Last updated: October 2026

AI search engines and AI shopping agents do not cite the same sources. Azoma, the Agentic Commerce Optimization platform, tracks citations daily across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Alexa for Shopping and Walmart Sparky on commerce and category prompts, the questions buyers ask before they purchase. Every figure below comes from the Azoma platform, Azoma client data or a primary company disclosure, with the period it covers next to it.

GEO Statistics: Key Takeaways

• Azoma analysed more than 38 million citations across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Alexa for Shopping and Walmart Sparky (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Earned media ranges from 7.6% of citations on Google AI Overviews to 51.9% on Google Gemini (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content accounts for 39.6% of Alexa for Shopping citations and under 2% on every other engine (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• ChatGPT’s earned media share fell from 45.2% to 22.5% of citations between July and September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites rose from 1.7% to 21.5% of ChatGPT citations over the same period (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Visitors from ChatGPT converted at 14%, against 3% for Google search traffic, across dozens of Azoma client accounts (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

AI shopping agent adoption statistics

• Amazon’s Rufus was used by more than 300 million customers in 2025 (Amazon Q4 2025 results, February 2026). sec

• Rufus helped deliver nearly $12 billion in incremental annualised sales in 2025 (Amazon Q4 2025 results, February 2026). sec

• Customers using Rufus during a shopping trip were 60% more likely to complete a purchase (Amazon Q3 2025 earnings call, October 2025). mlq

• Rufus monthly users were up 140% year on year, with interactions up 210% (Amazon Q3 2025 earnings call, October 2025). mlq

• Amazon renamed Rufus to Alexa for Shopping on 13 May 2026, bringing Rufus and Alexa+ together into a single AI shopping experience (Amazon, May 2026). globenewswire

• Roughly half of Walmart’s app users have used Sparky, Walmart’s AI shopping assistant (Walmart Q4 FY26 earnings call, February 2026). modernretail

• Walmart customers using Sparky had an order value about 35% higher than those who did not (Walmart Q4 FY26 earnings call, February 2026). modernretail

• Sparky’s weekly active users increased by over 110% quarter on quarter (Walmart Q1 FY27 earnings call, May 2026). talkbusiness

• Units sold via Sparky increased four times year on year (Walmart Q1 FY27 earnings call, May 2026). talkbusiness

• The number of customers using Sparky was up 70% year on year (Walmart Q2 FY27 earnings call, August 2026). Yahoo Finance

• Customers who use Sparky for shopping spend 40% more per order (Walmart Q2 FY27 earnings call, August 2026). Yahoo Finance

• ChatGPT reached 900 million weekly active users, up from 800 million in October 2025 (OpenAI, via TechCrunch, February 2026). TechCrunch

• OpenAI counted 50 million paying ChatGPT subscribers (OpenAI, via TechCrunch, February 2026). TechCrunch

AI search citation statistics by engine

• Retailer content ranges from under 1% of citations on Alexa for Shopping to 39.2% on Google AI Overviews (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content is effectively zero on three of the five engines Azoma measured (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites carry over a fifth of citations on Walmart Sparky (21.6%) and ChatGPT (21.5%) (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites account for under 1% of Alexa for Shopping citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content accounts for 12.2% of Google AI Overviews citations, 3.0% on Gemini and 0.5% on ChatGPT (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

ChatpGPT citation statistics

• Institutional and primary sources make up 37.2% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Earned media accounts for 22.5% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites account for 21.5% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Retailer sources contribute 17.5% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content makes up 0.5% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content registers 0.0% of ChatGPT citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• No single domain accounts for more than 2.4% of ChatGPT citations, making it the least concentrated engine Azoma measured (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

ChatpGPT citation changes in 2026

• ChatGPT’s earned media share fell from 45.2% in July 2026 to 30.5% in August and 22.5% in September (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites rose from 1.7% of ChatGPT citations in July 2026 to 8.3% in August and 21.5% in September (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• That is a twelvefold rise in brand-operated sites’ share of ChatGPT citations in one quarter (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• Retailer sources rose from 10.4% to 17.5% of ChatGPT citations between July and September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content fell from 19.1% to 0.5% of ChatGPT citations between July and September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• YouTube’s share of ChatGPT citations fell 97%, from 2.380% to 0.076% (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• Wikipedia’s share of ChatGPT citations fell 96%, from 1.423% to 0.055% (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• Instagram’s share of ChatGPT citations fell 96%, from 0.547% to 0.023% (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• Reddit’s share of ChatGPT citations fell 91%, from 1.742% to 0.164% (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• LinkedIn’s share of ChatGPT citations fell 91%, from 0.688% to 0.064% (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• merriam-webster.com and dictionary.cambridge.org both dropped out of ChatGPT’s top 100 cited sources (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

