% of its cited domains. URL matches typically remained below 10%.
Gemini behaved less consistently. Some responses had almost no overlap with search results. Others lined up more closely. Overall, Gemini shared just 160 domains with Google, representing about 4% of the domains that appeared in Google’s results, even though those domains made up 28% of Gemini’s citations.
Ranking in Google doesn’t guarantee LLM citations. This report suggests the systems draw from the web in different ways.
Perplexity’s architecture actively searches the web and its citation patterns more closely track traditional search rankings. If your site already ranks well in Google, you are more likely to see similar visibility in Perplexity answers.
ChatGPT and Gemini rely more on pre-trained knowledge and selective retrieval. They cite a narrower set of sources and are less tied to current rankings. URL-level matches with Google are low for both.
The dataset heavily favored Perplexity. It accounted for 89% of matched queries, with OpenAI at 8% and Gemini at 3%.
Researchers matched queries using semantic similarity scoring. Paired queries expressed similar information needs but were not identical user searches. The threshold was 82% similarity using OpenAI’s embedding model.
The two-month window provides a recent snapshot only. Longer timeframes would be needed to see whether the same overlap patterns hold over time.
For retrieval-based systems like Perplexity, traditional SEO signals and overall domain strength are likely to matter more for visibility.
For reasoning-focused models like ChatGPT and Gemini, those signals may have less direct influence on which sources appear in answers.
Featured Image: Ascannio/Shutterstock
See short video versions of news stories on YouTube and TikTok. Matt G. Southern is the Senior News Writer at …
Join 75,000+ Digital Leaders.
Learn how to connect search, AI, and PPC into one unstoppable strategy.
Join 75,000+ Digital Leaders.
Learn how to connect search, AI, and PPC into one unstoppable strategy.
Join 75,000+ Digital Leaders.
Learn how to connect search, AI, and PPC into one unstoppable strategy.
In a world ruled by algorithms, SEJ brings timely, relevant information for SEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs to optimize and grow their businesses — and careers.
Copyright © 2026 Search Engine Journal. All rights reserved. Published by Alpha Brand Media.