When an AI model quietly changes under the hood, the ripple effects can be felt far beyond the tech itself. New data from SEMAI shows that ChatGPT’s latest update didn’t just alter responses—it fundamentally reshaped which types of web pages the assistant chooses to cite, a shift that carries real implications for brands trying to stay visible in AI-driven search.
SEMAI analysed 250,000+ URLs across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. Documentation and support pages are 33.5% of ChatGPT 5.6 Luna's URLs.
CA, UNITED STATES, October 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Documentation and support pages now account for 33.5% of the URLs recorded for ChatGPT 5.6 Luna, while articles and guides have dropped to just 9.3%. SEMAI (semai.ai) published its findings in the SEMAI AI Search 2026 Report, which is built on more than 250,000 URLs drawn from its own visibility tracking data.
The report also shows that industry associations and professional bodies appear in 56.9% of Luna's matched queries, with public authorities showing up in 46.4%. Company websites remain a dominant source, appearing in 79.4% of matched queries.
"A model change reshaped what ChatGPT cites, and it did not happen on the other engines. For B2B brands, documentation and support pages are now part of the visibility conversation," said Raghunath Vijayaraghavan, Co-Founder of SEMAI.
How ChatGPT's Model Change Affected What Gets Cited
To track the impact, SEMAI ran the exact same queries using the same measurement approach in its February 2026 study and repeated that process for this new edition. While Gemini and Perplexity showed minimal changes in their citation patterns, ChatGPT stood out: after transitioning to a new model, blogs and articles fell sharply from 41.2% to 9.3% of recorded URLs, while documentation and support pages surged from 1.4% to 33.5%. For a deeper look at the earlier data, the February report is available here: https://semai.ai/ai-citation-report
How the other engines compare
Gemini: Company websites appear in 91.4% of matched queries, the highest observed across all engines. Articles and guides make up 50.6% of its recorded URLs.
Perplexity: Social and publishing platforms appear in 56.4% of queries, the highest share among the three LLMs studied.
Google AI Overviews: Articles and guides make up 44.4% of recorded links.
Across every LLM examined, company websites ranked first in citation frequency. The type of content that follows them, however, varies considerably depending on which engine is doing the citing.
Read the full report, including methodology details: https://semai.ai/research/state-of-ai-search-2026/
About SEMAI
SEMAI is an AEO and GEO platform that tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, offering both self-serve software and outcome-based agency delivery.
Raghunath Vijayaraghavan
SEMAI.AI
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Why it matters: The dramatic swing in ChatGPT’s citation behavior signals that AI visibility strategies cannot rely on last year’s playbook. For brands and publishers, the rise of documentation and support pages as primary cited sources means content teams must rethink what types of pages they prioritize if they want to remain relevant in AI-generated answers.
