ChatGPT Hyperlinks Out Most On Travel Questions

ChatGPT included citations in 22.6% of journey solutions and 4.8% of training solutions in May, towards a median of 6.8% throughout all solutions, based on Similarweb’s 2026 Generative AI Landscape report. The figures cowl U.S. desktop use.

Similarweb sells AI visibility monitoring merchandise, and the report is gated behind a obtain kind.

How typically a ChatGPT reply carries any hyperlink differs sharply by subject in Similarweb’s knowledge. Where fewer solutions carry hyperlinks, there are fewer solutions your web site can seem in.

How Often ChatGPT Cites Sources, By Topic

Similarweb ranked 9 sectors based mostly on the proportion of solutions that included no less than one quotation. Travel led at 22.6%, adopted by retail at 13.5% and sports activities at 10.7%. Finance was at 8.0%, barely larger than the general common of 6.8%. Technology, well being, media and leisure, and training all fell beneath this common, with training on the lowest at 4.8%.

According to Similarweb, ChatGPT goes to the net most when individuals examine merchandise, plan purchases, or ask about issues that change.

The Overall Rate Climbed Through The Year

The general charge went up from about 1.3% in June 2025 to six.8% in May 2026, one thing that Similarweb describes as greater than a fivefold improve in lower than a 12 months.

The rise wasn’t regular: it went over 6% in October, then dropped again to round 4.5% by February, earlier than climbing once more by means of spring. That rise sits subsequent to SEJ’s April report, which famous that Resoneo noticed ChatGPT citing about 20% fewer web sites per response after the GPT-5.3 Instant replace. The experiences come from separate datasets that rely various things. One appears at whether or not a solution features a quotation in any respect, and the opposite counts what number of domains seem inside a single response.

ChatGPT Cites Different Sites In Different Topics

Similarweb additionally broke down which sorts of websites get cited, utilizing what it labels the highest 10,000 citations recorded on U.S. desktop in May.

Across all ChatGPT solutions, opinions and user-generated content material (UGC) accounted for 28.9% of citations, whereas information and writer websites account for 26.0%. Retail and e-commerce web sites signify 14.1%.

But, once we take a look at particular matters, the patterns will be fairly completely different. For instance, in magnificence, retail and e-commerce websites are the most typical, making up 54.7% of citations. In journey, opinions and UGC accounted for 54.1%. In finance, finance-specific websites maintain 36.6%, with information and writer websites at 28.0%.

Overall, Similarweb highlights that no single playbook covers each subject. Instead, manufacturers ought to deal with understanding which sorts of websites are most steadily cited inside their specific areas.

Meanwhile, SEJ has checked out this from a special angle. Roger Montti’s May article discusses how supply preferences fluctuate between AI engines. Similarweb’s evaluation, nevertheless, focuses on matters.

What The Data Covers

All figures confer with U.S. desktop utilization. The supply combine relies on what Similarweb labels the highest 10,000 citations in May. The report states that each one of its knowledge are estimates and extrapolations drawn from third-party sources, and will not be warranted for accuracy or completeness. The report doesn’t embody API utilization, desktop purposes, or AI options built-in into different cell and internet apps.

Why This Matters

Citation charges differed sharply by subject in May. Less than 5% of training solutions carried hyperlinks, whereas over 20% of journey solutions did. A quotation push in training is chasing a much smaller pool of cited solutions than the identical work in journey.

Additionally, the sources of citations fluctuate by area. In magnificence, most citations are from retail and e-commerce websites, whereas in finance, they arrive primarily from finance-specific web sites and information retailers. A model focusing by itself area of interest may observe completely different web sites being cited relying on the sphere, and the sorts of referenced content material can fluctuate drastically throughout areas.

Looking Ahead

Citation charges moved rather a lot throughout the twelve months Similarweb tracked, and never in a straight line. The charge counts solutions that carry no less than one exterior hyperlink, and it could possibly transfer by itself with out something a writer does.

Keep an eye fixed on how the speed modifications over time, not simply its present degree. The general charge dipped through the winter however then bounced again. Also, do not forget that Similarweb’s subject breakdown solely appears at a single month.

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