Where Do LLMs Find Answers? And How to Make Sure They Find You.

The New Search Engine Is an AI - and It Has Strong Opinions About Sources

In January 2026, a landmark analysis tracked which domains large language models (LLMs) cited most frequently when generating answers. The results were striking: Reddit led at 11.29%, followed by LinkedIn at 11.03%, Wikipedia at 9.53%, and YouTube at 8.77%. Traditional authority sites like Forbes, Google, and Quora trailed significantly.

This isn’t a trivial statistic for businesses. It signals a fundamental shift in how brand authority is built and discovered in the age of AI. The brands that thrive in the next decade will not simply be the ones ranking #1 on Google - they will be the ones whose expertise, reputation, and content is embedded in the ecosystems LLMs trust most.

“If your brand isn’t being cited by AI, it doesn’t exist for a growing segment of your audience - especially younger, tech-forward buyers.”

Why Reddit and LinkedIn Dominate - And What It Means for You

The dominance of Reddit and LinkedIn is not accidental. These platforms share something crucial: they host authentic, experience-based, community-verified content. LLMs are trained to weight genuine human discourse and expert professional opinion over brand-controlled marketing copy.

Reddit’s forum threads - where real users debate the best neighbourhoods to buy in, ask about mortgage pitfalls, or recommend local agents - are gold mines of signal for AI models. LinkedIn, on the other hand, provides professional credibility: articles, posts, and profiles that establish thought leadership.

For businesses, especially in high-consideration categories like real estate, this changes the playbook entirely. You can no longer rely on a polished website alone. Your digital presence must be woven into the fabric of the platforms AI models trust.

• A growing share of buyers now use AI assistants during early-stage property research
• 11.29% of all LLM citations go to Reddit - the #1 cited domain
• 3× more likely to be cited when active across Reddit + LinkedIn + YouTube

How Prabisha’s Team Turns This Into a Competitive Advantage

At Prabisha, we recognised this shift early. While many agencies were still optimising title tags and meta descriptions, our team began developing what we call LLM Visibility Architecture - a structured approach to ensuring our clients appear where AI models look for credible answers.

Our methodology is built around five pillars:

1. Citation Ecosystem Mapping

   We identify which platforms and content formats LLMs draw from for your industry, then map gaps in your current presence across Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, Wikipedia, Medium, and Quora.

2. Authority Content Seeding

   We craft genuinely useful, expert-led content - Q&A threads, professional articles, explainer videos - that earns organic traction on the top-cited platforms and signals authenticity to AI training pipelines.

3. Reputation Amplification

   Press features, podcast appearances, and third-party mentions on high-authority domains (like Forbes-tier publications) create the web of citations that AI models use to validate credibility.

4. Community Engagement Strategy

   Our team manages strategic participation in relevant Reddit communities and LinkedIn groups - not spammy promotion, but genuine expert contribution that builds brand recall and citation likelihood.

5. AI Citation Monitoring

   We run monthly LLM audits - querying ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity with buyer-intent questions to track whether our clients are being cited, and adjust strategy based on what the AI says.

The Bottom Line: GEO Is the New SEO

Search Engine Optimisation transformed marketing in the 2000s. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) - the practice of ensuring your brand is cited, trusted, and recommended by AI systems - is the defining marketing discipline of the late 2020s.

The data from January 2026 tells a clear story. AI models don’t cite your homepage. They cite Reddit threads, LinkedIn articles, YouTube videos, Wikipedia entries, and Medium posts. They cite the places where genuine human expertise lives. The brands that understand this and act proactively - as this UK property firm did - will own the next decade of discovery.

Prabisha’s team is already helping clients in real estate, finance, healthcare, and professional services build AI citation strategies tailored to their industries. The window to gain first-mover advantage is open - but it won’t stay open forever.