YouTube led citations across eight AI engines in August 2026. It overtook Reddit. The engines were Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok. Long-form videos took 94% of YouTube citations. Shorts took 5.7%. Videos of 10-20 minutes took 32.1%. YouTube’s share in Google AI Mode more than quadrupled from January to April 2026. Its share in AI Overviews more than doubled in the same period. Citations fell about 43% within a month. A citation may be a recommended link rather than a source. The data came from Meltwater, Profound, OtterlyAI and Scrunch. The figures are not broken down by country. The report offers no Thailand-specific data.
What changed
Reddit was the most-cited platform across AI engines before August 2026.
What it unlocks
Brands can optimize long-form YouTube videos with chapters and accurate transcripts to appear in AI answer citations.
- 8 AI engines
- 94% long-form videos
- 5.7% Shorts
- 43% citation drop in a month
Sources