• The shift happened as a single step between the July and August 2026 measurement windows, with no gradual build-up across the quarter (Azoma, September 2026).

ChatpGPT citation changes in 2026

• Wikipedia accounted for 43% of ChatGPT citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Reddit accounted for 12% of ChatGPT citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• YouTube accounted for 5% of ChatGPT citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Reddit led Google AI Overviews citations on general queries at 20% (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• YouTube accounted for 19% of Google AI Overviews citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Quora accounted for 14% of Google AI Overviews citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• LinkedIn accounted for 10% of Google AI Overviews citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Wikipedia accounted for 7% of Google AI Overviews citations on general queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• On commerce queries, Wikipedia’s share of ChatGPT citations dropped to 22% (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Amazon accounted for 19% of ChatGPT citations on commerce queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• Reddit accounted for 15% of ChatGPT citations on commerce queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

• YouTube accounted for 2% of ChatGPT citations on commerce queries (Azoma, August 2025). azoma

Google Gemini citation statistics

• Earned media accounts for 51.9% of Google Gemini citations, more than half of everything it cites (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Retailer sources account for 15.5% of Gemini citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites account for 12.6% of Gemini citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Institutional sources account for 11.2% of Gemini citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content accounts for 3.0% of Gemini citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Gemini’s earned media share rose from 35.5% in July 2026 to 51.9% in September, the opposite direction to ChatGPT (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Reddit held steady at 0.859% to 0.913% of Gemini citations between July and September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• YouTube rose from 0.195% to 0.432% of Gemini citations between July and September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

Google AI Overviews citation statistics

• Retailer sources account for 39.2% of Google AI Overviews citations, roughly twice ChatGPT’s weighting (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content accounts for 12.2% of AI Overviews citations, around twenty times ChatGPT’s rate (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites account for 11.8% of AI Overviews citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Earned media accounts for 7.6% of AI Overviews citations, roughly a seventh of Gemini’s weighting (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Institutional sources account for 3.6% of AI Overviews citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content accounts for 0.2% of AI Overviews citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

Alexa for Shopping citation statistics

Alexa for Shopping is Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, previously branded Amazon Rufus.

• Earned media accounts for 48.0% of Alexa for Shopping citations (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content accounts for 39.6% of Alexa for Shopping citations, the highest of any engine Azoma measured (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Earned media and affiliate content together made up 87.6% of Alexa for Shopping citations in every month from July to September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites and retailer sources each stayed under 2% of Alexa for Shopping citations from July to September 2026 (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Alexa for Shopping cites almost nothing from retail domains, including Amazon’s own (Azoma, September 2026). azoma

• Alexa for Shopping cited none of YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn or Wikipedia across three months, with more than 250,000 citations in its heaviest month (Azoma, July to September 2026). azoma

Walmart Sparky citation statistics

• Retailer sources account for 34.9% of Walmart Sparky citations (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• Brand-operated sites account for 21.6% of Sparky citations, the highest share of any engine Azoma measured (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• Earned media accounts for 16.6% of Sparky citations (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• Institutional sources account for 10.1% of Sparky citations (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• Social and user-generated content accounts for 6.8% of Sparky citations (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• Affiliate content accounts for 1.8% of Sparky citations (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

• No single source category exceeds 35% of Sparky citations, the most balanced profile of the five engines Azoma measured (Azoma, August 2026). azoma

AI search citation statistics by industry

The figures below combine ChatGPT, Gemini and Alexa for Shopping for each industry.

