• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

YouTube is cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI search results 200x more than any other video platform, according to data released Wednesday.

Among the competitors, Vimeo registered 0.1% of the searches and TikTok had 0.1%, while video content from Dailymotion and Twitch did not appear in any of the searches, according to BrightEdge data compiled and analyzed between May 2024 and September 2025.

BrightEdge analysts looked at citation rates across platforms, video platform competition rates, query type patterns, and week-over-week changes through their platform and turned it into a report.

The results show that YouTube receives more citations in Google AI Overviews results than established content authorities like Mayo Clinic and Investopedia.

YouTube averages a 20% citation share across AI platforms, and a 29.5% citation share of Google AI Overviews. YouTube citations also grew during the time analyzed about 100% per week, compared with the prior week for ChatGPT, although measured from a small base. The data did show, however, a 32.8% recent decline in AI Overviews, but still ranks at No. 1 across all AI engines. 

BrightEdge tracked AI citations across major search engines and found that YouTube averages a 20% citation share across AI platforms, making it the most-cited video platform. Additional data from the report follows:

Google AI Overviews:

• 29.5% YouTube citation share
• No. 1 cited domain, ahead of Mayo Clinic at 12.5%
• -32.8% week-over-week change
• Average rank position: 6.3

Google AI Mode:

• 16.6% YouTube citation share
• No. 1 cited domain
• -3.2% week-over-week change
• Average rank position: 9.7

Perplexity:

• 9.7% YouTube citation share
• #5 cited domain
• +4.8% week-over-week growth
• Average rank position: 9.7

ChatGPT:

• 0.2% YouTube citation share
• Minimal but growing (+100% week-over-week)
• Average rank position: 5.2

Queries Triggering YouTube Citations:

• Platform-specific tutorials such as "TD Ameritrade post-merger"
• Medical education with action components
• Current pricing and deals such as "Is Home Depot having a sale?"
• Financial tool demonstrations
• Product reviews and comparisons

Queries Triggering Low YouTube Citations:

• Strategic planning questions
• Career advice and academic selection
• Abstract financial concepts
• Technical architecture decisions
• Informational without visual or images