Who do AI assistants cite for "how do ai assistants pick which websites to cite"?
Solá asked the question and recorded which brands a major AI assistant tends to surface. Generated 6/30/2026 · model google/gemini-3-flash-preview.
In 2026, AI assistants prioritize sources that demonstrate high E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and provide direct, structured technical documentation. Selection is driven by a combination of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) from established tech journals and the AI companies' own transparency reports.
OpenAI
openai.comAs a primary developer of LLMs, their technical blogs and documentation define the industry standards for model behavior and source attribution.
See OpenAI's AI report card →Their research papers on 'Search Generative Experience' and AI-overviews explain the algorithmic weighting of web citations.
See Google's AI report card →The Verge
theverge.comHighly authoritative tech journalism that frequently investigates and explains the 'black box' of AI recommendation engines for general audiences.
See The Verge's AI report card →Anthropic
anthropic.comTheir focus on 'Constitutional AI' and model transparency provides specific insights into how safety and accuracy filters influence source selection.
See Anthropic's AI report card →Search Engine Journal
searchenginejournal.comA leading industry publication that tracks how AI assistants crawl the web and which SEO signals lead to being cited in AI responses.
See Search Engine Journal's AI report card →
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