• Earned media accounts for 47% of AI citations in beauty (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Retailer sources account for 30% of AI citations in beauty (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• User-generated content accounts for 13% of AI citations in beauty (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Brand-operated sites account for 10% of AI citations in beauty (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Earned media accounts for 67.6% of AI citations in wellness, the highest of any industry measured (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Retailer sources account for 14% of AI citations in wellness (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Brand-operated sites account for 13% of AI citations in wellness (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• User-generated content accounts for 6% of AI citations in wellness (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Retailer sources account for 50.5% of AI citations in food, the highest of any industry measured (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Earned media accounts for 30% of AI citations in food (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• User-generated content accounts for 14% of AI citations in food (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Brand-operated sites account for 6% of AI citations in food (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

ChatGPT shopping and buy link statistics

• ChatGPT’s shopping module activates on approximately 14% of queries (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Walmart is consistently the top buy-link destination in ChatGPT, across tens of millions of collected ChatGPT responses (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

• Target is the second most common buy-link destination in ChatGPT (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, Q2 2026).

Product data statistics for AI shopping agents

• A single SKU on a global retailer can easily require more than 600 unique attribute values to be considered complete across its top retail surfaces (Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute, June 2026).

AI search conversation rate statistics

• Visitors from ChatGPT converted at 14% across dozens of Azoma client accounts (Azoma, GA4 data, June 2025). azoma

• Visitors from Perplexity converted at 11.2% (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

• Visitors from Gemini converted at 5.8% (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

• Visitors from Claude converted at 5.2% (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

• Visitors from traditional Google search converted at 3% (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

• Visitors from ChatGPT were nearly five times more likely to convert than visitors from Google search (Azoma, June 2025). azoma

AI visibility results: Azoma customer statistics

• Mars saw a 17.7% increase in agentic shelf visibility and a 68% year-on-year SKU revenue uplift with Azoma (Azoma case study,).

• Winn-Dixie’s visibility score in ChatGPT increased 500% over its pilot with Azoma (Azoma case study, 2025). azoma

• Winn-Dixie’s share of mentions rose 32% when AI platforms recommended grocery stores (Azoma case study, 2025). azoma

• Azoma analysed more than 3 million prompts to understand how Winn-Dixie’s target personas talk to AI about groceries (Azoma case study, 2025). azoma

• David Protein’s AI share of voice grew 3.3x in three months, from 2.9% to 9.6% (Azoma case study, July 2025). azoma

• David Protein’s visibility on protein-to-calorie queries rose 64%, from 40% to 66% of AI responses (Azoma case study, July 2025). azoma

• David Protein’s Amazon Best Seller Rank in protein bars moved from #400 to #15 (Azoma case study, July 2025).

• LifePro Fitness moved its Amazon Best Sellers Rank from #7 to #2 by optimising its product pages for Amazon’s AI shopping assistant (Azoma case study). azoma

• A portfolio of Amazon brands including Yogii and Deer & Oak increased its share of mentions from Amazon’s AI shopping assistant 5x on average (Azoma customer testimonial, azoma.ai, October 2026).

• Listing content Azoma generated for that portfolio increased conversion by 32% in Amazon split-testing (Azoma customer testimonial, azoma.ai, October 2026).

• Ruroc increased its site traffic from ChatGPT 14x with Azoma (Azoma customer testimonial, azoma.ai, October 2026).

• Ruroc is consistently the most recommended ski and snowboard helmet brand by ChatGPT across multiple markets (Azoma customer testimonial, azoma.ai, October 2026).

Methodology

Figures come from Azoma platform citation data across commerce client dashboards. Category shares are calculated across each engine’s top-cited domains, with every domain classified by source type. Platform-level figures (YouTube, Reddit and similar) are calculated against each engine’s full citation volume. “Brand-operated sites” combines brand-operated and competitor-operated manufacturer domains. September 2026 covers a 14-day window, and Walmart Sparky figures are August 2026. Azoma’s prompt set is weighted toward commerce and category queries, so results differ from studies built on general or informational queries. Conversion rates come from Google Analytics 4 data across dozens of Azoma client accounts, published June 2025. Industry, buy link and product data figures come from The 5 C’s of Agentic Commerce, co-authored by Azoma and the Digital Shelf Institute and published June 2026, based on Azoma’s analysis of millions of shopping agent citations in Q2 2026. Third-party statistics come from primary company disclosures, such as earnings calls, results releases and official announcements, and each is attributed and dated.