# Which sites does an AI assistant cite? We asked it 200 business questions

Source: https://trynewsusa.com/ai-search-citation-study
Published by NewsUSA. Updated 2026-11-14.

> Short answer: We asked Claude, with web search on, 200 questions about local businesses and services and recorded the 975 citations in its answers. Local news sites were cited in 18% of answers: 35% when the question named a city, 1% when it did not. Businesses and other sites took the largest share of citations, 41%. Other AI tools were not tested.

## Key findings

- **975 citations to 817 different sites.** The median answer cited 5 sites; 1 of 200 cited none.
- **Businesses and other sites were cited most:** 41% of all citations, then directories, reviews and reference (22%), nonprofits and associations (15%), government and courts (11%), local news sites (6%), national news and magazines (3%), universities and schools (1%).
- **Local news sites were cited in 18% of answers**: 35% when the question named a city, 1% when it did not.
- **National news sites and magazines were cited in 14% of answers.** Any news site, local or national, appeared in 28%.
- **48 different local news sites were cited**, all but one of them in answers to questions that named a city.

![Bar chart of the sites an AI assistant cited in 200 answers: businesses and other sites 41%, directories, reviews and reference 22%, nonprofits and associations 15%, government and courts 11%, local news sites 6%, national news and magazines 3%, universities and schools 1%. Source: NewsUSA test, Claude with web search.](https://trynewsusa.com/charts/ai-search-cited-site-types.png)

![Bar chart: 35% of answers to questions naming a US city cited a local news site, against 1% of answers to general questions. Source: NewsUSA test, Claude with web search.](https://trynewsusa.com/charts/ai-search-local-news-cited.png)

## The sites cited most

| Site | Type | Answers citing it |
|---|---|---|
| yelp.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 19 |
| zillow.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 7 |
| redfin.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 6 |
| tripadvisor.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 6 |
| charitynavigator.org | Directories, reviews and reference | 5 |
| findhelp.org | Directories, reviews and reference | 5 |
| findlaw.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 5 |
| smartasset.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 5 |
| bbb.org | Directories, reviews and reference | 4 |
| chase.com | Businesses and other sites | 4 |
| consumer.ftc.gov | Government and courts | 4 |
| en.wikipedia.org | Directories, reviews and reference | 4 |
| irs.gov | Government and courts | 4 |
| aarp.org | Nonprofits and associations | 3 |
| adviserinfo.sec.gov | Government and courts | 3 |
| carfax.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 3 |
| cdc.gov | Government and courts | 3 |
| eventbrite.com | Directories, reviews and reference | 3 |
| experian.com | Businesses and other sites | 3 |
| give.org | Directories, reviews and reference | 3 |

The 20 sites cited in the most answers, out of 200. Every cited site is in the CSV below.

## By industry

| Industry | Answers | Sites cited per answer | Citing local news | Citing national news | Citing a directory or review site | Citing a government site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home services | 20 | 4.5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| Health care | 20 | 4.5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Personal finance | 20 | 4.8 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 8 |
| Nonprofits and giving | 20 | 5.5 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 7 |
| Legal | 20 | 4.2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 |
| Real estate and housing | 20 | 5.2 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 4 |
| Cars and auto repair | 20 | 4.7 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 10 |
| Food and restaurants | 20 | 4.2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| Travel and things to do | 20 | 5.7 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 3 |
| Education and child care | 20 | 5.2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 |

Each industry had 20 questions: 10 general and 10 naming a US city.

## The local news sites it cited

In order of how many answers cited them: kjrh.com (3), krqe.com (3), kvia.com (3), 6amcity.com (2), ktsm.com (2), newson6.com (2), postandcourier.com (2), timesfreepress.com (2), tulsaworld.com (2), wsav.com (2), abqjournal.com, arkansasbusiness.com, centralnebraskatoday.com, chalkbeat.org, charlestoncitypaper.com, contracosta.news, daytondailynews.com, elpasoinc.com, elpasomatters.org, gpb.org, kanw.org, kark.com, kcci.com, ketv.com, kfoxtv.com, kmuw.org, knoxfocus.com, knoxtntoday.com, koat.com, kob.com, ksl.com, ktul.com, littlevillagemag.com, mainebiz.biz, renothisweek.com, spectrumnews1.com, texastribune.org, themainewire.com, themercury.com, themountainpress.com, wbir.com, wdtn.com, weareiowa.com, whio.com, who13.com, wjcl.com, woodtv.com, wtoc.com. Answers about 16 of the 20 cities cited at least one.

