Industry Research Report · March 2026
LLM Ranking Factors
Large-scale research into the correlations between potential ranking factors and the actual recommendations given by ChatGPT — measured across 145 industries and 1,595 buyer personas using 13 distinct technical signals, including search engine presence, backlinks, Reddit engagement, Wikipedia citations, and Common Crawl web coverage.
145
Industries
1,595
Personas
105k+
LLM Prompts
1.1B+
Web Pages Crawled
5B+
Reddit Posts
15k+
Google Searches
300M+
Wikimedia Entities
4B+
Backlinks Indexed
Research Process
LLM Recommendation Sampling ChatGPT 5.4
- Started with 500 candidate industries; refined to 145 with sufficient domain coverage
- Generated 1,595 buyer personas per industry (neutral + targeted segments)
- Per persona: top recommended domains, top search phrases, top on-page phrases
- Industry-level phrases collected to scope all downstream data collection
Common Crawl — Web Content
- March 2026 WARC snapshot — random sample of 1.15 billion pages
- Measured general web presence and crawlability of every recommended domain
Reddit — Community Signals
- Full corpus of Reddit submissions and comments, Jan 2025 → Mar 2026
- Over 5 billion posts and comments scanned for domain mentions
Google Search — SERP Signals
- ~10 top phrases per persona × 1,595 personas = 15,000+ searches
- Top 100 results captured per query; appearances and rank position recorded per domain
Wikimedia — Reference Signals
- Wikidata entity associations for recommended domains
- English Wikipedia (enwiki) citations and outbound links per domain
- Over 300 million Wikimedia entities cross-referenced
Common Crawl Web Graph — Backlink Authority
- March 2026 host-level web graph with 4 billion+ backlinks indexed
- PageRank computed for every recommended domain
- Harmonic Centrality computed (measures reachability within the web graph)
- Raw backlink count, PageRank, and HC captured for all domains
Google Search Results HTML — Outbound Link Analysis
- Raw HTML downloaded for each Google search results page
- Outbound links extracted from SERP snippets and result pages
- Each linked domain checked for presence of persona-specific phrases
Top Sites HTML — On-Page Phrase Analysis
- Homepage HTML downloaded for every LLM-recommended domain
- Parsed for presence of persona-specific and industry phrases
- Phrase match rate used as a content relevance signal in correlation analysis
Analysis Process
LLM Recommendation Scoring
- Each domain receives a rank-weighted LLM score per persona run: rank 1 contributes more than rank 10
- Scores are aggregated across all personas to produce an industry-level recommendation score
- Result: a continuous 0–100% visibility metric for every domain in every industry
Signal Extraction & Normalization
- 13 signals extracted per domain: SERP appearances, best/avg rank, outbound links, backlink count, PageRank, BL authority (AUC), Harmonic Centrality, Common Crawl appearances, Reddit comments, Reddit posts, Wikipedia citations, Wikidata entities, homepage keyword relevance
- Signals normalized within each industry so cross-industry comparisons are valid
Spearman Rank Correlation
- Spearman ρ computed between each signal and the LLM recommendation score for every industry
- R² (coefficient of determination) shows how much of the variance in LLM scores each signal explains
- Correlations run at both per-industry and global (cross-industry pooled) level
- Coverage percentage tracked — signals with sparse data are flagged
Lift Analysis
- Frequency lift measures how much more common a signal is in the top 10% of LLM-recommended domains vs. the rest
- Lift > 1.5× = strong over-representation; lift < 1.0× = signal is not differentiating
- Separates signals that correlate from signals that actively distinguish the most-recommended brands
Tier Classification
- Dominant (ρ ≥ 0.30) — highest-confidence signal for this industry
- Strong (0.20–0.29) — reliable predictor
- Confirmed (0.10–0.19) — consistent but moderate effect
- Emerging (0.05–0.09) — present but weak
- Baseline (< 0.05) — no meaningful correlation detected
Persona-Level Breakdown
- All correlation and ranking analysis is also run separately for each of the 1,595 personas
- Reveals whether a domain is broadly recommended or only surfaces for specific buyer segments
- Per-persona top-25 domain lists, SERP data, and signal tables available for every industry
All-industry signal correlations (Spearman ρ vs. LLM recommendation score)
| Signal | Group | ρ (Spearman) | R² | n | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search Engine Appearances | Search | +0.241 | 5.8% | 10,914 | Strong |
| Best Search Engine Rank | Search | +0.238 | 5.7% | 10,914 | Strong |
| SE Outbound Links | Search | +0.230 | 5.3% | 13,828 | Strong |
| Backlink Count | Backlinks | +0.204 | 4.2% | 20,402 | Strong |
| BL Authority | Backlinks | +0.200 | 4% | 19,988 | Strong |
| BL Authority (Exp) | Backlinks | +0.199 | 3.9% | 19,988 | Confirmed |
| PageRank | Backlinks | +0.194 | 3.7% | 20,402 | Confirmed |
| HC | Backlinks | +0.169 | 2.8% | 20,402 | Confirmed |
| Common Crawl | Web | +0.123 | 1.5% | 14,057 | Confirmed |
| Wikidata | Reference | +0.120 | 1.4% | 1,619 | Confirmed |
| Reddit Comments | Social | +0.111 | 1.2% | 6,171 | Confirmed |
| Avg Search Engine Rank | Search | +0.096 | 0.9% | 10,914 | Emerging |
| Reddit Posts | Social | +0.096 | 0.9% | 5,774 | Emerging |
| Wikipedia Citations | Reference | +0.077 | 0.6% | 5,761 | Emerging |
| Homepage Keywords | Content | +0.072 | 0.5% | 18,678 | Emerging |
145 industries — click to explore
Accounting software
sage.com, oracle.com, xero.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.515
Affiliate-marketing networks
