We Sorted 308 AI Citations by Format. Here's What Gets Cited.
An AEO content playbook from real answers: the page AI cites depends on the question, not just the engine.
An AEO content playbook from real answers: the page AI cites depends on the question, not just the engine.
Where the data comes from: answers to 24 buying questions collected on September 26, 2026 from OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and from Perplexity’s API, with the cited sources checked the next day.
- Medium post: We Sorted 308 AI Citations by Format. Here’s What Gets Cited.
- RankControl, an AI SEO and AEO platform
- Google Sites page: 308 AI citations, tagged by page type
308 citations tagged by page format
| Page format | Software questions | Services questions | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roundups and alternatives pages | 118 | 21 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Product or service pages | 14 | 45 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Explainers and how-to articles | 4 | 53 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Head-to-head comparisons | 10 | 12 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Review sites and marketplace listings | 11 | 0 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Official docs and government pages | 1 | 8 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| Pricing pages | 7 | 0 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
| That’s 167 citations for software questions and 141 for services | 167 | 141 | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API (with web search on) and Perplexity’s API, September 26, 2026 |
“Four more went to single-product reviews and other pages.”
Other numbers in the post
| Number | What the post says | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71% | “For software questions, roundups took 71% of the citations.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| about 70% and 15% | “For services, it flipped. Explainers and service pages took about 70%, and roundups only 15%.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| about half and 28% | “Roundups made up about half of Perplexity’s citations, against 28% of OpenAI’s.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| 85 of 118 | “Of the 118 roundups cited for software questions, 85 came from a company selling in that category.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| 7 of 308 | “Pricing pages earned only 7 of the 308 citations.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| 12 of 78 | “Comparisons were a small share overall, but a big one for OpenAI: 12 of its 78 citations.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| 38% | “Explainers took 38% of the services citations.” | Search Shift test, OpenAI’s API and Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| 13 and four | On Perplexity, “how do I choose a good accountant” drew 13 cited guides. Four came from accounting software companies: QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks and Sage. | Search Shift test, Perplexity’s API | September 26, 2026 |
| $25, $45 and $75 | “both Google’s AI Overview and Perplexity repeated $25, $45 and $75 without saying those were annual prices” | Help Scout pricing page, which “defaults to annual billing” | Not dated in the post |
| $30 and $25 | “The Help Scout answer cited its Shopify App Store listing, which showed the $30 monthly price for Standard. The pricing page showed the $25 annual price.” | Help Scout Shopify App Store listing and pricing page | Not dated in the post |
| the three overlapped surprisingly little | “ChatGPT seemed to favor sites that had covered one topic in depth. Perplexity pulled from a wider mix, forums and niche sites included, and leaned toward fresh pages. AI Overviews acted like Google with extra steps.” | A marketer’s post in r/DigitalMarketing | February (year not given in the post) |
The playbook: one format per question
| Buyer question type | Example question | Page to publish | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best option for a need | “best help desk for a small team” | an honest roundup or alternatives page | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| One option against another | “Help Scout vs Front” | a head-to-head comparison | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| Cost | “how much does Help Scout cost” | a pricing page with the billing period spelled out | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| Who can help me | “CPA for real estate investors in Denver” | a service page that names who you serve | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| How to do something | “how to choose an accountant” | an explainer that answers in the first paragraph | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| Is it any good | “is QuickBooks legit” | current review profiles and case studies | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
| Rules and requirements | “how to claim the R&D tax credit” | links to official sources, plus your own help docs | The post’s playbook, from the September 26, 2026 test |
- Reference: https://rankcontrol.github.io/images/native-009-aeo-content-playbook-info-t3-wm.jpg
- Reference: https://medium.com/@thesearchshift/we-sorted-308-ai-citations-by-format-heres-what-gets-cited-f9251c238f68
- Reference: https://rctrl.com
- Reference: https://sites.google.com/view/search-shift-notes/ai-citations-by-page-type
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