How AI Platforms Choose Their Sources and Why It Matters for Marketers

Philip Burns
9 minutes ago
3 min read

A groundbreaking study by Profound the AI visibility tool whom recently raised $20m, based on 30 million citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity (August 2024 to present), has revealed stark differences in how major AI platforms choose their sources.

AI search, visibility is no longer about backlinks or domain authority alone. It’s about being cited by the machines.

This isn't just a curious detail for SEO nerds, it’s a wake-up call for anyone who cares about where their brand appears when AI delivers an answer.

AI Platforms Are Not Built the Same

According to Profound's analysis:

ChatGPT pulls heavily from Wikipedia (47.9%) and Reddit (11.3%).

Google AI Overviews (GAIO) is more diversified: Reddit (21%), YouTube (18%), and Quora (11%) lead the pack.

Perplexity? Practically a Reddit machine. 46% of its top citations come from Reddit, followed by YouTube at 13%.

Source: Josh Blyskal, Profound

"Reddit citations are up +400% in ChatGPT over the last two weeks. Could the OpenAI x Reddit partnership finally be having an impact?" — Josh Blyskal, Profound

These insights flip the traditional content strategy on its head. Each platform has a unique logic to what it considers credible. Your playbook for ChatGPT won’t work for GAIO, and what works in Perplexity might fall flat elsewhere.

What the Experts Are Saying

The commentary from seasoned marketers and SEO leaders echoes the significance of this data:

“Very interesting. Even more interesting is that Reddit is present in all of them.” Robert (Josh) Smith, SEO Director

“Wikipedia is one page, Reddit is hundreds of threads on a topic.” Meela Imperato, Head of Marketing at Cofertility

“This is interesting and definitely changing my approach going forward.” Mikhil Mathew, Growth at SurveySparrow

“I wonder if this will impact how users value AI responses from different platforms?” Jonathan Metrick, CMO

These reactions validate the profound strategic implications: if AI platforms are this source-biased, your brand’s content footprint needs to meet each engine where it lives.

It’s Not About ‘Blue Links’ Anymore

As Noah Horner from Passionfruit put it: this marks a shift away from chasing traditional ‘blue link’ SERPs. AI engines don’t show a list of 10 links they summarize, pulling from the places they trust.

What’s surprising and empowering is how concentrated those sources are. In an age where brand discoverability is increasingly governed by machine logic, the smart marketer isn’t just optimizing for SEO.

They’re optimizing for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

And AEO isn’t about tricks. It’s about showing up where real content is being generated, discussed, and validated.

“Could this lead to users favoring answer platforms based on trust in the sources? It just might.” Jonathan Metrick

Strategic Takeaways

Reddit is a constant across all platforms. Whether you like it or not, user-generated conversation is influencing AI results.

Wikipedia still dominates ChatGPT—great for ‘what-is’ queries, but shallow for nuanced product comparisons.

YouTube appears prominently on GAIO and Perplexity, confirming the rise of video as a citation-worthy format.

Diversify your strategy. AEO isn’t one-size-fits-all—Reddit threads, YouTube tutorials, and Quora answers can all feed the machine differently.

Platforms like Profound are now essential to map where your brand appears—and how you can influence that.

“It would be even more valuable if these platforms diversified their source base. But an opportunity for those that can leverage this data.” Val Usov, Product Manager

Final Thoughts

Reddit is present in every top citation list. Not just in consumer searches—but across the board. This doesn’t mean you need to “be on Reddit.” It means you need to understand why Reddit ranks—and why machines trust it.

This isn’t about content hacks or AI prompt engineering. It’s a return to marketing fundamentals: be helpful, be visible, and be where your audience and AI is looking.

Thanks to the team at Profound for publishing this data. It’s changing how many of us think about search, visibility, and what really matters in 2025.

Want to explore your brand’s AEO footprint? Check out Profound’s full dataset and commentary here.