Who AI engines lean on, sector by sector: the Whito citation map

Data last verified: 3 October 2026. Figures re-checked against their primary sources under the Whito rolling re-verification programme.

Built from: 159 Google AI Mode answers logged on 22 August 2026 across 20 UK towns and 8 sectors, plus a 36-question ChatGPT and Gemini log from 19 July 2026. Every figure on this page is already published in a dated Whito study, linked beside it. Nothing new was collected for this page.

When an AI engine names a local firm, it shows where it got the idea. We logged every source behind every answer. This page lays them out by sector, so you can see which kind of source does the work in your trade, and which does not.

The short version. Your own website and your Google profile sit behind almost every answer, in every sector. After that, the trades and the professions split. Checkatrade sat behind 50 of the 60 trade answers. In the 79 answers for vets, dentists, accountants and estate agents it appeared once.

The map: Google AI Mode, 20 towns, 22 August 2026

Share of answers in each sector that cited each kind of source. An answer counts once per source type, so rows do not add up to 100%.

Source: What AI actually cites when it recommends a UK local business, Whito, collected 22 August 2026. “Any directory or platform” means trade directories and review platforms. Auto-generated “top 10” and “best of” sites are counted separately in their own column. The Q3 Index groups those sites with the platforms in its “platform dependence” column, which is why its figures for cleaners and accountants run higher than the column here. Both are right on their own definitions.

What the map shows

1. The two sources you own are in almost every answer

The business’s own website was cited in 143 of 159 answers, 90%. Google reviews or Business Profiles in 128, 81%. Only three answers used neither. Both are free to keep accurate.

2. Trades run through a platform. Professions do not.

Any directory or platform appeared in 90% to 100% of electrician, plumber and roofer answers. For dentists it was 5%, for accountants 15%, for vets 16%. If you run a practice or a firm and pay for a trade directory on the theory that AI reads it, this data does not support the spend.

3. Regulators get named, not read

A regulator, register or professional body appeared 111 times across the 159 answers. In 95 of those it was named in the text as something the reader should check. In 16 it was a source the engine had drawn on. The Gas Safe Register appeared in ten answers and was never once a cited source. Across all sectors, 71 of 159 answers, 45%, named or cited at least one regulator, register or trade body.

In a separate check on 26 September 2026, none of 24 ChatGPT and Gemini plumbing answers across 12 UK cities linked the Gas Safe Register. Read the plumber study.

4. Local threads shape a third of answers

Reddit or Facebook fed 51 of 159 answers, 32%. Estate agents were highest at 55%, then vets at 42%. This is where warnings about named firms enter an answer.

5. One answer in five leans on a page nobody wrote

Auto-generated “best of” pages fed 32 answers, 20%, and 40% of accountant and roofer answers. These are sites built to rank, not to inform.

6. No news outlet fed a single answer

Not one of 159 answers cited a newspaper or news site, in any sector, in any town. Trustpilot appeared twice. Yelp and Companies House did not appear at all.

The named sources

Every source that appeared in more than one answer, plus the ones people expect and we did not find. Same 159 answers.

Source: AI citation sources study, Whito, collected 22 August 2026.

A different engine, a different picture

This is a separate, smaller log, so it sits in its own table and is never added to the map above. 36 questions, six categories, three UK towns, ChatGPT and Gemini, 19 July 2026.

Source: Where AI gets its answers, Whito, collected 19 July 2026.

What is not on this map yet

We would rather show a gap than fill it with a guess. These have not been collected or not yet published:

• Award lists and rankings. Solicitor and estate agent answers in our August profession studies quoted rankings and awards, but “award list” was not coded as a source type in the 22 August count.
• Regulators sector by sector. The share is published for all sectors together (45%), not per sector.
• ChatGPT and Gemini sector by sector. The July log is published as a whole, not split by sector.
• Movement over time. The next collection on the same panel is due in December 2026.

What to do with this

Start. Whatever your sector, fix the two sources you own before paying for anything else. Your website should say, in plain text, who you are, where you work, what you do and your company or register number. Your Google Business Profile should be claimed, complete and current. Both are in four answers out of five, and both cost nothing.

Build. If you are an electrician, plumber or roofer, the platform in your trade is close to unavoidable: keep that profile current and complete. If you run a practice or a professional firm, the trade directories barely appear, so do not buy one for AI’s sake.

Everyone. Put your register number on your own site, as text. The engines tell customers to check the register. They do not check it themselves.

Not sure where your own site stands? The free Visibility Check runs the structural checks behind this research in about twenty seconds. No email needed.

Method

One prompt, “Recommend a trustworthy [sector] in [town]”, run once for each of 8 sectors in each of 20 UK towns on Google AI Mode on 22 August 2026. 160 answers were recorded and 159 carried a source line. Sources are what the answer cited or named. An answer counts once per source type. Towns: Reading, Sunderland, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham, Coventry, Luton, Bristol, Doncaster, Ipswich, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Plymouth, Glasgow, Belfast, Mansfield, Blackpool and Wolverhampton. Full method on the Whito AI Visibility Index page.

What this does not prove

• A cited source is not proof that it caused the recommendation.
• One engine, one day, one run per prompt. A different day gives different answers.
• The July ChatGPT and Gemini log is a different, smaller panel. Do not add it to the August figures.
• “Own website” does not always mean the recommended firm’s website. In at least twelve answers the engine cited the site of a firm it did not recommend.
• Being cited, or not, says nothing about the quality of any business or platform.

The data behind this page

The free page shows every published figure, the method and the limits. The row-level working, every source on every answer with its type and whether it was cited or only named, is available through Whito Data. Buying it changes nothing on this page. Directories and platforms can buy it like anyone else, and it reports what the engines cited whoever is paying. Nobody can pay to be counted, left out or moved. How Whito makes money.

Cite this research

Whito Research (2026). Who AI engines lean on, sector by sector: the Whito citation map. https://whito.co.uk/research/ai-citation-map/. Key figures: in 159 Google AI Mode answers across 20 UK towns on 22 August 2026, the business’s own website was cited in 143 (90%) and Google in 128 (81%); Checkatrade sat behind 50 of the 60 trade answers and 1 of the 79 professional-service answers. Free to quote with a link.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the original log and correct it in public, with the date. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.

Questions

What sources do AI engines use to recommend a UK local business?

The business’s own website and Google come first in every sector. In 159 Google AI Mode answers logged across 20 UK towns on 22 August 2026, the own website was cited in 143 (90%) and Google reviews or Business Profiles in 128 (81%). Source: Whito citation map.

Does AI use Checkatrade to recommend tradespeople?

For trades, yes. Checkatrade sat behind 50 of the 60 electrician, plumber and roofer answers Google AI Mode gave on 22 August 2026. In the 79 answers for vets, dentists, accountants and estate agents it appeared once.

Do AI engines check the Gas Safe Register or other registers?

Rarely as a source. Regulators and registers appeared 111 times in 159 answers, but in 95 of those they were only named as something the reader should check. The Gas Safe Register appeared in ten answers and was never a cited source.

Does press coverage help a business get recommended by AI?

Not in this data. No news outlet was cited in any of 159 Google AI Mode answers across 8 sectors and 20 UK towns on 22 August 2026.

Whito

Whito is an independent UK research publisher. We publish research on how UK businesses are found, trusted and priced: what they cost to market, how their sectors work, and who actually gets recommended. Studies are free to read, every figure carries the date it was checked, and nobody pays to appear.

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