Google vs ChatGPT & AI Platforms Q1 2025: How LLMs Cite Information [Trends & Insights]

The shift from traditional search engines to AI-driven platforms transforms the way content is discovered, evaluated, and referenced. 

While various LLM platforms collectively handle approximately 37.5 million searches (or prompts) per day, platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews are increasingly taking centre stage in the search ecosystem. 

As these LLMs gain prominence, understanding how they cite information is crucial for content creators aiming to optimize their visibility.

What if your next piece of content can be cited as top-tier by ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity? Here’s how the data shows you can.

In this report, we'll dive into the citation patterns of major LLM platforms - Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity and discuss how these patterns can inform content strategy for 2025 and beyond.

Key Findings

Here are the key findings:

• Google AI Overviews adoption - AI Overviews now appear in 13.14% of all Google queries (U.S., desktop) as of March 2025. This marks a significant increase from January with 6.49%, indicating a growing trend in AI-generated search summaries. It cites Reddit (21%) and shows a more balanced distribution across social and video platforms.
• Zero-click results - Zero-click results have become increasingly widespread, with AI-generated snippets providing direct answers that do not require users to click through to external websites. This trend emphasizes the need to optimize content for featured snippets and other zero-click opportunities.
• Search intent shift - There is a noticeable shift in search intent, with users increasingly seeking conversational and contextual responses. AI-powered search platforms are adapting to these changes by delivering more relevant and personalized results based on user preferences and behavior.
• ChatGPT - The data and different tests show that ChatGPT primarily cites Wikipedia content (47.9%), with a distant second from Reddit (11.3%).
• Regional search behavior - Search engine usage varies across regions, with distinct options observed between the U.S. and Europe. Understanding these regional differences is crucial for businesses to adapt their strategies accordingly.
• Video is going strong - YouTube reached the top spot in the USA market and remained at number 1 in Europe. This suggests that users in both regions are increasingly using traditional search to reach video content, potentially for both informational and entertainment purposes. It could also point to Google promoting their own services more actively.
• Perplexity - Strong preference for community-generated content, with Reddit dominating at 46.7%.

Section 1: Citation Patterns of Major AI Platforms

As can be observed from the chart, in the US, the number of events occurring on AI platforms increased from 0.17% to 0.55% from the beginning of 2024 through the end of Q1 2025. 

Meanwhile, traditional search has seen a slight decline from 12.18% in 2024 to 10.55% through the end of Q1 2025, but it still retains a significantly greater share of overall user activity. 

On the other hand, ecommerce site activity experiences minor fluctuations month-on-month.

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When it comes to the EU and the UK, the fluctuations are a bit more significant. Traditional search dropped from 12.72% in 2024 to 10.25% through the end of Q1 2025.

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Unsurprisingly, AI usage in both the US and Europe increased from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, with ChatGPT being the most popular of the major AI platforms. 

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ChatGPT is clearly the leading AI tool in both markets, commanding the largest share in every month. 

However, there were also notable differences between the two regions.

Its dominance was slightly stronger in the EU & UK, where it consistently anchored around 30–35% of all users in later months.

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Search intent is diversifying, meaning that informational and navigational searches still prevail, but the rise of AI overviews and direct-to-platform behaviors may prompt a shift toward faster, more embedded discovery.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT - one of the leading conversational AIs, relies heavily on community-driven content and readily accessible sources. 

Based on current data by Tryprofound, nearly 48% of ChatGPT citations come from Wikipedia. It also draws cites from popular forums and discussion sites, such as Reddit (11.3%) and various media outlets like Forbes and TechRadar.

Key Statistics:

• Wikipedia: 47.9% of citations being shown within ChatGPT responses.
• Reddit: 11.3%
  Other notable sources: Forbes, G2, TechRadar, NerdWallet, etc.

Implications:

Based on the data, it's clear that maintaining a well-structured and accurate Wikipedia entry can directly impact your business citation rates from ChatGPT. 

