Muck Rack, the AI communications platform, has released the May 2026 edition of its ongoing study, What Is AI Reading?. Analyzing more than 25 million links across ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, the third installment of this research confirms a definitive trend: earned media remains the dominant force shaping AI-generated answers. Since the study’s inception in July 2025, earned media has consistently accounted for the vast majority of citations, while paid content barely registers. This underscores a critical shift for PR and marketing leaders—to influence AI, brands must prioritize traditional editorial coverage over paid placements.
Earned Media Dominance: Accounts for 84% of all AI citations, including journalism, academic research, and government data.
The "Paid" Gap: Advertorial and paid content represent a negligible 0.3% of citations.
Journalism's Impact: Professional journalism accounts for 27% of all links, stable across all three editions of the study.
Recency Factor: Over 50% of journalism citations are from articles published within the last 12 months, with a significant drop-off after six months.
Top Outlets: Axios is a massive outlier, appearing in ChatGPT’s top three citations across 13 of 17 industries.
Provider Differences: ChatGPT cites frequently (96% of responses), while Claude is more selective (55%) but provides more sources per response (13).
The study reveals that each major AI platform has its own "favorite" information neighborhood. This means a brand’s visibility strategy must change depending on which AI their target audience uses:
| Feature | ChatGPT | Gemini | Claude |
| Citation Frequency | 96% | 82% | 55% |
| Avg. Links/Response | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Primary Domain | Wikipedia | PubMed Central |
What a consumer asks directly dictates what the AI cites. For example, industry trend queries drive journalism citations at more than double the rate of "how-to" questions. Press releases also play a specific role, appearing 3.5 times more often in trend-based responses than in "best-of" lists. This suggests that for PR teams, the context of coverage is just as important as the outlet itself.
"Three editions in, the data keeps telling the same story: earned media is what AI trusts," said Greg Galant, co-founder and CEO of Muck Rack. "If your brand is not showing up in the media coverage AI is reading, you are not showing up in the answers AI is giving. That is a visibility problem with real business consequences."
The report is a cornerstone of Muck Rack's focus on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike traditional SEO, GEO focuses on how to influence the narrative within LLMs. Because AI models rely on trusted, high-authority editorial content to ground their responses, the "What Is AI Reading?" data serves as a roadmap for communications teams to prove the long-term ROI of earned media in an AI-first world.
About Muck Rack
Muck Rack is the AI communications platform where trusted data and human expertise drive clarity and impact. Thousands of organizations use Muck Rack to monitor media conversations, understand their brand's presence in AI answers, and manage their reputation across the entire PR workflow.
TechIntelPro empowers B2B technology decision-makers with the latest industry trends, deep insights, leadership perspectives and actionable intelligence to drive both organizational and professional milestones—and thrive on the tech pulse.