Hall

Are the publications that the PR agency is targeting frequently cited in ChatGPT?

In our data (we run an AI tracking platform), we see properties like Forbes, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, etc. all consistently cited in answers across most questions we've tracked.

OpenAI is on record with having media/license partnerships with media companies like Conde Nast, Alex Springer, Future Media, etc. who own these frequently cited properties.

I think unless you're getting coverage in these publications, it's worth tempering your expectations as it's clear ChatGPT skews towards citing from these publications. We haven't observed ChatGPT excluding citations that have been paid or sponsored.

Outside of getting mentions in these mainstream media publications, traditional outreach/PR for mentions in listicles and other articles that are written to target query fan-outs like "best x" (similar to traditional search) can drive citations in related questions.

It depends on the business. If you have a business where your customers are likely to be researching for solutions or the problem you're selling in AI platforms – there's definitely opportunity.

Will disclose, we're building tooling to help people understand their visibility in AI. We generally recommend to our customers that they focus on creating content that directly addresses people looking to buy or make a purchase decision. We've seen this content drive real conversions and value, not to same volume as traditional search but enough that it's worth investing more in.

If you're unsure if you're seeing results, check your referral traffic from AI platforms, and when someone enquiries about your business – just ask them how they heard about you.

This isn't really new - it's just the latest version of SEO gaming and astroturfing that's been happening forever. Brands have been manipulating online spaces for years: fake Amazon reviews, paid articles, advertorial, etc.

LLMs don't actually have opinions. They need to pull information from somewhere when you ask them for recommendations, so they're basically just fancy search engines.

Right now they're citing Reddit a lot, but that's probably temporary. As these models improve, they'll get better at finding quality sources across the web - review sites, blogs, niche communities, whatever.

AI companies have a pretty strong incentive to get this right. If ChatGPT keeps recommending crap, people will stop using it, and they'll improve it.

What industry / vertical are you in? Suggestions are going to vary if you're a consumer brand or selling B2B.

You can see what pages in analytics software like GA are getting referral clicks from AI platforms.

Seeing the exact questions someone asked in ChatGPT that resulted in your website showing up as a citation is not possible.

What you can do is use AI visibility tracking tools to create a set of questions where you might expect pages from your site to be cited. This will tell you if you're showing up for those questions, but won't tell you if a specific user who clicked through to your site asked any of those specific questions.