# Writesonic study finds AI engines often skip naming source brands

Published: 2026-07-29T14:48:18.485Z · Source: Search Engine Land (https://searchengineland.com/ghost-citation-problem-ai-483794)
Source date: 2026-07-29
Flags: Writesonic study — vendor-published
Entities: perplexity, ai-mode, chatgpt, writesonic

Writesonic analyzed roughly 16 million brand appearances across seven AI answer engines over a 30-day window and found citations frequently reference source content without naming the brand behind it — what the study calls "ghost citations." Rates varied widely by engine: Perplexity (52%), Google AI Mode (49%), Google AI Overviews (41%), ChatGPT (37%), Gemini (25%), Grok (22%) and Microsoft Copilot (19%). Writesonic's CEO is the study's author; the company says the numbers are a snapshot and don't establish effects on clicks, brand recall, or conversions.

Why it matters: If measurement tools count a citation whenever an engine pulls from your content, but the engine never says whose content it was, visibility trackers built on citation counts alone are missing a real chunk of exposure.

## What this answers

**Does ChatGPT name my brand when it cites my content?**

Per a Writesonic analysis of roughly 16 million brand appearances, ChatGPT left the source brand unnamed in about 37% of citations, versus 52% for Perplexity and 19% for Microsoft Copilot.

**Which AI engine most often cites content without naming the brand?**

Writesonic's study found Perplexity had the highest rate of unnamed-brand citations at 52%, followed by Google AI Mode at 49%.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-07-29-writesonic-study-finds-ai-engines-often-skip-naming-source-brands/
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