Reddit is the social platform AI search engines cite most, followed by YouTube and LinkedIn. In OtterlyAI's analysis of more than 100 million AI citations (published March 2026), Reddit took 46.4% of all social media citations, YouTube 31.8%, LinkedIn 13% and Facebook 5%. Instagram, TikTok and Quora each stayed under 3%, and X came in at 0.3%. Keep the scale in mind, though: social platforms were only about 5.5% of all citations, so they add to your own site, they do not replace it.
Below: the full ranking, which platform each AI engine prefers, and what actually gets a post or video cited on the three platforms that matter.
Key takeaways
- Reddit (46.4%) and YouTube (31.8%) account for 78.2% of social media citations across six AI engines; LinkedIn adds 13%, X just 0.3% (OtterlyAI, 100M+ citations).
- Social and video platforms are only 5.54% of all AI citations. Brand websites are 52.2% and news and media 20.3%.
- Each engine has a favorite. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode lean on YouTube, ChatGPT and Perplexity on Reddit, and Microsoft Copilot on LinkedIn (43.8% of its social citations).
- Popularity barely matters. 80% of the Reddit posts AI cites have fewer than 20 upvotes, and YouTube views show near-zero correlation with citations.
- Answer real questions on Reddit, publish long-form reference videos with chapters, and write LinkedIn articles. Then make sure your own site ranks, because that is where most citations go.
The ranking: social platforms by share of AI citations
OtterlyAI tracked over 100 million citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini over 30 days. About 5.5 million of them pointed to social media and video platforms. This is how they split.
Share of social media citations in AI answers, by platform
Hover or tap the chart for exact values.
Other studies measure differently but land in the same order. Semrush's study of 325,000 prompts (January to February 2026) ranked LinkedIn the second most cited domain of any kind in ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, ahead of Wikipedia, YouTube and every major news publisher.
Which platform each AI engine prefers
The blended ranking hides big differences between engines. If you care about one assistant more than the others, post where it looks.
| AI engine | Social platform it leans on | The numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | YouTube | Over half of their social citations; the only engines that cite YouTube timestamps |
| ChatGPT | Reddit, then LinkedIn | LinkedIn 25.9% and YouTube 9.5% of its social citations; LinkedIn appears in 14.3% of ChatGPT Search answers (Semrush) |
| Perplexity | Reddit, then YouTube | YouTube 22.7% and LinkedIn 13.9% of its social citations |
| Microsoft Copilot | 43.8% of its social citations | |
| Gemini | YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok | No measurable citations from other social networks |
Figures from OtterlyAI unless marked. Reddit made up 53.6% to 62.8% of social citations in ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Reddit: answer the question people actually asked
Reddit is where buyers ask "what do you use for X?" and get blunt answers, which is exactly what an AI engine wants to summarize.
The cited threads are not the viral ones. Semrush analyzed 248,000 Reddit posts cited by ChatGPT Search, Perplexity and Google AI Mode: 80% had fewer than 20 upvotes and 70% fewer than 20 comments. Q&A, comparison and discussion threads dominated. Relevance and a clear answer beat karma.
ChatGPT also goes to Reddit on purpose. In an analysis of ChatGPT's site-specific searches in July 2026, Reddit was 71% of all non-brand domains it searched with the site: operator.
What to do: search Reddit and Google for your category's questions, find the threads that already rank, and answer them properly, as yourself, saying who you work for. Follow each subreddit's rules on self-promotion. One complete, honest answer in a thread that ranks is worth more than fifty "check out our tool" comments, which get removed anyway.
YouTube: long-form reference videos with chapters
YouTube is the favorite of Google's AI features, and OtterlyAI's data shows what gets a video cited:
- Long-form wins. 94% of YouTube citations went to long-form videos; Shorts got 5.7%. The biggest cluster was 10 to 20 minutes long.
- Popularity does not. Views, likes and subscribers showed near-zero correlation with citations, and 40.8% of cited videos had fewer than 1,000 views.
- Chapters multiply citations in Google. Timestamped citations appeared only in AI Overviews (73%) and AI Mode (27%), and 78% of timestamped videos were cited more than once, often across two to five chapters.
What to do: make one video per problem your buyers have, walk through the solution properly, add chapters with descriptive names, and write a real description. Embedding the video in a matching article on your site helps too (see does embedding YouTube videos help SEO).
LinkedIn: articles and expertise, from people and company pages
LinkedIn matters most for B2B and for Copilot. Semrush's LinkedIn study of 89,000 cited LinkedIn URLs found:
- Long-form articles made up 50% to 66% of cited LinkedIn content; feed posts 15% to 28%.
- 95% of cited posts were original; reshares barely registered.
- Most cited posts had moderate engagement (15 to 25 reactions), but about 75% of cited authors posted frequently.
- Perplexity cited Company Pages 59% of the time, while ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode cited individual members 59% of the time.
What to do: have the people who know your product write regular, useful LinkedIn articles about what you are building and what you have learned, and keep the Company Page publishing too. Share knowledge, not announcements.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Quora and X: low priority for AI
Together they took under 9% of social citations in OtterlyAI's data, and X managed 0.3%. These platforms can matter for your audience and your brand, but if your goal is showing up in AI answers, your hours are better spent on Reddit, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Your own site still does most of the work
Social is the smaller slice. In the same OtterlyAI dataset, brand websites earned 52.2% of all citations and news and media 20.3%, against 5.5% for social platforms. When we ran 96 questions through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, Reddit and forums were only 3% of the 2,671 sources cited, while blog content was 74%.
AI search pulls heavily from search results, so a page that ranks has a much better chance of being cited. In Outrank's study of 200 sites, Google impressions were the strongest predictor of AI citations, and sites with Domain Rating 30+ got 29× the citations of sites under DR 10.
That is the part Outrank handles for you: daily articles on the questions your buyers ask, published to your CMS, and backlinks from relevant sites that build the authority to rank. Pair it with Reddit answers, a few good videos and a LinkedIn habit, and you cover both slices. For the rest of the playbook, see how to get ChatGPT to recommend your product, what ChatGPT reads about your brand and how to get into the listicles AI quotes.
FAQ
Which social media platform does ChatGPT cite most?
Reddit. In OtterlyAI's 2026 data, Reddit led ChatGPT's social citations, with LinkedIn second at 25.9% and YouTube at 9.5%. ChatGPT also searches Reddit directly: in a July 2026 analysis, Reddit was 71% of the non-brand domains it targeted with site-specific searches.
Does posting on Reddit help you show up in AI answers?
It can, if you answer real questions in threads that already rank. Semrush found that 80% of the Reddit posts AI engines cite have fewer than 20 upvotes, so a clear, relevant answer matters more than popularity. Promotional comments tend to get removed by moderators before any AI sees them.
Does X (Twitter) get cited by AI search engines?
Rarely. X accounted for 0.3% of social media citations across six AI engines in OtterlyAI's analysis of over 100 million citations, behind Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Quora. It may still matter for reaching people, but not for AI citations.
Do YouTube videos get cited in Google AI Overviews?
Yes. Over half of the social citations in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode go to YouTube, and they are the only engines in OtterlyAI's data that cite specific video timestamps. Long-form videos with clear chapters get cited most, regardless of view count.
Should B2B brands post on LinkedIn for AI visibility?
Yes, especially for Microsoft Copilot, where LinkedIn is 43.8% of social citations, and for ChatGPT Search, where 14.3% of answers in Semrush's study cited LinkedIn. Original long-form articles get cited far more than feed posts or reshares, and both personal profiles and Company Pages count.