impact.com, rakutenadvertising.com, awin.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.577
Agricultural equipment
deere.com, newholland.com, claas.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.392
Airlines
alaskaair.com, jetblue.com, southwest.com
Dominant
BL Authority (Exp) ρ=0.495
Apartment rentals & multifamily leasing
apartments.com, zillow.com, rent.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.518
Athletic apparel brands
lululemon.com, nike.com, vuoriclothing.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.451
Auto OEM brands
toyota.com, ford.com, kia.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.473
Auto insurance
statefarm.com, progressive.com, geico.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.638
Auto repair & maintenance
firestonecompleteautocare.com, pepboys.com, midas.com
Strong
Backlink Count ρ=0.260
Auto-glass repair
safelite.com, gerbercollision.com, glassdoctor.com
Strong
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.289
B2B ad agencies
directiveconsulting.com, gravityglobal.com, ironpaper.com
Strong
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.275
B2B marketing data providers
zoominfo.com, sense.com, bombora.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.309
Baby care & diaper brands
honest.com, coterie.com, pampers.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.561
Beauty & cosmetics retail
sephora.com, ulta.com, bluemercury.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.464
Beer brands
heineken.com, michelobultra.com, guinness.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.458
Beer, wine & liquor stores
totalwine.com, drizly.com, astorwines.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.375
Behavioral-health / therapy platforms
headway.co, growtherapy.com, talkspace.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.483
Bottled water & functional beverage brands
liquiddeath.com, drinkolipop.com, gatorade.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.371
Brokerage & wealth-management apps
fidelity.com, schwab.com, vanguard.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.427
Budget hotel chains
bestwestern.com, choicehotels.com, wyndhamhotels.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.552
CRM software
hubspot.com, salesforce.com, freshworks.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=0.577
CRO / clinical services
iconplc.com, iqvia.com, medpace.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.382
Car rental brands
hertz.com, enterprise.com, avis.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.488
Car-wash chains
mistercarwash.com, crewcarwash.com, take5carwashes.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=-0.700
Clothing & apparel retail
nordstrom.com, asos.com, jcrew.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.566
Cloud infrastructure services
aws.amazon.com, cloud.google.com, azure.microsoft.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.436
Colleges & universities
mit.edu, stanford.edu, harvard.edu
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.448
Collision-repair centers
gerbercollision.com, serviceking.com, crashchampions.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.723
Colocation interconnection services
equinix.com, digitalrealty.com, coresite.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.509
Commercial HVAC equipment
trane.com, aaon.com, daikinapplied.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.326
Commercial banking
wellsfargo.com, usbank.com, jpmorgan.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.578
Commercial mortgage lending
jll.com, berkadia.com, key.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.498
Commercial real-estate listing marketplaces
crexi.com, loopnet.com, brevitas.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.559
Commercial solar / energy services
ameresco.com, schneider-electric.com, engie.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.321
Commercial solar EPC
blackandveatch.com, mccarthy.com, ameresco.com
Strong
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.204
Consumer banking
capitalone.com, sofi.com, discover.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.578
Consumer legal services
avvo.com, nolo.com, justia.com
Strong
Backlink Count ρ=0.298
Consumer wealth advisors / RIAs
facet.com, creativeplanning.com, wealthramp.com
Strong
Backlink Count ρ=0.271
Corporate tax advisory
pwc.com, ey.com, deloitte.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.427
Cosmetic dentistry
drapa.com, nyccd.com, aspendental.com
Strong
PageRank ρ=0.269
Cosmetic-surgery clinics
realself.com, plasticsurgery.org, drjacono.com
Dominant
Reddit Comments ρ=0.321
Cosmetics & makeup brands
narscosmetics.com, westman-atelier.com, danessamyricksbeauty.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.433
Coworking / flex office
industriousoffice.com, wework.com, spacesworks.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.487
Credit cards
capitalone.com, bankofamerica.com, citi.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.523
Credit monitoring services
experian.com, myfico.com, privacyguard.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.457
Cruise booking sites
cruisecritic.com, cruise.com, vacationstogo.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.308
Cruises
celebritycruises.com, hollandamerica.com, princess.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.485
Customer support / contact center software
zendesk.com, genesys.com, nice.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.547
Data analytics / BI software
thoughtspot.com, tableau.com, qlik.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.347
