Business websites dominate Gemini local AI search citations: Study
Business websites accounted for nearly 60% of Gemini’s citations in local AI search, according to a new study. Steady Demand’s analysis of 14,472 citations from 1,487 local search queries across 50 U.S. metro areas also found that identical searches often produced different AI recommendations.
Business websites beat directories. Nearly 60% of Gemini’s citations pointed directly to businesses’ own websites. That was more than the combined total for directories, review platforms, and forums.
- Reddit ranked second, accounting for 13.7% of citations. It outperformed the entire local-service directory category, including Angi, Thumbtack, and HomeAdvisor.
AI answers weren’t repeatable. The report’s biggest finding was what Steady Demand co-founder Ben Fisher called “Grounding Drift.”
- Repeating the same Gemini query produced overlapping cited sources only about 40% of the time.
- In a control test, Google’s local pack returned the same top listing about 90% of the time.
- Gemini recommended the same top business only about 7% of the time.
- Fisher said a single AI search should be treated as a snapshot, not a reliable measure of long-term visibility.
ChatGPT cited different sources. The same 1,487 local search queries were also run through ChatGPT:
- Both AI platforms cited many of the same domains only 8% of the time. They recommended the same top business just 4.2% of the time.
- Gemini mainly cited business websites, while ChatGPT relied much more on Reddit and business directories.
Why we care. Never assume success in one AI engine will carry over to another. Gemini and ChatGPT rarely cited the same sources or recommended the same businesses. Monitoring only one platform could give you a misleading picture of your AI visibility.
About the data. Steady Demand analyzed 14,472 citations from 1,487 Gemini local search queries across 50 of the largest U.S. metro areas and 10 service categories. The researchers also repeated the same queries in ChatGPT to compare citation patterns across AI platforms.