Additionally, given the reliance on forum-style content like Reddit, engaging in discussions within relevant communities can increase the chances of your content or brand being referenced.

Google AI Overviews

Google’s AI-powered search tool, which uses features like Google AI Overviews, shows a more diverse distribution of citation sources. The major platforms cited by Google AI include:

• Reddit: 21%
• YouTube: 18.8%
• Quora: 14.3%
• LinkedIn: 13%
• Gartner: 7.1%
• Other sources: NerdWallet, Forbes, Wikipedia, etc.

This highlights Google's integration with its own ecosystem, including YouTube, as well as LinkedIn, demonstrating that content on these platforms is more likely to be referenced.

Implications:

For businesses aiming to boost AI visibility within Google AI Overviews, the focus should be on creating professional and community-focused content across Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn.

Additionally, YouTube videos that are informative and SEO-optimized have a higher chance of being referenced.

Perplexity

Perplexity, another AI search platform, favors community-driven sources, with a significant 46.7% of citations coming straight from Reddit. 

This AI platform also pulls data from YouTube (13.9%), Gartner (7%), Yelp (5.8%), and other content platforms.

Key Statistics:

• Reddit: 46.7%
• YouTube: 13.9%
• Gartner: 7%
• Yelp: 5.8%
  

Implications:

Perplexity’s citation pattern suggests that establishing a presence on community and review sites, such as Reddit and Yelp, can increase the likelihood of being referenced by this AI platform. 

To enhance their AI visibility within Perplexity, businesses should engage actively on these platforms.

Section 2: Strategic Implications for Businesses

In Q1 2025, a slight narrowing of the gap between regions happened, with informational searches in Europe increasing, and a greater proportion of US searches becoming navigational compared to Q1 2024.

Here’s how the user experience has changed during a single year, with the informational queries on Google dropping from 62.24% to 55.52% of searches, and “navigation to a particular website” growing from 21.74% to 29.67%:

What it means for you: 

Users are relying less on Google for general knowledge and more on AI platforms or other content sources (e.g. ChatGPT, YouTube, Reddit). On the other hand, more users are skipping the discovery phase and going directly to brands they already trust.

Advice to businesses:

• Don’t over-invest in generic blog content, as it’s becoming less discoverable.
• Put more focus on owned channels like email, community, and AI-optimized content platforms (e.g. ChatGPT plugins, structured data for LLMs).
• Use informational content strategically to build trust, but tie it closely to action (e.g. checklists, templates, calculators, product demos).‍
• Double down on brand building - Invest in awareness through PR, influencer partnerships, and social proof.‍
• Focus on performance content such as landing pages, case studies, testimonials, and comparison pages.‍
• Create high-intent content targeting decision-stage queries - With fewer people searching for general info, every click matters more.

Platform-Specific Strategies

To optimize content for AI platforms, it's essential to tailor strategies to the citation preferences of each platform. 

ChatGPT relies heavily on Wikipedia and forums, while Google AI Overview pulls from more professional content on platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Perplexity, on the other hand, has a strong focus on community-driven platforms like Reddit.

Here’s an example of how ZipTie.dev started generating traffic from ChatGPT cites coming from Reddit: 

But that’s not all.

Different sources are proving daily that not only does ChatGPT pull data from Reddit, but LLM platforms do it too.

Actionable Steps for Content Creators:

• For ChatGPT: Ensure your content is well-represented on Wikipedia and involved in community forums like Reddit.
• For Google AI: Focus on professional, informative content across LinkedIn and YouTube, as these platforms tend to yield more citations.
• For Perplexity: Participate actively in community-driven platforms like Reddit and Yelp to improve AI visibility.
  

Content Distribution

Diversifying content across various platforms increases the chances of AI citation. 

While some platforms like Google AI Overviews may favor professional content, others like ChatGPT and Perplexity benefit from content posted on forums and community-driven websites.

