What Drives AI Citations? Data from 129,000 Domains
SE Ranking analyzed 129,000 domains to find what actually makes ChatGPT cite a source. The results challenge common assumptions—and reveal that authority matters more than content tricks.
The Study: 129,000 Domains Analyzed
SE Ranking's 2025 study is the largest analysis of ChatGPT citation patterns to date. The researchers examined what characteristics correlate with being cited by AI assistants.
Why this matters: Most AEO advice is based on assumptions or small-sample observations. This study provides actual data on what works—and what doesn't.
Key finding: Authority signals (referring domains, traffic) predict AI citations far more than content optimization tactics like FAQ schema.
Top Factor: Referring Domains
Backlinks emerged as the strongest predictor of AI citations. Sites with more referring domains are dramatically more likely to be cited.
| Referring Domains | Avg. Citations | Citation Likelihood |
|---|---|---|
| 350,000+ | 8.4 citations | Highest |
| 32,000+ | ~5-6 citations | 3.5x more likely |
| <2,500 | 1.6-1.8 citations | Baseline |
The implication: Link building isn't just for SEO. Sites with strong backlink profiles—built through PR, guest posting, and creating linkable content—also perform better in AI search.
This makes sense: AI models are trained on web data, and backlinks have always been a signal of authority and trustworthiness. The models learned these patterns.
Content Freshness: The 10-Month Window
AI heavily favors recent content. The data is striking:
95%
of ChatGPT citations come from content published in the last 10 months
Source: AirOps 2025 Study
The "Last Updated" Timestamp Effect
Pages with a visible "last updated" or "last modified" timestamp receive 1.8x more citations than pages without one. This is a quick win: add a timestamp and keep it current.
Insight: Ahrefs research found AI cites content that's 25.7% fresher than what Google surfaces in SERPs. Freshness matters even more for AI than for traditional search.
What About FAQ Schema? (The Myth Busted)
Many AEO guides recommend FAQ schema as a key tactic. The data tells a different story.
SE Ranking finding:
3.6
Avg. citations WITH FAQ schema
4.2
Avg. citations WITHOUT FAQ schema
Pages without FAQ schema received more citations. Why?
The researchers note that FAQ schema often appears on simpler support pages—product FAQs, help center articles—that naturally earn fewer citations than in-depth content. The schema itself isn't hurting citations; it's just correlated with lower-authority page types.
Takeaway: FAQ schema helps AI understand your content structure, but it's not a citation-boosting hack. Focus on the fundamentals: authority, freshness, and content quality.
Traffic, Length, and Page Speed
Several other factors showed strong correlations with citation rates:
| Factor | High Performers | Low Performers |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Traffic | 10M+ visitors = 8.5 citations | Low traffic = ~2 citations |
| Content Length | 2,900+ words = 5.1 citations | <800 words = 3.2 citations |
| Page Speed (FCP) | <0.4s = 6.7 citations | >1.13s = 2.1 citations |
Page speed likely matters because AI crawlers have timeouts. Slow pages may not fully load before the crawler moves on. Faster pages = more content captured = higher citation potential.
The 80% Disconnect: AI Citations vs Google Rankings
Perhaps the most striking finding: AI citations and Google rankings don't overlap as much as you'd expect.
Seer Interactive found a 0.65 correlation between organic rankings and LLM mentions—positive, but not strong. Ranking #1 on Google doesn't guarantee AI citations. Being cited by AI doesn't require ranking on Google.
The implication: AEO requires dedicated optimization. You can't assume SEO success translates to AI visibility. For the full comparison, see our AEO vs SEO guide.
What Actually Works: Summary
High Impact
- + Build referring domains (backlinks)
- + Keep content fresh (update within 10 months)
- + Add "last updated" timestamps
- + Improve page speed (FCP <0.4s)
- + Write comprehensive content (2,000+ words)
Overhyped
- - FAQ schema as a "citation hack"
- - Assuming SEO = AEO success
- - Short, thin content
- - Set-and-forget evergreen content
Related Articles
FAQ
Referring domains (backlinks) is the strongest predictor. SE Ranking's study of 129,000 domains found sites with 32K+ referring domains are 3.5x more likely to be cited by ChatGPT than sites with fewer backlinks.
Contrary to popular belief, no. SE Ranking found pages WITHOUT FAQ schema received more citations (4.2 average) than pages WITH FAQ schema (3.6 average). FAQ pages often appear on simpler support pages that naturally earn fewer citations.
Very fresh. 95% of ChatGPT citations come from content published in the last 10 months. Pages with a visible "last updated" timestamp receive 1.8x more citations than pages without one.
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