Data center colocation
equinix.com, digitalrealty.com, cyxtera.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.568
Data-warehouse / lakehouse platforms
snowflake.com, databricks.com, microsoft.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.601
Debt settlement & credit repair services
nationaldebtrelief.com, freedomdebtrelief.com, nfcc.org
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.334
Debt-consolidation lenders
lendingclub.com, bestegg.com, discover.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.508
Dental services
aspendental.com, interdent.com, heartland.com
Strong
PageRank ρ=0.261
Dermatology groups
aad.org, schweigerderm.com, advancedderm.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.544
E-signature & document workflow
docusign.com, pandadoc.com, adobe.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.303
ERP software
microsoft.com, acumatica.com, oracle.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.655
Enterprise AI platforms
aws.amazon.com, salesforce.com, databricks.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=0.528
Enterprise search & knowledge copilots
coveo.com, glean.com, elastic.co
Confirmed
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.172
Executive search
heidrick.com, spencerstuart.com, kornferry.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=0.443
Fertility clinics
ccrmivf.com, shadygrovefertility.com, springfertility.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=0.358
Fitness clubs
lifetime.life, ymca.org, hourfitness.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.479
Food delivery platforms
doordash.com, grubhub.com, ubereats.com
Strong
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.272
Furniture stores
ikea.com, wayfair.com, westelm.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.706
GPU / AI infrastructure vendors
nvidia.com, hpe.com, lenovo.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.535
Garage-door services
overheaddoor.com, precisiondoor.net, bankogaragedoors.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.632
Gas stations & fuel retail
bp.com, circlek.com, exxon.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.501
General contractors (commercial)
turnerconstruction.com, gilbaneco.com, skanska.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.366
Golf equipment brands
callawaygolf.com, taylormadegolf.com, ping.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.447
HR consulting
mercer.com, aon.com, kornferry.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.355
HR/payroll software
adp.com, paylocity.com, rippling.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.668
HVAC service contractors
trane.com, carrier.com, comfortsystemsusa.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.352
Hair-salon & barber chains
supercuts.com, greatclips.com, sportclips.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=-0.349
Haircare brands
olaplex.com, kerastase-usa.com, amika.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.385
Health insurance
cigna.com, aetna.com, uhc.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.597
Healthcare IT for providers
athenahealth.com, epic.com, nextgen.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.575
Healthcare practice-management software
athenahealth.com, advancedmd.com, nextgen.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.696
Home centers
homedepot.com, lowes.com, acehardware.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.462
Home exercise equipment
bowflex.com, nordictrack.com, peloton.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=0.362
Home services (plumbing, HVAC, remodeling)
angi.com, thumbtack.com, homeadvisor.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.508
Homebuilders / new homes
lennar.com, pulte.com, tollbrothers.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.442
Homeowners insurance
travelers.com, statefarm.com, allstate.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.872
Hospital staffing agencies
medicalsolutions.com, crosscountry.com, trustaff.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.400
Hospitals
clevelandclinic.org, mayoclinic.org, hopkinsmedicine.org
Dominant
BL Authority ρ=0.405
Hotels & resorts
marriott.com, hilton.com, hyatt.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.650
Household cleaning brands
seventhgeneration.com, methodhome.com, puracy.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.452
IP / patent law firms
wilmerhale.com, cooley.com, finnegan.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.304
IVF & reproductive medicine
ccrmivf.com, shadygrovefertility.com, springfertility.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=0.391
Influencer-marketing platforms for brands
grin.co, creatoriq.com, impact.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.533
Insurance brokerages / benefits brokers
hubinternational.com, lockton.com, ajg.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.415
Jewelry, luggage & leather goods retail
mejuri.com, tiffany.com, cuyana.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.464
Legal services for businesses
goodwinlaw.com, cooley.com, orrick.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.320
Life insurance
guardianlife.com, northwesternmutual.com, havenlife.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.442
Live entertainment & ticketing
ticketmaster.com, stubhub.com, seatgeek.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=0.503
Luxury fashion & accessories
louisvuitton.com, net-a-porter.com, hermes.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.482
Luxury hotels
aman.com, rosewoodhotels.com, fourseasons.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.593
