Google.com has become the second most cited domain in Google’s AI mode, according to a study. new report from Profoundan AI visibility platform that sells tools to track brand presence in AI search.
The report shows that the share of citations for google.com increased 8.4 times between April 15 and June 30, with almost all of this increase attributed to two Google-hosted surfaces, business profile cards and product knowledge panels.
What the data shows
Citation Share indicates how often a domain appears as a citation in AI mode-generated responses. Data shows that google.com rose to second place between April and June, mainly due to two subpaths: one providing business profiles and the other providing product knowledge panels. The increase in citations for google.com is most notable in two types of queries: local searches and product searches.
For local searches, citations came from the business profile sheet and the analysis revealed five industries that saw the most change: hospitality and travel, home services, restaurants, real estate and healthcare. In product searches, the Product Knowledge Panel serves a similar function. Queries that compare products, check compatibility, or search for specifications often display the panel instead of a link to a retailer or brand’s website.
A model that SEJ followed
Google’s AI responses have consistently cited its own pages for over a year. In March, SE ranking data, reported by SEJ, showed that Google accounted for 17% of the 1.3 million AI citations, increasing to around 20% when including YouTube. Profound uses a similar citation sharing metric, but analyzed different datasets and time frames. Both found that Google properties appear frequently in AI Mode citations.
In May 2025, SEJ reported that 43% of responses to AI Overview referenced Google’s own results, an earlier form of self-citation. These are saved as google.com citations at the domain level, even if the map displays information about other businesses or products. The data indicates that growth is occurring primarily in these two card types, rather than links to Google’s organic results pages.
Google Product Panels and Payment Plans
Profound sees the increase in Product Knowledge Panel citations as an early indication of Google’s effectiveness. Universal Trade Protocolbut it does not confirm that the panels in its dataset are UCP compatible. Google describes UCP as an open standard enabling direct purchases in AI and Gemini mode, with retailers acting as the merchant of record. The link between the data panels and Google’s UCP purchasing process is Profound’s interpretation and not an official confirmation from Google.
Why it matters
Quote sharing indicates what AI mode is related to, not where traffic is going. An increase in citations on Google.com does not necessarily mean that a visit to your site has been replaced. This shows that for local or product queries, AI mode can cite a Google-hosted map with your opening hours, photos, reviews, or product details instead of your own page.
Looking to the future
Much of what AI Mode cites for local and product queries relates to Google’s own properties, not independent websites. This squeezes publishers and brands like any self-citation model does, with the citation landing on Google’s own surface instead of an outside site. But these cards are leverage built from the data you control, like your business profile for local results and your product feed for purchases.
This makes optimizing these queries more manageable than site-wide efforts because you directly influence the data inputs. However, it only guarantees presence on the cited card, which reflects citations, not subsequent clicks or sales.
Featured Image: Dean Drobot/Shutterstock
