TLDR
Similarweb data from May 2026 shows ChatGPT included a clickable link in 22.6% of travel answers, more than three times the 6.8% overall average across all topics. Education recorded the lowest link rate at 4.8%, meaning the chatbot almost always answers those questions from memory without citing a source. The gap reveals that industry category, not website quality, is the dominant factor in whether ChatGPT links to a business at all. Australian businesses in comparison-heavy sectors have a genuine citation opportunity, while those in stable advice categories need a visibility strategy that does not depend on referral links.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The gap that matters: travel versus the rest
ChatGPT handed travel sites a clickable link in 22.6% of its travel answers in May 2026, against a cross-category average of just 6.8%verifiedVerified Source: similarweb.com.[1] That is a gap of more than three times the norm, and no single travel brand's domain authority or content volume explains it.
Retail came next at 13.5%, then sport at 10.7% and finance at 8.0%.[1] Every one of those categories outpaced the overall average, pointing to something structural rather than tactical.
Why some industries get links and others do not
Similarweb's 2026 Generative AI Landscape report, based on May 2026 United States desktop data, maps citation rates across topic categories. The data does not measure which businesses inside a category win links, only how often any link appears at all.[1]
The dividing line sits between queries that demand a current, verifiable answer, such as a hotel price or a flight schedule, and queries where settled knowledge is enough. Travel, retail and sport live on the first side. Education and health, where the underlying facts change slowly and the chatbot can answer from training data, sit on the second.
Lily Ray, VP of SEO and AI Search at Amsive and founder of Algorythmic, said GEO is a new layer on top of traditional SEO, but many of the fundamentals that drive visibility remain the same. "Every major AI search product relies on live retrieval, which is dependent on positioning well within search engines. If your organic visibility dips, your AI search visibility will follow, as language models are less likely to retrieve your content," Ray said.[1]
What types of content ChatGPT actually cites
Reviews and user-generated content accounted for 28.9% of all ChatGPT citations, outpacing news and publisher sites at 26.0%verifiedVerified Source: similarweb.com.[1] That figure matters for any business deciding where to put its content investment.
Aleyda Solis, founder of Orainti, pointed to a structural oddity in how citations translate into traffic. "The data shows a clear disconnect between the pages ChatGPT cites and those receiving referral traffic," Solis said. "65% of cited URLs sit two or three folders deep, with folder depth two alone accounting for 41.7% of citations. In contrast, 58.8% of AI referral traffic lands on homepages."[1]
ChatGPT cites deep, specific pages, such as a review thread or a destination guide, while users who do follow a link often navigate to the homepage rather than the cited page itself.
What the numbers mean for Australian businesses by category
For Australian travel operators, tour booking platforms and accommodation sites, the Similarweb figures represent a measurable opportunity. A business appearing in ChatGPT answers for travel questions can expect a link in roughly one in four responses, compared with fewer than one in fourteen for the average topic.[1]
Education recorded the lowest citation rate of any measured category at 4.8%verifiedVerified Source: similarweb.com, meaning Australian edtech firms, universities and training providers should expect ChatGPT to answer most relevant questions without linking out at all.[1] Visibility in AI responses for those businesses will depend on brand recognition and retrieval from training data, not inbound referral links.
Finance sat at 8.0%, slightly above the average, placing Australian banks, super funds and comparison sites in a marginal position where citation is possible but far from reliable.[1]
The limits of the data and what to do with it
Similarweb's measurement covered only United States desktop users and excluded mobile apps and AI features embedded in other products.[1] Australian desktop behaviour may differ, and the mobile gap is substantial given how most Australians access the internet. The figures are a directional signal, not a precise forecast for any local market.
Solis and Ray both point toward the same practical response: earn organic rankings first, because AI retrieval follows search positioning. Businesses in high-citation categories should also build out review-rich and user-generated content, given that content type made up the largest single share of citations at 28.9%.[1]
Similarweb's 2026 Generative AI Landscape report covers data collected through May 2026.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which industry gets the most links from ChatGPT answers?
Why does ChatGPT link to some industries more than others?
What type of content does ChatGPT cite most often?
Does the Similarweb data apply to Australian businesses?
Zara Kincaid writes about artificial intelligence and search. Her focus is what happens to businesses when the front page of the internet stops being a list of links and starts being an answer.