National news sites and magazines cited: realestate.usnews.com (3), yahoo.com (3), axios.com (2), cnbc.com (2), consumerreports.org (2), health.usnews.com (2), kiplinger.com (2), money.usnews.com (2), travel.usnews.com (2), aol.com, asumag.com, businesstravelnews.com, ca.news.yahoo.com, edweek.org, hechingerreport.org, k12dive.com, law.usnews.com, npr.org, nytimes.com, qz.com, thehill.com, travelmarketnews.com.

## What it means for a business

This is NewsUSA's reading of the results.

- **Local questions pull in local sources.** When a question named a city, 35 of 100 answers cited a local news site, against 1 of 100 general answers. Government sites rose too, from 29 answers to 44.
- **Most citations go to companies' own sites and to directories.** Together they took 64% of citations. Being listed, described accurately and reviewed on those sites matters for questions that ask for a recommendation.
- **Coverage on other sites is one more page to find.** An AI tool can only cite pages that exist and that its search finds; this test does not show that any particular kind of page is preferred.
- **Results move.** This is one run of one assistant on one day. [How AI search tools pick their sources](https://trynewsusa.com/how-ai-search-picks-sources) covers what each company says about how its tool finds pages.

## Look up a question

Pick any of the 200 questions to see every site its answer cited, with the kind of site we counted it as. The same data is in the [question file (.csv)](https://trynewsusa.com/ai-search-citation-study-2026.csv).

## Month by month

We ask the same 200 questions again early each month and add a row here when at least 190 of them have an answer. The rest of this page reports the first run, on November 14, 2026.

| Month | Answers | Citing a local news site | Of questions naming a city | Citing a national news site | Median sites per answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | 200 | 18% | 35% | 14% | 5 |

Source: NewsUSA, the same 200 questions to Claude with web search each month.

## How we did it

1. We wrote 200 questions that people ask about local businesses and services: 20 in each of 10 industries (home services, health care, personal finance, nonprofits and giving, legal, real estate and housing, cars and auto repair, food and restaurants, travel and things to do, education and child care). Half are general ("How do I choose a roofing contractor?"); half name one of 20 mid-size US cities ("Are there new building permit rules in Des Moines, Iowa?").
2. Each question went once to Claude (claude-sonnet-5-5) through Anthropic's API, with its web search tool turned on (up to 4 searches per answer), on November 14, 2026. The prompt was: "You are helping a B2B buyer research this question. Search the web, then answer in under 200 words and name the specific companies, tools or pages you would point them to, with links." That wording asks for companies, tools and pages, which favors business and directory sites; a different prompt could cite news more or less often.
3. For each answer we recorded every site it cited: the sources attached to its sentences and any link written in the text. A site counts once per answer, by its domain.
4. We classified the sites by hand. Local news means a newspaper, local TV or radio station, or local digital news site; national news means national outlets and magazines. Directories, reviews and reference means listing, rating, comparison, booking and reference sites such as Yelp, Zillow, Charity Navigator and Wikipedia. Government sites end in .gov or belong to a public body or court; national trade publications count as national news. Other .org sites count as nonprofits and associations, and everything else as businesses and other sites.
5. We tested one AI assistant. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews and Copilot were not tested and may cite different sites.

## Use this data

The figures, the CSVs and the charts may be reused with a link to this page. [Every question and the sites cited (.csv)](https://trynewsusa.com/ai-search-citation-study-2026.csv) · [Every cited site with its type (.csv)](https://trynewsusa.com/ai-search-cited-sites-2026.csv) · [Chart figures (.csv)](https://trynewsusa.com/ai-search-citation-study-charts.csv).

## Cite this page

## Questions

### Do AI assistants cite local news?

Sometimes. In our test, Claude with web search cited a local news site in 18% of 200 answers: 35% when the question named a US city and 1% when it did not.

### Which sites does AI cite most for business questions?

In our test: yelp.com, zillow.com, redfin.com, tripadvisor.com, charitynavigator.org. By type, businesses and other sites took 41% of all citations.

### Does this apply to ChatGPT and Perplexity?

We did not test them; this test used Claude with web search. Each company's own account of how its tool finds pages is in [how AI search tools pick their sources](https://trynewsusa.com/how-ai-search-picks-sources).

### Can I use this data?

Yes. The CSVs and charts may be reused with a link to this page.

## How this page was made

Original data. Each of 200 questions was sent once to Claude (claude-sonnet-5-5) through Anthropic's API with web search on, on November 14, 2026; every cited domain was recorded and classified by hand. The questions, the prompt and every answer's cited sites are in the CSV on this page.