PAN Communications, the global brand-to-demand agency, has released the full C-Suite Signals: AI Citation Index, a longitudinal study of how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity answer the questions B2B C-Suite executives ask about their work. Across 31,500 AI responses collected from late August to late September, answers to the same question changed substantially 50% to 60% of the time.
PAN tracked 31,500 AI responses and more than 155,000 citations over four weeks across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.
Answers to the same question changed substantially 50% to 60% of the time.
Of the sources cited in week one, 42% were still cited in week four.
Authoritative sources held on far longer: the National Institutes of Health kept 76% of its citation spots, Deloitte 68% and SHRM 67%, versus 27% for Medium and 21% for Reddit.
Variance averaged 54% across nine personas, from 39% for CHROs to 70% for Chief Medical Officers.
ChatGPT was the most consistent platform, and there were 16,503 different domains across 154,944 citations, with LinkedIn the top source at just 5%.
"Leaders want to know whether their brand shows up when an executive asks AI for advice, and our data shows that answer can change from one week to the next. The brands that hold their place are cited by sources AI already relies on, like analysts, trade outlets, and professional associations," said Mark Nardone, CMO of PAN. "But that visibility work extends beyond just citations. Not all links are created equal; and that's where reputation-building and credibility take priority. The best way of nailing both — credibility and visibility — is via omnichannel efforts that start with human creativity."
"Our AI Citation Index offers an unvarnished view into where AI looks for answers and how often that changes," said Zareen Fidlon, EVP, Integrated Marketing and Head of AI Innovation, PAN. "This surplus of data and AI fluency is already informing how we plan and measure brand-to-demand programs."
Authority outlasts volume. Authoritative sources held on far longer than high-volume platforms, with the National Institutes of Health keeping 76% of its citation spots compared with 27% for Medium and 21% for Reddit.
Each executive sees a different level of change. Variance averaged 54% across the nine personas, from 39% for CHROs to 70% for Chief Medical Officers.
ChatGPT was the most consistent platform. Its answers varied far less than those of Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, making it a practical starting point for brands auditing what AI says about them.
AI draws on a far wider pool of sources than brands plan for. There were 16,503 different domains across 154,944 citations. LinkedIn was the top source, and it still only made up 5% of all citations.
The right sources depend on the role. For Chief Medical Officers, NIH and PubMed made up 23% of citations. CHROs leaned on SHRM, CIOs and CTOs on CIO.com, and CMOs and CROs on Gartner.
PAN Communications builds this insight into client programs that track how brands appear across AI platforms and grow the earned and owned sources those platforms cite.
Take payments technology company Nuvei. PAN paired a market launch in Mexico with original consumer research and thought leadership from seven executives. Nuvei's AI Visibility Score rose 4.8 points to 14.4%, and its earned coverage generated 59,598 AI citations, nearly three times the citations its own website produced.
For DynaMed, PAN ran an integrated paid, earned, shared, and owned program backed by an executive LinkedIn presence. The program secured high-impact placements in TIME and grew organic keyword rankings 1,500% quarter over quarter, including 450+ page-one and AI Overview keyword placements, while organic search sessions rose 60%.
For Tungsten Automation, PAN built a US and UK media program grounded in the company's "right AI for the right reason" philosophy that moved it beyond legacy document processing and into current conversations about how AI works inside real enterprise workflows.
About PAN and PANBlast
PAN Communications is the brand-to-demand agency forged from PR. Independent and global, we help B2B tech and healthcare brands get seen, believed, and chosen. Trusted by mid-market and enterprise leaders, we bring 30+ years of experience and award-winning work across earned, owned, and paid media. PANBlast is a wholly owned division of PAN dedicated to serving emerging to high-growth B2B SaaS and AI brands.
