MoneyHub Leads New Zealand AI Search Citation Study
Summary
MoneyHub has been identified as the most-cited New Zealand business website in an independent study of AI-generated answers. The research traced 225 responses from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and found MoneyHub cited 76 times. Its results highlight the value of evidence-led, locally relevant content as brands compete for visibility inside AI search responses.
Our Analysis
• We see citation leadership as an authority outcome, not a keyword-volume outcome.
• Our team would prioritise evidence-led comparison pages with strong local relevance.
• Content governance now matters because AI can amplify outdated claims quickly.
• New Zealand brands should measure inclusion across multiple answer engines, not just Google rankings.
Full Story
MoneyHub has emerged as New Zealand’s most-cited business website in a new study examining how artificial intelligence platforms answer questions from local users, highlighting the growing importance of source authority in digital marketing.
The independent State of AI Visibility New Zealand 2026 study audited 7,129 New Zealand business websites across 22 industries and traced the sources behind 225 answers generated by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. MoneyHub appeared 76 times in the citation analysis, more than any other website included in the sample.
The result offers a practical example of how AI search visibility is beginning to differ from conventional search-engine optimisation. Rather than presenting a long list of ranked links, AI assistants typically select a small number of sources to support a direct response. For businesses, being included as a cited source can therefore influence how consumers understand a category, compare providers and make purchasing decisions.
MoneyHub’s city-specific “best of” pages were identified as particularly valuable sources for AI-generated answers, with Gemini drawing on them most heavily. The finding suggests that structured, locally relevant comparison content may have a strong role in helping brands become visible when people ask AI systems for recommendations in specific New Zealand cities.
The study found that business websites supplied 80 percent of cited answers in ChatGPT sessions, 93 percent in Gemini sessions and all cited answers in the Perplexity sample. Roundup and “best of” pages accounted for 33 percent of ChatGPT citations, 52 percent of Gemini citations and 68 percent of Perplexity citations. New Zealand directories were cited less often overall, although they represented 44 percent of Perplexity’s cited sources.
For marketers, the findings point to a shift from competing only for rankings and clicks toward earning inclusion in machine-generated explanations. Content that states useful facts clearly, answers a question early and supports claims with evidence may be more likely to be selected than pages built primarily around promotional language or broad keyword coverage.
The study also raises a reputational issue. When an AI assistant cites or summarises a business website, the information can be repeated across many user conversations, increasing the reach of both accurate and outdated claims. This makes content maintenance, factual substantiation and transparent editorial standards increasingly important parts of search visibility.
MoneyHub’s Head of Research, Christopher Walsh, said the result reinforced the organisation’s focus on consumer-first research, plain-language explanations and substantiated facts. The broader lesson for New Zealand companies is that AI visibility is not simply a technical extension of SEO. It is increasingly connected to whether a brand has produced information that automated systems can understand, verify and confidently use when answering real commercial questions.