ChatGPT's website entry into the top 5 reflects the growing popularity of AI in the past year. (The chatgpt.com domain was launched in November 2024 - its previous URL openai.com sat at #14 in Q1 2024).

Regarding the UK and EU, chatgpt.com entered the top 5 in Q1 2025, up from openai.com’s position at #10 the previous year.

Since engaging with online communities is essential to increasing citation rates, strategically distributing content across multiple platforms can ensure a higher chance of citation.

To make this process seamless and easy to apply, check out our content distribution guide and start implementing it straight away.

Key Platforms for Distribution:

1. Reddit: Engage with targeted niche communities:

→ Identify 3–5 subreddits your audience frequents (e.g. r/smallbusiness, r/Shopify, r/MarketingAutomation).

→ Comment on top threads with helpful, non-promotional insights 2–3x a week.

→ Once you’ve built karma and trust, share a relevant link to your blog, tool, or case study in context - aim for a 90/10 ratio of value to promotion.

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2. YouTube: Optimize video content for SEO

→ Use tools like TubeBuddy or Keywordseverywhere to find long-tail keywords with low competition.

→ Include the primary keyword in the video title, description, and tags (e.g. “How to set up WooCommerce mockups [2025 Guide]”).

→ Add timestamps, a strong CTA in the first 30 seconds, and pin a comment linking to your landing page or offer.

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3. LinkedIn: Post professional, data-driven insights

→ Share weekly posts that follow this formula: Hook → Insight → Data Point → Takeaway (e.g. “80% of mockup tool users drop off before first export. Here’s how we fixed it…”).

→ Include native LinkedIn documents (PDF carousels), charts, or short videos to boost engagement.

→ Tag industry peers or clients and ask for their perspective to spark conversation.

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Section 3: Technical Considerations for AI Visibility

Top-Level Domain (TLD) Analysis

AI platforms, especially Google AI Overviews, have preferences for certain TLDs, such as .com and .org. 

Ensuring your content is hosted on reputable domains with high authority can improve citation chances.

Key Insights:

• Platforms like Google AI and Perplexity tend to favor content from domains with high authority, such as educational (.edu) and organizational (.org) sites.
• Content hosted on less authoritative domains might not perform as well in AI citation patterns.

Content Accessibility

Ensuring that your content is accessible to AI crawlers is paramount. 

Guys from getaiso run an experiment and proved that Schema Markup is pretty important when it comes to discovering and understanding your content by search engines, but also AI crawlers.

Here’s what they did in short:

Results?

What does this mean for you?

Use structured data, schema markup, and SEO best practices to make your content more digestible by AI platforms.

Best Practices:

• Use proper headers and structured data markup.
• Optimize for mobile, as AI crawlers tend to favor responsive sites.

Monitoring and Analytics

To track the effectiveness of your citation strategies, use analytics tools that can monitor AI citations. 

Recommended tools:

• Google Search Console - For monitoring visibility on Google and clicks to your website.
• Google Analytics - For tracking AI search clicks.
• Ahrefs - To track backlinks and mentions across the web.
• Atomic AI - For tracking AI search and Google visibility, organic and AI search clicks and conversions coming through these and other channels.

Tracking performance across different platforms will help fine-tune content strategies and optimize them accordingly.

Conclusion

The citation patterns of ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity are shaping how content is discovered in the AI-driven search. 

By understanding these citation patterns, you can tailor your strategies to enhance visibility across different platforms. 

As the AI search continues to evolve, staying adaptable and optimizing content for the citation preferences of major LLMs will be key to staying ahead in the digital age.

Key takeaways to keep in mind:

• ChatGPT - Focus on Wikipedia and community forums.
• Google AI - Prioritize SEO and content on YouTube and LinkedIn.
• Perplexity - Engage in Reddit and Yelp communities.
  

By embracing these trends, you can position your business for growth in 2025 and beyond.

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