Joint Study with Bakuri Inc.: What AI-Chosen Companies Have in Common, Across Six Industries (2,856 Questions, 10,994 Answers)

What the Study Found

The Baseline: In Every Industry, AI Reads Businesses' Product and Service Pages Most

Grouping the consulted pages by type, the most common were product and service pages (including home pages) on businesses' own official sites. They ranked first on ChatGPT in all six industries (37–89% of sources) and on Gemini in four (8–54%). The only exceptions were Gemini in travel and lodging, where portal listing pages such as OTAs ranked first, and Gemini in corporate banking, where media and expert explainer articles ranked first. The table shows, for each industry and AI, the share of sources that were businesses' product and service pages (including home pages).

Where a Big Portal Exists, AI Reads the Portal Too

In travel and lodging, OTA and travel agency sites accounted for 41% of ChatGPT's sources and 70% of Gemini's. In real estate, ChatGPT read 40% of its sources from real estate portals. In the three banking studies, by contrast, comparison sites and financial portals made up only 0–10%, and ChatGPT read 59–89% of its sources from financial institutions' official sites. Whether an industry has a big portal changes where AI reads.

In All Six Industries, ChatGPT Reads Public Bodies More Than Gemini

The share of public bodies and industry associations was higher on ChatGPT in all six industries, at 1.8 to 8.7 times Gemini's share. It was especially high in corporate banking (38%, e.g. the Japan Finance Corporation and local government loan programs) and aesthetic medicine (21%, e.g. warnings from the National Consumer Affairs Center and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and academic societies). Where governments issue programs or warnings, ChatGPT builds them into its answers.

In Five Industries, Gemini Reads Media and Comparison Articles More Than ChatGPT

Media and comparison articles made up a much larger share on Gemini in travel and lodging (ChatGPT 3%, Gemini 14%), aesthetic medicine (2%, 11%), and the three banking studies (1–9%, 37–44%). Real estate was the exception, at about 10–11% on both. Gemini reads 1.5 to 5.1 times as many pages per answer as ChatGPT, and 65–92% of ChatGPT's sources point to sites Gemini also read. ChatGPT narrows in on a few sites, while Gemini also picks up the media around them.

Gemini Opens Columns and Explainer Articles on Official Sites Too

When businesses' official sites were read, columns and explainer articles accounted for 0–12% of the pages opened on ChatGPT and 7–43% on Gemini. Gemini's share was higher in all six industries, especially in aesthetic medicine (43%) and real estate (29%).

Social Media, Blogs, and Reviews Are Under 5% of Sources in Every Industry, on Both AIs

Posts on personal blogs, social media, Q&A sites, and review sites made up at most 4.7% of sources, even in the highest industry and AI. What AI bases its answers on is almost entirely businesses' official sites, portals, public bodies, and media articles.

Ask the Same Question Again, and Only 4–32% of Pages Are Opened Every Time

Running the same questions two or three times each, only 4–32% of pages were opened in every run. At the site level, the median share of sites consulted in every run was 33–83% per question. The types of sites read, however, matched in every run for 89–100% (median). Checking once is not enough to tell whether your company is being consulted.

Five Things to Get Right to Be Chosen by AI

From the six findings, we summarized five things companies should get right.

1. Make product and service pages answer the conditions in the question (the pages read most in every industry and on both AIs)
2. Explain your relationship to public programs and standards on your own pages (ChatGPT reads public bodies more than Gemini in all six industries)
3. Appear with accurate information in your industry's media and comparison articles (Gemini reads media and comparison articles more than ChatGPT in five industries)
4. Have columns on your site that answer the questions people ask while deciding (Gemini opens columns and explainer articles in 7–43% of its official-site sources)
5. Keep accurate, complete information on your industry's major portals (in travel and lodging, 70% of Gemini's sources were OTAs and travel agencies)

Study Overview

Report and Press Release

A 24-page report (in Japanese) that re-tallies the data for five industries and 2,238 questions — travel and lodging, aesthetic medicine, and banking (loans, accounts and deposits, corporate) — on the same basis, with industry × AI comparison tables, priorities by industry type, and a detailed checklist, is available free on Bakuri Inc.'s website. The real estate study was an internal study and is not included in the report.

View the study page and the 24-page report → View the press release on PR TIMES →

Our earlier news posts cover the results for each industry.

• Which sources AI cites when recommending aesthetic clinics (403 questions, 2,418 answers)
• Which sources AI consults when recommending bank loans (522 questions, 2,088 answers)
• Which sources AI consults when recommending bank accounts and deposits (485 questions, 1,940 answers)

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