Social Media Citations in AI Search, November 2026
Klaas FoppenSocial Media Citation Share by AI Search Engine
Based on all citations from each AI engine from Oct 11 to Nov 9, 2026. Each bar is that platform's share of all the engine's citations, and the row below the chart shows the average across the three engines.
AI Overviews cites social media about 20 times as often as ChatGPT
Social platforms earn 13.16% of Google AI Overviews citations, against 1.94% for Perplexity and 0.64% for ChatGPT. YouTube alone accounts for 6.71% of AI Overviews citations, more than the other six platforms combined (6.45%). Facebook (2.34%) and Reddit (2.1%) follow.
Perplexity and ChatGPT cite the same two platforms most. Reddit and LinkedIn make up about three quarters of Perplexity's social citations (0.82% and 0.66%) and almost all of ChatGPT's (0.4% and 0.2%). X peaks at 0.04%, on Perplexity, and TikTok only shows up in AI Overviews (0.19%).
Match your social mix to each engine
- If your buyers search on Google, put YouTube first. It earns more AI Overviews citations than Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X together.
- For Perplexity, focus on Reddit and LinkedIn. Together they earn 1.48% of its citations. YouTube, the next platform, earns 0.31%.
- Don't rely on social posts to reach ChatGPT. All seven platforms add up to 0.64% of its citations, so your own site and the listicles, guides, and comparisons ChatGPT cites matter more (see citation share by content type).
- Keep X out of your AI search plans. It peaks at 0.04% of citations, on Perplexity.
Social Media Citation Share, October vs November
Each platform's share of an engine's citations in this report (Oct 11 to Nov 9, 2026) next to the October report (Sep 28 to Oct 4, 2026). In the chart, the lighter bar is October and the solid bar is November. The tables list each share and the change in percentage points. The October report covered 7 days and this one covers 30.
ChatGPT
| Platform | Oct | Nov | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.09% | 0.40% | +0.31 |
| 0.30% | 0.20% | −0.10 |
| 0.04% | 0.03% | −0.01 |
| 0.02% | 0.01% | −0.01 |
| 0.01% | 0.00% | −0.01 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00 |
| All platforms | 0.46% | 0.64% | +0.18 |
Perplexity
| Platform | Oct | Nov | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.86% | 0.82% | −0.04 |
| 0.86% | 0.66% | −0.20 |
| 0.79% | 0.31% | −0.48 |
| 0.03% | 0.09% | +0.06 |
| 0.10% | 0.04% | −0.06 |
| 0.07% | 0.02% | −0.05 |
| 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00 |
| All platforms | 2.71% | 1.94% | −0.77 |
AI Overviews
| Platform | Oct | Nov | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.28% | 6.71% | +2.43 |
| 2.38% | 2.34% | −0.04 |
| 2.15% | 2.10% | −0.05 |
| 1.61% | 1.02% | −0.59 |
| 1.55% | 0.78% | −0.77 |
| 0.22% | 0.19% | −0.03 |
| 0.03% | 0.02% | −0.01 |
| All platforms | 12.22% | 13.16% | +0.94 |
YouTube grows in AI Overviews, and Reddit returns to the top in ChatGPT
YouTube's share of AI Overviews citations rose from 4.28% to 6.71%, the largest change in this report. LinkedIn fell by half there (1.55% to 0.78%) and Instagram dropped from 1.61% to 1.02%, while Facebook and Reddit barely moved. In total, social platforms went from 12.22% to 13.16% of AI Overviews citations.
In ChatGPT, Reddit climbed from 0.09% to 0.4% and passed LinkedIn (0.3% to 0.2%) as the most cited social platform. That is still far below the 5.19% Reddit held before the collapse in August. All seven platforms together make up 0.64% of ChatGPT's citations, up from 0.46%.
Perplexity cites social media less than it did in October: 1.94% of its citations, down from 2.71%. YouTube fell the most, from 0.79% to 0.31%, and LinkedIn slipped from 0.86% to 0.66%. Reddit stayed close to its October share, at 0.82%.
Adjust your plan for what moved
- Give YouTube more weight if Google is your main channel. Its share of AI Overviews citations grew by more than half since the October report.
- Don't move budget back to Reddit for ChatGPT yet. Reddit's share is more than four times what it was in October, but still under a tenth of what it was before August.
- If you count on YouTube for Perplexity, check whether your videos are still cited. YouTube's share there fell by more than half.
How we collect this data
We collect millions of prompt responses, citations, and click data from the actual user interfaces of major AI platforms: over 26 billion data points and growing. This gives us one of the largest datasets on how AI search engines cite sources and recommend brands.
Real UI monitoring
Data straight from the interfaces of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, AI Overviews, and more.
26B+ data points
Over 26 billion analyzed citations, prompts, and responses, one of the largest AI search datasets available.
Continuously updated
Refreshed constantly so the trends you see reflect the latest behavior of AI search engines.
Aggregated & public
Published freely for the GEO community, based on aggregated, non-identifiable trends.
Want to start tracking your own AI search data? Get started with Promptwatch
Track Your Social Media Citations in AI Search
See when Reddit threads, YouTube videos, and other social posts get cited for your prompts, and track how that mix shifts per AI engine.
