Which websites do ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity cite when a small business asks?
In the run of 30 September 2026, we asked 3 AI answer engines the same 25 questions, with web search on. 40 of 75 answers cited at least one website, 449 citations in all. 75% of the citations went to other companies’ and blogs’ own pages; vendor documentation came next (53), then communities such as Reddit and the n8n forum (25).
The kind of question changes who gets cited. When someone asks for a provider in a city, 11 of 12 answers cited websites, and 117 of 131 citations were the companies’ own pages. For n8n questions, 41% of citations went to documentation and communities, the largest share of any group. For “how to” and “is it worth it” questions, only 15 of 42 answers cited any website at all.
How we measured
- The 25 questions below, always in the same words. The first 20 since 28 September 2026; the 5 about n8n and agencies since 30 September.
- Each question is asked once per engine, through its API, with web search on: OpenAI (gpt-5.5), Google Gemini (gemini-3.8-flash), Perplexity (sonar).
- A citation is a website (domain) the answer gave as a source, counted once per answer. Betterlane’s own sites are left out of the count. For Gemini’s redirect links, the site shown is counted.
- API answers are not identical to the apps people use (no login, no history, sometimes a different model). The numbers show a direction, not what one person sees.
- The first run used OpenAI’s gpt-5.5; from October we use the cheaper gpt-5.6-luna. Compare OpenAI rows across runs with that in mind.
- One run a month, on the 28th. Small businesses that were cited are never named; only large platforms are.
Results
By engine
| Engine | Answers | Cited any site | Sites cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI (ChatGPT’s models), web search onopenai/gpt-5.5 | 25 | 16 | 364 |
| Google Gemini, Google Search grounding ongoogle/gemini-3.8-flash | 25 | 13 | 55 |
| Perplexity Sonar (searches on every answer)perplexity/sonar | 25 | 11 | 30 |
By kind of question (all three engines)
| Kind of question | Answers | Cited any site | Sites cited | Most cited kinds of site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finding a provider in a city | 12 | 11 | 131 | Other companies’ and blogs’ own pages: 117 · Vendor documentation (n8n, Meta, Google…): 5 · Communities and forums (Reddit, n8n forum…): 3 |
| n8n problems and n8n help | 15 | 10 | 63 | Other companies’ and blogs’ own pages: 30 · Vendor documentation (n8n, Meta, Google…): 15 · Communities and forums (Reddit, n8n forum…): 11 |
| Prices (WhatsApp messages) | 6 | 4 | 82 | Other companies’ and blogs’ own pages: 71 · Vendor documentation (n8n, Meta, Google…): 4 · Video (YouTube): 3 |
| How to do something | 27 | 12 | 120 | Other companies’ and blogs’ own pages: 89 · Vendor documentation (n8n, Meta, Google…): 15 · Code (GitHub): 7 |
| Is it worth it / which tool | 15 | 3 | 53 | Other companies’ and blogs’ own pages: 31 · Vendor documentation (n8n, Meta, Google…): 14 · Communities and forums (Reddit, n8n forum…): 3 |
Most cited large platforms
| Platform | Citations |
|---|---|
| n8n | 23 |
| Meta | 18 |
| 15 | |
| GitHub | 13 |
| YouTube | 10 |
| Wikipedia | 9 |
| Zapier | 8 |
| 5 |
What changed since last month
This is the first run. The next is on 28 October 2026.
What we take from it for a small business
- To be cited when someone looks for a provider, a business needs a page that names its service and its city. That is the kind of page the answers cited.
- For technical questions, the engines lean on the tool’s own documentation and its community. A good answer in those places travels further than a page on your own site.
- An engine can only cite pages its search index holds. A new website first has to be indexed by Google and Bing.
The questions
- how do I connect WhatsApp to a chatbot with Meta's Cloud API (How to do something)
- what does Meta charge for WhatsApp service messages from October 2026 (Prices (WhatsApp messages))
- WhatsApp Cloud API error 131030 recipient not in allowed list (How to do something)
- is a website chatbot worth it for a small clinic (Is it worth it / which tool)
- what should an AI phone receptionist hand over to a person (Is it worth it / which tool)
- how to automate a support inbox without sending wrong replies (How to do something)
- n8n vs Zapier vs Make for a small business (Is it worth it / which tool)
- how to extract data from hundreds of PDFs (How to do something)
- how to build a report that updates itself when the data changes (How to do something)
- how to build a sourced lead list without buying one (How to do something)
- what does a small business website need to be found by ChatGPT (How to do something)
- when does a business need a customer portal instead of email (How to do something)
- agency that builds WhatsApp assistants for clinics in Miami (Finding a provider in a city)
- automation agency in Dubai for clinic WhatsApp assistants (Finding a provider in a city)
- como conectar o WhatsApp a um chatbot pela Cloud API da Meta (How to do something)
- quanto a Meta cobra por mensagem de WhatsApp no Brasil em 2026 (Prices (WhatsApp messages))
- chatbot para clínica em Recife (Finding a provider in a city)
- vale a pena ter chatbot no site de uma imobiliária (Is it worth it / which tool)
- n8n ou Zapier para pequena empresa (Is it worth it / which tool)
- agência de automação de atendimento no WhatsApp em Recife (Finding a provider in a city)
- who can fix a broken n8n workflow for my agency's client (n8n problems and n8n help)
- white-label n8n developer for agencies (n8n problems and n8n help)
- why does my n8n workflow run twice (n8n problems and n8n help)
- n8n workflow fails with 403 on Google credentials after a week (n8n problems and n8n help)
- how to get alerted when an n8n workflow fails (n8n problems and n8n help)
Sources
- OpenAI, Web search tool (Responses API) · Read on Sep 30, 2026
- Google AI for Developers, Grounding with Google Search · Read on Sep 30, 2026
- Vercel, AI Gateway web search (the API we call all three through) · Read on Sep 30, 2026
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