Being listed on a review directory is sometimes treated as a prerequisite for AI recommendations. We wanted to see whether those directories actually dominate the sources attached to brand recommendations.
We analyzed 5.4 million links between recommendations and cited sources across 835 monitored categories. We compared each category's leading sources and the breadth of websites supplying evidence. Source shares describe citation patterns; they do not establish the effect of buying or maintaining a listing.
Across 835 categories and 5.4 million links between brand recommendations and cited sources in Parse's study, the median category's leading source supplied 7.4% of its evidence. The median category drew on 260 domains.
There is no single source chokepoint in the median category
Across 835 monitored categories, the median category's single most-cited source domain accounts for only 7.4% of recommendation evidence. The median category draws on 260 distinct domains.
That is the opposite of a tax. In most categories, AI recommendations are assembled from a wide range of sources, not unlocked by one mandatory listing.
Median share of evidence from the top sources
- Top 1 source7.4%
- Top 3 sources17.4%
- Top 5 sources24.8%
- Top 10 sources37.1%
- Median top-source share
- 7.4%
- Median distinct domains
- 260
- Categories measured
- 835
Takeaway
The major directories are almost never the #1 source
G2, Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice, SourceForge, TrustRadius, and Trustpilot are each the #1 source in zero of the 835 categories. Clutch is #1 in exactly one. By source type, a directory is #1 in only 8 categories.
Where the major directories do appear, their average shares are small: G2 appears in 333 categories at 0.3%, Capterra in 186 at 0.2%, GetApp in 174 at 0.4%, and Clutch in 35 at 0.9%.
Directory gatekeeper test
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Three software brands in four are recommended with no directory citation
Among brands with at least 20 evidence links, 14.2% carry any directory citation. In software categories, where directories are most relevant, 24.0% do.
- Brands in software categories24.0%
- All brands14.2%
Takeaway
Directory citations are a tiny slice of recommendation evidence
Directory citations make up 0.74% of the recommendation evidence for brands in software categories, and 0.51% across all brands. That is not enough to explain recommendation visibility as a directory-led system.
- Brands in software categories0.74%
- All brands0.51%
When a category does lean on one source, it is usually community or video
The domains that do become #1 sources are more often YouTube and Reddit than classic directories. YouTube is the #1 source in 169 categories; Reddit is #1 in 142. Together they lead 311 categories, or 37% of the measured set.
youtube.com169
reddit.com142
- All directory type8
The category leaders are social, editorial, and owned sites
By source type, social sources lead 321 categories, general editorial leads 230, and a brand's own site leads 129. Directories lead only 8. That mix says your source work should start with the pages, communities, and owned assets AI already uses in the category.
Source type of the #1 domain
Categories led · 6 results
- Social321
- General/editorial230
- Brand or vendor site129
- News and finance34
- Ecommerce30
- Directory8
Explore the data (6 rows)
| Social | 321 |
| General/editorial | 230 |
| Brand or vendor site | 129 |
| News and finance | 34 |
| Ecommerce | 30 |
| Directory | 8 |
Mainstream software categories are spread out too
The finding is not only a side effect of small, obscure categories. CRM and sales pipeline software draws on 852 domains, with YouTube top at 8.3%. Payroll and HRIS draws on 853 domains, with Gusto's own domain top at 8.8%. Project management draws on 517 domains, with YouTube top at 6.2%.
Example category source concentration
Top-source share (%) · 5 results
- Small-business accounting9.9%
- Payroll and HRIS8.8%
- CRM and Sales Pipeline Software8.3%
- Email marketing6.6%
- Project management6.2%
Explore the data (5 rows)
| Payroll and HRIS | 853 | 8.8 | |
| CRM and Sales Pipeline Software | 852 | 8.3 | |
| Small-business accounting | 806 | 9.9 | |
| Email marketing | 715 | 6.6 | |
| Project management | 517 | 6.2 |
Both engines spread evidence across many sources
The median per-category top-source share is 6.3% for ChatGPT and 8.8% for Google's answer engines. The engine that cites fewer sources is not more gatekept; if anything, ChatGPT is slightly more spread out among the categories that qualified.
- Google answer engines8.8%
- ChatGPT6.3%
True chokepoints exist, but they are outliers
Across all 835 categories, the top-source share exceeds 14% only in the top 10% of categories. The single most concentrated category reached 53.2%, an accessories category dominated by YouTube. Chokepoints happen, but the median category is not built that way.
- 90th percentile top-source share
- 13.9%
- Most concentrated category
- 53.2%
- Median top-source share
- 7.4%
A directory can matter without leading the category
The zero-of-835 result asks whether G2 or Capterra is the largest source in an entire category. It does not ask whether either site appears in a valuable comparison question, supplies accurate product details, or sends qualified buyers. A source can be commercially useful while contributing a small share of all citations.
Before buying a listing package, inspect the exact directory URLs cited for your buying questions. Separate category roundups from your profile and competitor comparisons. If the cited page contains an outdated integration or price, correcting that fact is a concrete task. Paying for prominence on a different page is not evidence that the cited answer will change.
The practical playbook is a spread of sources, not a directory tax
Directory work is not useless. It is just too narrow to be the default explanation for AI recommendations. In many categories, the pages that matter most will be YouTube videos, Reddit threads, editorial comparisons, a brand's own pages, and category-specific publishers.
Start by mapping the actual top domains in your category, then prioritize the small set of sources AI repeatedly uses. Treat directories as one kind of source among many, not the toll booth for the whole market.
How we measured
We analyzed 5.4M evidence links, the cited pages that sit behind AI brand recommendations, across 835 monitored categories, 49,638 brands, 7,611 prompts, and 101,677 source domains.
- categories where G2 or Capterra is the #1 source
- 0
- median top-source share per category
- 7.4%
- median distinct source domains per category
- 260
- brands with any directory citation
- 14.2%