Google's AI Overviews Favor Third-Party Sources Over Vendor Websites

Google's AI Overviews often rely on third-party sources rather than vendor websites when providing source links for commercial search queries. According to a recent data snapshot by SERPreach, YouTube was cited in seven out of 12 US commercial searches, earning the most citations overall at 18. This is part of a larger trend where Google frequently cites YouTube and Reddit in AI Overviews.

For example, when searching for 'best project management software,' no vendor's website was cited, but rather a Reddit thread, a Zapier listicle, and a G2 category page were referenced. This pattern holds true even when comparing queries, with Google often citing alternative pages from competing vendors instead of the original vendor's site.

SERPreach also found that in a separate B2B software sample, 63.4% of citations went to third-party 'best of' blogs, compared to 16.8% for vendor sites. This highlights the importance of brands being present on these third-party platforms and aggregators, rather than solely focusing on getting their own website cited.