What AI assistants cite: mostly earned media.

Short answer: AI assistants mostly cite what others write, not what companies pay for or announce. In Muck Rack's analysis of more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, about 84% came from earned media and 27% were journalism; press releases were 1.1%.¹ At the same time, people click less: when Google showed an AI summary, users clicked a regular result in 8% of visits, against 15% without one.² Being covered in respected outlets is how you get into the answers.

What AI reads: earned media

Muck Rack submitted prompts to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini and analyzed more than 25 million links in their answers. About 99% of the cited links came from non-paid media, about 84% from earned media, and about 27% were journalistic. Press releases made up 1.1%.¹

Recency matters too: among cited journalism with a known date, 57% had been published in the previous 12 months.¹

Each assistant cites differently

ChatGPT includes citations in 96% of its responses, with about five sources each. Gemini cites in 82%, with about eight. Claude is the most selective: only 55% of its responses include citations, but when it cites, it averages 13 sources, more than twice ChatGPT's.¹

The assistants also favor different outlets. No outlet ranks in the top five for all three, and only Forbes is in the top five for more than one: first for Gemini and fifth for ChatGPT.¹

Fewer clicks when the answer is on the page

Pew Research Center tracked the browsing of 900 US adults who searched Google in March 2025. 18% of their searches showed an AI summary. When one appeared, people clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when it didn't. They clicked a link inside the summary in just 1% of visits, and they ended their browsing on 26% of pages with a summary, against 16% without.²

The sources Google's summaries cited most were Wikipedia, YouTube and Reddit, the same as in regular results, and 6% of the links in AI summaries went to .gov websites.²

More people ask AI for news

In the Reuters Institute's 2026 survey of 48 markets, weekly use of AI chatbots for news rose from 7% to 10%, and to 16% among people under 35. Among those users, 42% say they always or often click through to the source.³

What it means if you want AI to mention you

• Get written about, not just published. AI assistants cite earned media and journalism far more than company announcements. A press release alone is rarely what they cite.
• Keep it recent. Most cited journalism is less than a year old. One article from three years ago does less than steady coverage.
• Be in more than one outlet. Each assistant favors different outlets, so coverage in several respected publications reaches more of them.
• Make the facts clear. Summaries repeat plain facts. Articles that state what you do, for whom and with what results are easier to quote.

We also check every week what Claude and Gemini answer when someone asks for a PR firm; the questions never mention us by name.

Questions

Sources

1. What Is AI Reading? (May 2026), Muck Rack.
2. Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, Pew Research Center.
3. Digital News Report 2026: Executive Summary, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

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