AI Search Cited Award 2026 Second Half Names 21 Sector Leaders
The award shows AI search citations concentrate in comparison and recommendation pages, which make up 32.7 percent of cited content, while more specific queries shift citations toward official company sources.
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
Wanokuni, the company behind the AI search optimization agent Brand UP, published the AI Search Cited Award 2026 second half, ranking the sites most cited by AI search across 21 sectors and 122 categories. The award aggregates 484,537 citations from ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode between February and July 2026. Twenty-one sector winners spread across 20 sites; only ASPIC took two sectors. Comparison, recommendation, and selection pages made up 32.7 percent of cited pages.
The second half of the award expanded from 8 industries and 50 categories to 21 sectors and 122 categories, with 90 prompts run per category. Sector leader scores ranged from 63.8 percent in the reuse and purchase sector to 15.6 percent in travel, stores, and gourmet, a gap of more than four times. The survey found some sectors concentrate citations in a few sites while others distribute them widely.
Query specificity changed the citation mix. Broad prompts asking for recommendations, comparisons, or selection guidance drew comparison sites and roundup articles, which made up 32.7 percent of cited pages. Prompts that asked for pricing, features, or adoption conditions pulled in company service pages and official information instead.
- Oikura: reuse and purchase sector, 63.8 percent
- ASPIC: SaaS and B2B sector, 46.4 percent
- Career Trust: HR and recruitment sector, 43.4 percent
- Kakaku.com: finance and insurance sector, 43.0 percent
- ASPIC: sales and back-office outsourcing sector, 41.5 percent
- Clinic For: medical and clinic sector, 41.5 percent
- Media Radar: news and portal media sector, 36.2 percent
- Kurashi no Market: housing and living equipment sector, 35.4 percent
- My Best: beauty and healthcare products sector, 32.6 percent
- ITreview: corporate infrastructure and procurement sector, 30.5 percent
- SUUMO: real estate and housing sector, 29.5 percent
- Hot Pepper: beauty, body care, and salon sector, 28.3 percent
- note: development and IT contracting sector, 26.4 percent
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government: life events sector, 23.4 percent
- MISUMI: manufacturing, logistics, and field services sector, 21.5 percent
- Coeteco: education and school sector, 21.2 percent
- Next SFA: professional services and specialist consulting sector, 18.3 percent
- YouTube: EC and B2C sector, 18.1 percent
- Cone: marketing and Web support sector, 17.9 percent
- Google: QA and life information sector, 16.2 percent
- Yahoo! JAPAN: travel, stores, and gourmet sector, 15.6 percent
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.