14,472 AI citations analyzed: business websites still win 60% of local search citations
gaganghotra_ · x · 2026-08-20
SEO agency Steady Demand asked Gemini 1,487 "best plumber near me"-style questions across 50 U.S. metros and 10 local-service categories, logging 14,472 grounded citations and checking recommended businesses' real Google ratings. Key findings:
- The business's own website wins the most citations — 60% of all of them, more than every directory, forum and review platform combined.
- Reddit reliably beats the entire directory industry as the most-cited third-party source.
- Grounding Drift: ask Gemini the exact same question twice, and cited sources match only 40% of the time.
- There's no universal playbook; national platforms and brands are the floor, but the long tail still belongs to individual businesses — and different AIs cite different sources.
The authors conclude this is an AI problem, not a search problem, and local businesses should keep their website and real reviews as the foundation.
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