Original data · Citation tracker
What AI engines actually cite
A living record of which tools and sources ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity name for the query “best GEO tools 2026” — updated run over run. The point is the honesty: it's published in the open, my own site included.
2 runs3 enginesLatest: September 3, 2026
But on a branded query, the picture inverts
“who is Marco Diversi” on Perplexity (IT) cites marcodiversi.com first of 6 sources, and builds its description from this site’s own About page.
These are two different systems. Entity recognition — “who is X” — needs a canonical description, and your own site is the natural authority. Source citation — “what’s the best X” — is the engine choosing evidence from everyone writing on the topic, where being a known entity counts for nothing. Reporting a single “cited: yes/no” would misrepresent both.
How often each tool is named (September 3, 2026)
Across 3 engines, from the July 12, 2026 run — the one captured with per-engine tagging. The later run was recorded as a union only, so blending it in here would present an aggregate as a measurement.
Where the engines agreed — and didn't
1
named by all 3
Profound
4
named by 2
AthenaHQ, Peec, Scrunch, Semrush
7
named by just 1
Bluefish, BotRank, BrightEdge, Geoptie, Otterly, RankScope, Writesonic
More than half the tools appeared on only one engine's list — the AI "consensus" is far less settled than the confident tone implies.
What kind of source got cited
The cited sources this run: ismybrandinai.com, geoptie.com, developers.openai.com, help.openai.com, developers.google.com, otterly.ai, ahrefs.com, semrush.com. Note how many are vendor blogs ranking themselves — worth weighting down.
What changed between runs
Two dated runs, eight weeks apart, same prompts and engines. This compares the union of tools named — the one thing both runs record with equal confidence.
75%
of July’s tools were named again in September
10
new names entered in eight weeks
3
dropped out
- Persisted
- Peec AI, Geoptie, Profound, Otterly.AI, Semrush AI Toolkit, Writesonic, Bluefish AI, AthenaHQ, Scrunch AI
- Entered
- HubSpot AEO Grader, Gauge, Brandi AI, Goodie AI, Ahrefs Brand Radar, Rankscale, Trakkr.ai, SE Ranking, Brand24, BrandViz.AI
- Dropped
- BrightEdge, RankScope, BotRank
Names are normalised before comparing, so “Otterly” and “Otterly.AI” count as one tool. RankScope (July) and Rankscale (September) are different products and are deliberately not merged — they count as one leaving and one entering. If the July capture was a transcription slip, the churn is one lower in each direction; the ambiguity is flagged rather than hidden.