Highlights
- The dataset: This study is an analysis of over 220,000 AI source citations using prompts specific to the CRM software industry. It analyzes AI responses from four AI models run in 12 countries over the course of Q2 2026.
- TechRadar climbed from #12 to #2 (+441%): The clearest riser as the leaderboard reshuffled.
- 62% of Google AI Overview's citations are from commercial domains: Vendor and software domains dominate its answers.
- 28% of ChatGPT's citations are from editorial domains: Tech press and review media, nearly 3x Google AI Overview's editorial rate.
- ~88% of top sources differ: Between any two AI models in CRM software.
- 12% average shared top sources: Across the four models, ranging from 8% to 29%.
Which sources should you target to get cited as a CRM software brand?
Each model has its own anchor among its top cited sources.
| Model | Top cited domains (share of that model's citations) |
|---|---|
| Grok | youtube.com (5.1%), reddit.com (3.0%), blog.salesflare.com (2.4%), g2.com (2.0%), salesforce.com (1.9%) |
| Google AI Overview | youtube.com (9.5%), blog.salesflare.com (2.5%), pipedrive.com (2.4%), monday.com (2.2%), salesforce.com (1.9%) |
| Microsoft Copilot | wmtips.com (4.4%), forbes.com (2.9%), crmreviews.co.uk (2.1%), emailvendorselection.com (1.8%), ahora.es (1.7%) |
| ChatGPT | reddit.com (18.5%), techradar.com (17.3%), forbes.com (1.9%), akari.mx (1.3%), crmsystemguiden.se (1.1%) |
ChatGPT is the most concentrated: a striking 36% of its CRM citations go to just two domains, Reddit and TechRadar. Grok and Google AI Overview spread their citations far more thinly across vendor sites and YouTube. A CRM brand optimizing for one AI model is, on average, absent from ~88% of the domains the other models prefer.
How have AI source rankings changed over time in the CRM software industry?
We split the ~111-day window at its midpoint (early May 2026) and re-ranked the most-cited domains in each half, ranking by each domain's share of citations within its half rather than raw counts.
The reshuffle is real. TechRadar surged from #12 to #2, its citation share rising 441%, the clearest mover in the set. Reddit climbed to the #1 spot (+177% share). On the way down, G2 and PCMag each fell 15 places, and LinkedIn and TechnologyCounter all but disappeared from the top tier. The CRM source leaderboard is volatile enough that a brand's AI visibility can swing materially in a matter of weeks, track it in the live AI visibility rankings.
What type of content do AI models cite for CRM software?
We classified every cited domain by category. Commercial content (vendor and software domains) dominates every model, but the mix beyond that splits the field cleanly.
Three behaviors stand out. Google AI Overview is the most vendor-centric engine, sending nearly two-thirds of its citations straight to commercial CRM sites. ChatGPT is the most editorial, with 28.1% of citations going to tech-press and review media, almost 3x Google AI Overview's editorial rate, and the lowest commercial share of the four. Microsoft Copilot is the only model that meaningfully cites reference material (15.1%, vs 1–8% elsewhere), pulling in encyclopedic and informational sources the others skip. For a CRM vendor, ChatGPT visibility runs through earned press coverage; Google AI Overview visibility runs through your own domain and competitor comparison pages.
Do AI models cite local-language content for CRM software?
Across the non-English language markets (Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, French), local-country-domain citations make up about 34% of all citations, meaning roughly two-thirds of sources in non-English markets still sit on global or English-language domains. Local sourcing varies sharply by market.
The Dutch and German markets pull in the most local content; Spanish, spread across Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, leans hardest on global domains, with only about a quarter of citations landing on a local domain.
Which AI model relies most on local sources for CRM software?
Here CRM software inverts the pattern seen in other industries. Microsoft Copilot is by far the most localized engine, with 55.7% of its citations in non-English prompts on local domains, and it leads in every single language. Grok is the most global, localizing only 25.0% of the time despite citing the most sources overall. ChatGPT and Google AI Overview sit in the middle.
Microsoft Copilot's French (66%) and Dutch (72%) localization rates are the highest single cells in the matrix. Grok's Spanish (19%) and ChatGPT's Italian (15%) are the lowest. The lesson for a vendor in a non-English market: a strong local-language presence is far more likely to be picked up by Microsoft Copilot than by Grok.
Localization here is measured by whether the cited domain uses the market's own country code (.de.fr.it.nl.se, and .es/.mx/.ar), not by detecting the actual language of the page, so the figures are a directional lower bound. Google AI Overview had no French citations in scope and is excluded from that cell.
