Hi iwan,

SE Ranking recently analyzed 129,000 domains and 216,524 pages to crack ChatGPT's citation algorithm.

The results? Five specific signals separate sites getting 8+ citations from those getting completely ignored.

If you're not hitting these benchmarks, you're invisible to AI search.

Here's what actually matters:

1. Domain authority is the gatekeeper

Sites with 32,000+ referring domains averaged 8.4 citations.

Sites with under 2,500 referring domains? Only 1.6 citations.

Domain Trust scores above 90 earn nearly 4X the citations of sites below DT 43.

The reality: a weak backlink profile means ChatGPT won't trust you as a source.

2. Answer capsules changed everything

Recent analysis of 15 domains generating 2 million monthly sessions found this pattern: nearly every cited page had answer capsules.

These are clear, self-contained answer blocks at the top of your content.

According to Search Engine Land, over 90% of cited content had link-free answer capsules.

Why? LLMs extract and attribute clean text blocks faster than content buried in paragraphs.

Structure yours like this:

  • Put your direct answer in the first 100 words

  • Use simple, declarative sentences

  • No internal or external links in the capsule

  • Make it quotable and self-contained

3. Fresh content wins the race

Ahrefs analyzed ChatGPT's top 1,000 most-cited pages.

60.5% of pages with detectable publish dates were created within the last 2 years.

Even better: 82% of cited pages were updated in 2025.

ChatGPT has a URL_freshness_score that favors newer content.

One study showed updating publish dates improved AI ranking positions by up to 95 spots.

Your action plan:

  • Update old content regularly

  • Add "Last updated" dates to your pages

  • Refresh stats, examples, and data points every 90 days

4. Wikipedia and Reddit are dominating citations

Promptwatch data shows Wikipedia leads with 3-5% of all ChatGPT citations, hitting nearly 13% in recent months.

Reddit jumped to over 10% of citations after algorithm adjustments in July 2025.

Meanwhile, branded websites saw referral traffic drop 52% according to Profound's analysis of 30 million citations.

ChatGPT prioritizes encyclopedic and community-driven content over commercial sites.

Focus on getting mentioned in:

  • Industry publications

  • Expert roundups

  • Wikipedia citations (where appropriate)

  • High-quality Reddit discussions in your niche

5. Traffic thresholds create citation cliffs

Sites under 190,000 monthly visitors cluster in the same citation range regardless of traffic volume.

A site with 20 visitors performs similarly to one with 20,000.

But once you cross that 190K threshold, citation rates jump significantly.

Page Trust scores above 28 average more than 8 citations.

ChatGPT weighs overall domain authority more heavily than individual page metrics.

In summary, ChatGPT's citation algorithm favors:

  • High domain authority (32K+ referring domains)

  • Clear answer capsules at the top of content

  • Fresh, recently updated content

  • Encyclopedic and community sources

  • Sites crossing traffic and trust thresholds

Most businesses are guessing at what AI platforms want.

This data removes the guesswork.

Want to see how your site scores on these five signals?

Click here to claim your free AI visibility audit.

To your continued success,

Matt Diggity