Yes, often. In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test, a business’s own website was cited in 82 of the 108 ChatGPT and Perplexity answers we collected across three industries, including accounting and law. It was cited next to listing sites and directories, not instead of them. A citation shows a page was linked, not that the page decided who was named.
We’re Answersky (answersky.com), and every figure here comes from our own tests, with the date and the method beside it.
Does AI read your own website when it recommends businesses?
We can’t see what an assistant reads, only which pages it links. With web search on, it links to company websites, often in the same answer that links to a list. We ran ChatGPT and Perplexity through their APIs with web search on, and a business’s own site turned up among the cited sources in most answers.
In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test, ChatGPT and Perplexity cited at least one site in 95 of 108 answers, and a business’s own website was cited in 82 of those 108. We asked the questions a buyer asks when hiring: “who should I hire” and “how do I choose”. In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test, 80 of the 108 answers also cited a listing, review or booking site.
So in our tests, ChatGPT and Perplexity did not cite only review sites and lists. They linked company websites too.
How often was a firm’s own site cited, by industry?
It depended on the industry.
| Industry | Answers | Cited the business's own website | Cited a listing, review or booking site | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | 36 | 32 | 25 | Accounting firms study |
| Law | 36 | 24 | 29 | Law firms study |
| All three industries | 108 | 82 | 80 | AI visibility statistics |
In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test, firms’ own websites were cited in 32 of 36 accounting answers, against 25 of 36 that cited a listing or review site. For law the order flipped: in Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test, 24 of 36 law answers cited a firm’s own site, and 29 of 36 cited a legal directory or listing site.
In law, listing and directory sites were cited a little more often than firms’ own sites. Our accounting firms and law firms pages have the full counts.
Did the answers keep citing the same firm’s website?
Not in law. In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test of law firms, no single law firm’s website was cited in more than 7 of 36 answers, yet a firm’s own site was cited in 24 of them. So those citations were spread over several different firms’ sites. For accounting, in Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test of accounting firms, the most-cited single firm website reached 17 of 36.
So assistants link firm websites, but in law they didn’t keep returning to one. Your site can be cited without being the site everyone cites. We can’t say why the two industries differ.
Does it hold for B2B service firms too?
Yes, with a different mix of sources. In Answersky’s Oct 15, 2026 test, a leading AI assistant, with web search, searched the web in 52 of 56 answers to B2B buyer questions and linked sources in all 52. Those sources were:
Types of website cited in B2B answers
Answersky's Oct 15, 2026 test. Answers citing each type, of the 52 that linked sources.
- Other websites (articles, media, blogs)
- 49
- A named firm's own website (approx.)
- about 45
- Review or partner directories
- 16
In Answersky’s Oct 15, 2026 test, a named firm’s own website was cited in about 45 of the 52 answers with sources, other websites in 49 and review or partner directories in 16. Directories were cited least often. Our B2B service firms page has the full table. It also covers the other 4 of the 56 answers in Answersky’s Oct 15, 2026 test, which had no recorded web search and no linked sources; the test doesn’t show where their content came from.
Does a citation mean my website made the assistant name me?
No, and this is the main limit on everything above. A citation shows that an answer linked a page. It doesn’t show that the page decided which businesses were named.
The counts are rough too. In the Oct 15 test we treated a site as a firm’s own when part of a named firm’s name appears in its web address, so some firm sites may sit under “other websites”. In the Oct 12 test a second AI model sorted the cited sites, and we checked the most-cited ones by hand.
Both tests asked the assistants to name businesses where relevant, which likely raises how often businesses appear at all. Each test is one run, so read the numbers as a snapshot, not a ranking. The consumer apps can answer differently from the APIs we used.
What should my website say, if AI links to it?
Say plainly who you serve, where you work and how you charge, and date your proof. That is a suggestion, not something either test measured.
It matches what the answers told buyers to check. In Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test of accounting firms, 26 of the 27 “how do I choose” accounting answers mentioned experience with clients like you, and 24 of 27 mentioned fees and billing. For law, in Answersky’s Oct 12, 2026 test of law firms, 26 of 27 mentioned fees and billing and 26 of 27 mentioned experience with cases like yours. A page that answers those points in words an assistant can quote gives it something to link.
- Who you serve. Name the type of client and the size, not just “businesses”.
- Where. The cities or regions, or “remote across the US”, written out.
- How you charge. Fixed fee, hourly, retainer, or “we quote after a call”, in one plain sentence.
- Dated proof. A result, a credential or a case, with the month and year it applies to.
Check whether the relevant search crawlers can access the pages you want surfaced. The first steps in what to fix first for AI search cover that.
Keep your profile on the lists and directories in your field accurate too, since they were cited alongside company sites. This post is no reason to pay for a place on any of them.
How do I see if my site is cited for my buyers’ questions?
Ask the questions your buyers ask, with web search on, and read the sources the answer shows. Write down whether your site is there and which businesses were named. Then repeat on another day, because the lists move: in Answersky’s Oct 15, 2026 test, only about 60% of the firms a leading AI assistant named for a B2B question appeared in both answers when the same question was asked twice.
How to check if ChatGPT mentions your business walks through doing it by hand, and which websites AI cites shows how we sort the sources. All our figures, with their dates, are on AI visibility statistics.
Nothing here says your site will be cited or that any change gets a firm named. It is a dated count of what these answers linked.
Free Quick Scan: 6 of your buyers’ questions on ChatGPT and Perplexity, 12 answers and who AI named instead of you. Results on the scan page when ready, plus an emailed copy; queued or review requests arrive by email within 1 business day.
