Google’s AI Mode is citing Google more than any other site: Study

Google’s AI Mode is more and more citing Google itself — and sometimes sending customers again to a different Google search, in accordance with new SE Rating analysis.

Why we care. AI search is supposed to floor one of the best sources on the net. If Google more and more cites itself, you may even see fewer direct hyperlinks and fewer visitors as extra customers keep inside Google.

The small print. Google.com was probably the most cited supply in AI Mode solutions, accounting for 17.42% of all citations, SE Rating discovered.

• That makes Google.com probably the most referenced area — greater than the subsequent six domains mixed: YouTube, Fb, Reddit, Amazon, Certainly, and Zillow.

Accelerating pattern. In June 2025, Google cited itself in simply 5.7% of AI Mode solutions. That share is now tripled.

• Practically one in 5 AI citations now comes from Google. Together with YouTube, Google-controlled properties account for roughly 20% of sources.

Self-preferencing on steroids. AI Overviews already hyperlink closely to Google properties like Maps, Pictures, and YouTube. AI Mode seems to increase that strategy by pushing customers deeper into Google’s ecosystem, typically by means of further search outcomes quite than exterior websites.

• This retains customers interacting with Google surfaces the place adverts, evaluations, and different monetized content material seem.

What modified. Earlier AI Mode analysis confirmed Google primarily citing Google Enterprise Profiles. That’s not the case:

• 59% of Google citations now level to conventional Google search outcomes.
• 36.1% nonetheless reference Google Enterprise Profiles.
• Smaller shares hyperlink to Google Help (1.7%), Google Flights (0.1%), and different Google properties.
• In lots of instances, AI Mode citations now present a mini search outcomes panel beside the reply — successfully turning the quotation into one other search expertise.

Business variations. Google dominates citations throughout most matters. Some niches depend on Google much more:

• Journey: 53.18% of citations
• Leisure & hobbies: 48.74% of citations
• Actual property: 30.54% of citations

The one class the place Google wasn’t the highest supply was Careers and Jobs, the place Certainly appeared 3.1x extra typically than Google.

In regards to the knowledge. SE Rating analyzed 68,313 key phrases throughout 20 industries and greater than 1.3 million AI Mode citations to measure how typically Google.com seems as a cited supply.

The report. Is Google stealing your clicks in AI Mode? (1.3M+ citations analyzed)