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

Google’s AI Mode is increasingly citing Google itself — and often sending users back to another Google search, according to new SE Ranking research.

Why we care. AI search is meant to surface the best sources on the web. If Google increasingly cites itself, you may see fewer direct links and less traffic as more users stay inside Google.

The details. Google.com was the most cited source in AI Mode answers, accounting for 17.42% of all citations, SE Ranking found.

• That makes Google.com the most referenced domain — more than the next six domains combined: YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, Amazon, Indeed, and Zillow.

Accelerating trend. In June 2025, Google cited itself in just 5.7% of AI Mode answers. That share is now tripled.

• Nearly one in five AI citations now comes from Google. Including YouTube, Google-controlled properties account for roughly 20% of sources.

Self-preferencing on steroids. AI Overviews already link heavily to Google properties like Maps, Images, and YouTube. AI Mode appears to extend that approach by pushing users deeper into Google’s ecosystem, often through additional search results rather than external sites.

• This keeps users interacting with Google surfaces where ads, reviews, and other monetized content appear.

What changed. Earlier AI Mode research showed Google mainly citing Google Business Profiles. That’s no longer the case:

• 59% of Google citations now point to traditional Google search results.
• 36.1% still reference Google Business Profiles.
• Smaller shares link to Google Support (1.7%), Google Flights (0.1%), and other Google properties.
• In many cases, AI Mode citations now show a mini search results panel beside the answer — effectively turning the citation into another search experience.

Industry differences. Google dominates citations across most topics. Some niches rely on Google even more:

• Travel: 53.18% of citations
• Entertainment & hobbies: 48.74% of citations
• Real estate: 30.54% of citations

The only category where Google wasn’t the top source was Careers and Jobs, where Indeed appeared 3.1x more often than Google.

About the data. SE Ranking analyzed 68,313 keywords across 20 industries and more than 1.3 million AI Mode citations to measure how often Google.com appears as a cited source.

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

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