I've heard AI-generated content is replacing UGC, but also that AI models increasingly cite real human testimonials and content. Any thoughts on this debate? How much are people investing in UGC right now?
My team just ran a study on 58.6 million citations from October 2025 through March 2026. At the end of June 2025, news publications like Reuters, AP News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Guardian dominated the top 20 citations.
By Feb 2026, only Forbes and Reuters remained in the top 20, and dropped in rank. Now the top 12 look like this (% of AI answers that reference a given domain):
Social and UGC platforms dominate and new entrants like Alibaba, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, and NerdWallet signal a shift towards more review outlets.
We believe this is due to the rise in agentic AI which relies on actionable review data to inform purchasing decisions for users. For those doing AEO, this shift is definitely worth discussing and keeping an eye on.