New research reveals that OpenAI's ChatGPT search index treats smaller, independent websites on equal footing with major media publishers, providing opportunities for small businesses to earn valuable AI search citations without multi-million-dollar partnerships. This challenges initial concerns that OpenAI's content licensing deals would create an uneven playing field. With ChatGPT Search prioritizing content relevance and structure, local businesses can now focus on optimizing their websites for conversational AI assistants.

According to new research from Similarweb, ChatGPT includes web citations in an average of just 6.8% of U.S. desktop answers, though link frequencies vary dramatically by industry. Travel and retail lead all categories with citation rates of 22.6% and 13.5%, respectively. Understanding these vertical attribution benchmarks is vital for local business owners building a competitive AI search visibility strategy.