# Citations come from earned media

About 84% of AI citations point to earned, third-party media — not brand-owned pages. Brands mentioned across publishers, reviews, and communities earn ~6.5× more AI citations than brands who only publish on their own domain. PR is now a technical SEO channel.

Canonical: https://robauto.ai/learn/ai-search-aeo/8

_AI Search (AEO/GEO): Get Found by Machines That Answer — lesson 8 of 20 (STAT)_

**84%**

About 84% of AI citations point to earned, third-party media — not brand-owned pages. Brands mentioned across publishers, reviews, and communities earn ~6.5× more AI citations than brands who only publish on their own domain. PR is now a technical SEO channel.

Source: [Muck Rack (2026); University of Toronto (arXiv:2509.08919)](https://muckrack.com?utm_source=robauto)

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