Study: Business Websites Dominate Gemini's Local AI Search Citations, But Results Lack Consistency

Search Engine Land reports on Steady Demand's analysis of local AI search behavior across Gemini and ChatGPT. The research revealed that business websites dominate Gemini's citations at nearly 60%, outpacing directories and review platforms combined, while Reddit placed second at 13.7%. A key finding, termed "Grounding Drift" by Steady Demand co-founder Ben Fisher, exposed significant inconsistency: identical Gemini searches produced overlapping sources only 40% of the time, versus 90% consistency in Google's traditional local pack. Notably, Gemini and ChatGPT aligned on cited sources just 8% of the time, signaling that local SEO professionals must monitor multiple AI platforms rather than assuming visibility in one translates to another.