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Which sources does Gemini cite on buying questions?

Gemini cites at least one source in only 68.4% of its answers to buying questions, the lowest rate of the six engines in the Observatory, and 61.6% of the sources it does cite are rankings and comparison pages. Data: 11,028 answers collected via Peec AI between July 12 and October 11, 2026.

Updated

68%

answers citing sources

2.5

sources per answer

62%

rankings among sources

11,028

answers analysed

Types of sources cited : Gemini
Rankings and comparisons62%Other sites37%Reviews and directories1%

Data : Peec AI, 11,028 answers analysed, July 12, 2026 to October 11, 2026.

Gemini is the most sparing engine with citations. Across 11,028 answers to buying questions, mostly in French, it cites a source in 68.4% of cases and only 2.5 sources per answer. It also consults few pages: 2.6 per answer, so nearly everything it reads ends up cited.

When it does cite, Gemini favors rankings and comparisons: 61.6% of its sources. Brand sites, media and blogs weigh 37.4%, a much larger share than for Claude (8.7%). Reviews and directories (0.5%), forums (0.3%) and YouTube (0.1%) are marginal.

By page type, listicles lead with 36.5% of cited pages, then product pages with 17.6%, comparisons with 13.1% and homepages with 8.1%. Gemini gives brand pages more room than Claude, where product pages weigh 5.9% and homepages 3.8%: a well-structured product page has a real chance here.

On identical questions, Gemini cites a source in 68.4% of answers against 96.3% for ChatGPT (ChatGPT vs Gemini), and 66.2% against 83.7% for Claude (Claude vs Gemini). Limit: the sample is smaller than the Profound engines and has no breakdown by sector or month. See our Gemini optimization service.

Method

406,626 AI answers collected every day from July 12, 2026 to October 11, 2026 on over 1,700 purchase-intent questions tracked by Archipel (mostly in French, plus the United States and the Netherlands). ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot: Profound data. Claude and Gemini: Peec AI data. Sources are classified automatically from their address and title. Figures are aggregated: no brand or client is published. Free to reuse with a link to this page.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How often does Gemini cite sources?
Gemini cites at least one source in 68.4% of its answers to buying questions, the lowest rate of the six engines in the Archipel Observatory, with 2.5 sources per answer.
Which sources does Gemini cite on buying questions?
Gemini cites rankings and comparison pages for 61.6% of its sources and brand sites, media and blogs for 37.4%. Reviews and directories weigh 0.5%, based on 11,028 answers.
Which page types does Gemini cite?
Gemini cites listicles for 36.5% of its pages, product pages for 17.6%, comparisons for 13.1% and homepages for 8.1%, giving brand pages more room than Claude does.
Does Gemini cite fewer sources than ChatGPT?
Yes, on identical questions Gemini cites a source in 68.4% of answers against 96.3% for ChatGPT, and 2.5 sources per answer against 3.8, based on 11,028 answers per engine.

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