On this page
- Review Sites Sit Behind List and Rival Questions and Skip the How-To Ones
- On ChatGPT, Review-Site Citations Are Nearly All G2's
- Naming a Product Changes Which Review Page Is Cited, Not How Often
- Buyers Also Check G2 Outside the Answer, and No Citation Count Shows It
- Budget for Review Sites by the Kind of Question, Not as One Number
- Decide the Next Renewal From Your Own Evidence
- Frequently asked questions
If you run a software company, someone on your team keeps the G2 profile. They pick the categories, ask customers for reviews, answer the comparison requests, and keep Capterra and the others in step. That's hours every month, and a budget line nobody has looked at in a while.
G2's own research now gives that line a new argument. In its March 2026 survey of business software buyers, 51% said they start software research with an AI chatbot more often than Google1, and 45% called a review-site citation the most confidence-inspiring signal in an AI answer1.
So we asked ChatGPT, with web search, and Google AI Mode, Google's chat-style answers, the kinds of question that survey says software buyers start with, from the US in October 2026, and read every source the answers cited. Each share uses every answer to that question type on that engine, and a citation is a link an answer showed, not a visit, a demo request or a deal.
Review sites sit behind about as many answers to list questions as to questions that name a product, and almost none to how-to questions.
When the buyer names a product, the review page cited is almost always the one about that product. On an alternatives question that page is a list of the product's rivals, and on Google AI Mode it was usually Gartner's, not G2's.
Review Sites Sit Behind List and Rival Questions and Skip the How-To Ones
G2's March survey also asked buyers what their first AI prompt is when they research software. Category questions came first at 33%, competitor questions at 31%, and requirements or process questions at 22%1.
Two-thirds of software buyers start an AI chat with a category or a competitor
% of surveyed buyers
We asked list questions ("ecommerce platform recommendations"), alternatives ("what can i use instead of Asana"), comparisons ("Xero vs QuickBooks Online"), and how-to questions about buying software.
Here, review sites include G2, Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice, TrustRadius, Trustpilot, Gartner Peer Insights, and smaller software directories.
On list questions, 24.17% of ChatGPT's answers and 18.61% of Google AI Mode's cited a review site. Alternatives questions came in at 20.45% and 23.48%, comparisons at 28.79% and 13.64%.
Review sites sit behind list and rival questions, almost never behind how-to questions
% of answers citing a review site
View the data
| Label | Google AI Mode | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| List questions | 18.61% | 24.17% |
| Alternatives | 23.48% | 20.45% |
| Comparisons | 13.64% | 28.79% |
| How-to questions | 1.33% | 4.00% |
How-to questions barely touched them: 4.00% of ChatGPT's answers and 1.33% of Google AI Mode's, and G2 itself in none on either engine.
78.00% of Google AI Mode's how-to answers carried no source, against 0.67% of ChatGPT's.
On ChatGPT, Review-Site Citations Are Nearly All G2's
On list questions, G2 alone was cited in 15.56% of ChatGPT's answers and 9.44% of Google AI Mode's. Capterra followed on ChatGPT at 10.83%. On Google AI Mode the second site was Gartner Peer Insights, at 8.33% against 3.06% on ChatGPT.
On list questions ChatGPT leans on G2 and Capterra; Google AI Mode adds Gartner
% of answers to list questions
View the data
| Label | Google AI Mode | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 9.44% | 15.56% |
| Capterra | 3.61% | 10.83% |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 8.33% | 3.06% |
| Software Advice | 0.00% | 1.11% |
| TrustRadius | 0.00% | 0.56% |
GetApp and Trustpilot were cited in none of the answers, on either engine, to any kind of question.
The ownership is changing this year. G2 agreed in January to buy Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp from Gartner2, and its own 2026 report counts the three as part of "the G2 ecosystem"1.
Count the four together and they appear in 22.78% of ChatGPT's answers to list questions, against 24.17% for any review site. On ChatGPT, the review-site question is mostly a question about one company's sites, at least on list questions.
On Google AI Mode the four reach 11.11%, and every other answer that cited a review site cited Gartner Peer Insights.
Mostly, the page cited on a list question was itself a list. Of the G2 pages ChatGPT cited there:
| Kind of G2 page | Share of cited G2 pages |
|---|---|
| Category pages | 37.50% |
| G2's own articles, such as its write-ups of the best project management software | 36.54% |
| Best-software award lists | 12.50% |
| Product profiles | 10.58% |
G2 sorts most category pages by its G2 Score, built from review satisfaction and market presence, with older reviews weighted less3. Your team controls its categories and review requests; measure whether changing them changes the answers.