Should CRM software brands optimize for each AI model separately?
The headline finding is divergence, so yes. We took each model's 20 most-cited domains and measured, for each pair, the share of domains the two lists hold in common. The average across all six model pairs is just 12.1%, which means about 88% of the domains one model relies on are absent from any given other model's top tier.
The overlap is lopsided. Grok and Google AI Overview share 29% of their top domains, both lean on the same vendor sites (Salesforce, Pipedrive, monday.com), aggregators, and YouTube/Reddit. But every pairing involving ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot slides to 8–11%. ChatGPT, in particular, is an outlier: its top-20 is dominated by tech-press reviews and a long tail of localized review sites, sharing only three or four domains with any other engine.
How many sources does each AI model cite per answer?
The four engines differ by roughly four-fold in how many sources they cite in a single answer.
Grok cites roughly 3.9x as many sources per response as Microsoft Copilot, with Google AI Overview ahead of ChatGPT in the middle of the pack. Practically, Grok offers many more "slots" for a brand to appear in any given answer, while Microsoft Copilot's short citation lists make each slot far more competitive.
Context
This analysis draws from Temso's AI visibility monitoring platform, which tracks how brands appear in AI model responses across ChatGPT, Grok, Google AI Overview, and Microsoft Copilot. The dataset covers CRM software prompts across 12 country markets and 7 languages over roughly 111 days (March 10 to June 29, 2026), comprising 22,076 AI responses and over 220,000 cited source links.
It measures what AI models cite, not the accuracy or sentiment of what's said about any CRM brand. Citation share is a visibility signal, not a quality judgment. These findings reflect citation behavior for CRM software prompts in the monitored markets and may not generalize to other prompt types or verticals.
Methodology
How we measured this
We collected the source links cited by four AI engines as they answered a fixed set of CRM software prompts across 12 country markets and 7 languages over an 111-day window. Each cited link was attributed to its publishing domain, and each domain was classified by type using a global registry. Cross-model overlap was measured by comparing each model pair's top-20 most-cited domains. Content types come from a category registry. Ranking movement split the window at its midpoint and compared each domain's share of citations in the two halves. Model coverage varied across the observation window, so temporal movements are reported as relative ranks within each half.
The analysis covers over 220,000 cited sources from 22,076 AI responses. Sample sizes exceeded recommended thresholds for every reported finding. Localization is measured by a country-code-domain proxy (the source records carry no detected content language), so those figures are directional and exclude English-language prompts, which sit overwhelmingly on generic domains.
Frequently asked questions
Do different AI models cite the same sources for CRM software questions?
No, barely. Any two models share only about 12% of their top-20 most-cited domains on average, so roughly 88% of the sources one engine relies on are absent from another's top tier. The only meaningful agreement is between Grok and Google AI Overview, which share 29%.
Which AI model should a CRM vendor optimize for?
It depends on the content you can produce. Google AI Overview rewards your own vendor and comparison pages (62% commercial citations). ChatGPT rewards earned tech-press coverage (28% editorial). Because the models overlap so little, there is no single source strategy that wins everywhere, you have to plan per engine.
Which model cites the most sources per answer?
Grok, by a wide margin, about 27 sources per response, versus roughly 10 for Google AI Overview and about 7 for ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. That near-4x spread means Grok answers offer many more openings for a brand to appear.
Which AI engine is best for non-English CRM markets?
Microsoft Copilot. It relies on local sources the most, citing local-country domains 56% of the time in non-English markets and leading in every language tested. Grok is the least localized at 25%, defaulting to global and English-language sources.
Which CRM sources are gaining ground in AI answers?
Discussion and review media. Reddit moved to the top spot and TechRadar climbed from #12 to #2 (a 441% jump in citation share) over the window. Comparison directories went the other way, G2 and PCMag each fell about 15 places.
Do AI source rankings for CRM change much over time?
Yes. Over roughly four months the leaderboard reshuffled substantially, with multiple domains moving 10+ ranks in either direction. AI visibility in this category is not stable, it can swing materially within weeks.
What types of sites get cited most for CRM software?
Commercial vendor sites lead across every model, from 34% (ChatGPT) up to 62% (Google AI Overview). Beyond that, the models diverge: ChatGPT favors editorial tech press, Microsoft Copilot uniquely leans on reference material (15%), and user-generated content is a consistent 20–25% everywhere.