M&A advisory boutiques
greenhill.com, lazard.com, moelis.com
Strong
Reddit Posts ρ=-0.254
Managed legal services
integreon.com, quislex.com, consilio.com
Strong
Wikidata ρ=0.247
Managed network services
lumen.com, verizon.com, orange-business.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.358
Market research & insights firms
ipsos.com, kantar.com, mintel.com
Dominant
Reddit Comments ρ=0.319
Marketing automation software
hubspot.com, marketo.com, activecampaign.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.383
Martech / CDP / attribution software
segment.com, hightouch.com, rudderstack.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.450
Mattress stores
mattressfirm.com, saatva.com, brooklynbedding.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.442
Med spas & aesthetic clinics
skinspirit.com, idealimage.com, laseraway.com
Strong
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.259
Media-buying agencies
directiveconsulting.com, merkle.com, gravityglobal.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.340
Mortgage lenders
rocketmortgage.com, crosscountrymortgage.com, guildmortgage.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.436
Nutrition & supplement retailers
iherb.com, vitacost.com, swansonvitamins.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.379
Office furniture / workplace equipment
steelcase.com, haworth.com, hermanmiller.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.452
Office supplies wholesalers
quill.com, officedepot.com, amazonbusiness.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.492
Oil-change chains
take5.com, jiffylube.com, midas.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=0.643
Online travel agencies
booking.com, expedia.com, travelocity.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.461
PR & communications agencies
brunswickgroup.com, highwirepr.com, fgsglobal.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.318
Payroll / PEO services
paychex.com, adp.com, trinet.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.587
Personal checking accounts & neobanks
capitalone.com, sofi.com, discover.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=0.545
Personal loan & fintech lenders
bestegg.com, prosper.com, lendingclub.com
Dominant
HC ρ=0.386
Pest-control services
orkin.com, terminix.com, westernexterminator.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.400
Procurement software
coupa.com, jaggaer.com, ziphq.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.327
RV dealerships
lazydays.com, campingworld.com, bishs.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=-0.371
Renters insurance
allstate.com, statefarm.com, travelers.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.700
Residential real estate brokerages
compass.com, kw.com, redfin.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.559
Residential solar installers
palmetto.com, sunrun.com, tesla.com
Dominant
BL Authority (Exp) ρ=0.441
Roofing services
bakerroofing.com, gaf.com, powerhrg.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.322
SEO / content-marketing agencies
animalz.co, growandconvert.com, directiveconsulting.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.311
Sales-outsourcing / SDR services
belkins.io, martal.ca, leadium.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.528
Scientific instruments
thermofisher.com, agilent.com, waters.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.510
Self-storage brands
publicstorage.com, uhaul.com, cubesmart.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.494
Senior home-care services
rightathome.net, visitingangels.com, homeinstead.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=-0.800
Server hardware for enterprises
hpe.com, supermicro.com, lenovo.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.586
Ski resorts
whistlerblackcomb.com, deervalley.com, beavercreek.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.400
Skincare brands
paulaschoice.com, cerave.com, theordinary.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.428
Sneaker brands / athletic footwear
newbalance.com, adidas.com, nike.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.437
Soft drink brands
coca-cola.com, drpepper.com, pepsi.com
Dominant
Wikipedia Citations ρ=0.330
Spa & massage chains
handandstone.com, elementsmassage.com, massageenvy.com
Dominant
Reddit Posts ρ=-0.366
Staffing agencies
randstadusa.com, roberthalf.com, adeccousa.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.380
Streaming video services
hulu.com, netflix.com, paramountplus.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.545
Tax-prep services for consumers
freetaxusa.com, turbotax.intuit.com, taxact.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.341
Theme parks & amusement parks
dollywood.com, hersheypark.com, universalorlando.com
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.387
Trade media / B2B publishers
industrydive.com, informa.com, questex.com
Strong
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.229
Used car dealers
autotrader.com, cars.com, carmax.com
Dominant
PageRank ρ=0.463
Vacation rental platforms
airbnb.com, vrbo.com, booking.com
Dominant
Wikidata ρ=0.454
Veterinary services
bluepearlvet.com, bondvet.com, banfield.com
Dominant
Best Search Engine Rank ρ=0.300
Weight-loss clinics & GLP-1 telehealth
ro.co, calibrate.com, formhealth.co
Dominant
SE Outbound Links ρ=0.326
Wine & spirits brands
wine.com, reservebar.com, totalwine.com
Dominant
BL Authority (Exp) ρ=0.316
Wireless carriers
att.com, verizon.com, visible.com
Dominant
Search Engine Appearances ρ=0.728
Workers'-comp insurance
travelers.com, thehartford.com, amtrustfinancial.com
Dominant
Backlink Count ρ=0.317