Naming a Product Changes Which Review Page Is Cited, Not How Often
Alternatives and comparison questions together cited a review site in 24.62% of ChatGPT's answers and 18.56% of Google AI Mode's, next to 24.17% and 18.61% for list questions.
What changed was the page: 23.86% of ChatGPT's answers to those questions cited a review page about the product the buyer named, so nearly every answer that cited a review site at all. On Google AI Mode it was 17.80% of answers, out of 18.56%.
On comparisons, every review page ChatGPT cited was about one of the two products in the question: the review sites' side-by-side pages, such as TrustRadius' page setting Pipedrive against Zoho CRM, two customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
On alternatives questions, the page about the named product is its alternatives page. Asked for "Pipedrive alternatives", ChatGPT cited Capterra's page listing Pipedrive's alternatives.
Asked for the best alternatives to BambooHR, it cited G2's BambooHR alternatives page, then G2's review pages for several of the rivals.
On alternatives questions the engines read different review sites
% of answers to alternatives questions
View the data
| Label | Google AI Mode | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 2.27% | 14.39% |
| Capterra | 0.76% | 7.58% |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 18.18% | 0.00% |
| Software Advice | 0.76% | 1.52% |
| Other directories | 3.03% | 0.00% |
Google AI Mode went to Gartner instead. 18.18% of its answers to alternatives questions cited Gartner Peer Insights, and none of ChatGPT's did. Every Gartner page it cited there was the named product's alternatives page, for products such as ClickUp, Asana, Microsoft Teams and Calendly.
That makes your own alternatives page, on G2 or on Gartner, a list of your rivals that buyers read when they ask what to use instead of you. And a rival's alternatives page is the list you want to be on when they ask the same about the rival.
G2 documents how it orders that list: by the number of categories two products share, the number of reviews in each shared category, and how often G2's users compare the pair3.
Gartner Peer Insights has a rule G2 doesn't: it only lists products sold to larger companies and leaves out small-business and consumer software4.
If you sell only to small businesses, Gartner's rule keeps you off Peer Insights, so on Google AI Mode the alternatives answers about your bigger rivals read a list you can't join. On ChatGPT the same questions read G2's and Capterra's pages, where you can.
Open your own alternatives pages on G2 and Capterra and read the first names on each. Those are the products the page puts in front of a buyer who asks what to use instead of you, and in front of any answer that cites it.
Buyers Also Check G2 Outside the Answer, and No Citation Count Shows It
The citation shares above measure the review page inside an answer. Buyers also visit review sites on their own, before or after they ask an assistant.
In G2's March survey, software review sites were the second source influencing which vendors make a shortlist (43%), after AI chatbots (54%)1. In its June survey, the 2026 Buyer Behavior Report, review sites (38%) and AI chatbots (37%) led the sources buyers said shaped their shortlist decisions5.
Buyers name AI chatbots first and review sites second for what shapes their shortlist
% of surveyed buyers
View the data
Wynter's January survey of 101 chief marketing officers at companies selling subscription software to businesses found the same habit from the buyer's side: 52% named G2 and review sites as a place they start a software search, beside AI tools at 68%6.
One of them described the routine as "ask my CMO Slack group, ask ChatGPT, cross-reference on G2."6
Buyers have reason to check: 64% of buyers in G2's March survey said they meet inaccuracies in AI chatbots often or very often1, and G2's report says that when an answer leaves out a brand they trust or gets one wrong, most buyers look for peer reviews.
A recent academic study of AI citations adds the other half. ChatGPT names brands it knows without any page to support them, and the authors put it in one line: "Pages are thus cited when searched; brands are also named when remembered."7 Their findings held in a market of small B2B vendors too.
So a product can be named with no review page cited, and checked on G2 after the answer with no citation at all. A share of answers counts neither. That's why a citation share can't settle the spend on its own.
Budget for Review Sites by the Kind of Question, Not as One Number
So the decision runs question by question: for each kind, which page the answers read, and who on your team keeps what that page is built from.
| The buyer asks | The page the answer cites | Who keeps what it's built from |
|---|---|---|
| A list question | Category pages and roundup articles | Whoever owns your categories and review asks |
| Alternatives to a product | That product's alternatives page | The same person, with sales naming rivals |
| A comparison | The pair's comparison page | Product marketing |
| A how-to question | Rarely a review site | Whoever owns your help pages |
Ask your category and competitor questions on both engines. Open the cited review pages and check whether they list you: OpenAI warns that search citations can be incomplete or incorrect8.
Asked once, that's a screenshot. Asked every month on the same questions, it's a measurement you can hold a budget line against.
Decide the Next Renewal From Your Own Evidence
If the pages behind your list and alternatives questions list you, the profile work is reaching the answers, and an upgrade has a case to test.
If they're mostly Gartner's and you sell only to small businesses, a G2 upgrade is unlikely to change Google AI Mode's alternatives answers, because the page they read isn't G2's.
If no review page sits behind your questions at all, keep the profile accurate for buyers who check it directly, and question the upgrade.
Frequently asked questions
How often do ChatGPT and Google AI Mode cite G2 when buyers ask for software?
On list questions in our October 2026 research, G2 alone was cited in 15.56% of ChatGPT's answers and 9.44% of Google AI Mode's, and any review site in 24.17% and 18.61%. On how-to questions about buying software, G2 was cited in none.
Do review sites show up when a buyer asks how to choose software?
In our October 2026 research, review sites rarely appeared in how-to answers about buying software. A review site appeared in 4.00% of ChatGPT's answers and 1.33% of Google AI Mode's; 78.00% of Google AI Mode's answers cited no source.
Do AI answers cite Trustpilot or GetApp for software?
Not in our October research: neither was cited in any answer, on either engine, to any kind of question. In this sample, time spent on those profiles reached the buyers who visit them directly, not the answers.
Why does Google AI Mode cite Gartner instead of G2?
The answers show it, not the reason. On alternatives questions, 18.18% of Google AI Mode's answers cited Gartner Peer Insights and none of ChatGPT's did, and every Gartner page cited there was the named product's alternatives page.
Can a small-business software company get onto Gartner Peer Insights?
Not by Gartner's own rule: Peer Insights lists products sold to larger companies and leaves out small-business and consumer software4. On ChatGPT, G2 and Capterra carry the review citations on alternatives questions.
What is an alternatives page?
The review site's page listing a product's rivals, such as G2's BambooHR alternatives page. When a buyer asks what to use instead of a product, the answers tend to cite that page, so your own alternatives page is the list of rivals put in front of your buyers.
What decides which products appear on a G2 alternatives page?
G2 says it orders them by how many categories two products share, how many reviews each has in those shared categories, and how often G2's users compare the pair3. Check your product's categories and recent reviews before assuming an upgrade will change its position.
Does a G2 citation mean the assistant recommended my product?
No. A cited page and a named product are separate things: one academic study found ChatGPT names brands it remembers with no page behind them7. A citation shows which page an answer showed, and a buyer may still check G2 later with no citation at all.
How do I tell whether G2 brings us customers?
From your own records, not from citations: ask on the demo form how the buyer found you, tag each new inquiry by what they said, and compare won deals by tag. In G2's own interviews, software marketers called attribution their most consistent frustration1.
Which G2 pages does ChatGPT cite for software lists?
In our October research, category pages and G2's own articles were the most common G2 page types cited for list questions. Product profiles were only part of the picture, so checking your own profile alone misses the lists a buyer may read.
Should we measure review-site citations on both engines?
Yes, because ChatGPT and Google AI Mode cited different review sites for the same kinds of question in our research. Keep separate rows for each engine and separate list, alternatives, comparison, and how-to questions so one total does not hide the difference.
Should we stop maintaining a profile if AI answers never cite it?
Keep the profile accurate for buyers who visit review sites themselves. A citation count does not capture those visits or the deals they influence; use your own buyer-source records alongside the answer checks when judging an upgrade.
Does upgrading a G2 profile get us into more AI answers?
Nothing in the answers shows that it does. G2 documents how it orders its lists: shared categories, reviews in those categories, and how often its users compare two products. Check whether changing your categories or reviews changes the answers before you pay for an upgrade.
Sources
- G2: The Answer Economy: G2's 2026 AI Search Insight Report (2026)
- G2 via PR Newswire: G2 to Acquire Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp from Gartner (2026)
- G2 Documentation: Research Scoring Methodologies (2026)
- Gartner Peer Insights: Getting Started with Peer Insights (2026)
- G2: 2026 Buyer Behavior Report (2026)
- Wynter: How B2B SaaS CMOs Buy Software (2026)
- arXiv: What Drives AI Citations? Content, Retrieval and Model Knowledge in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) (2026)
- OpenAI Help Center: Searching the web with ChatGPT (2026)
