Weekly index · week 3 edition
YouTube in AI search: week 3
How much each AI model cites YouTube in its answers, week by week, and where that presence is changing.
This is the week 3 edition, kept as published. See the current edition →
In short
In week 3, Google AI Overviews was the model that cited YouTube most, in 48.3% of answers, followed by Google AI Mode (33.4%). Significant change from the previous week: Google AI Mode (−9.6 pp), Grok (−4.2 pp), Perplexity (−2.0 pp), Google AI Overviews (−1.7 pp).
In week 3, by model
Share of answers citing YouTube and change from week 2.
Timeline
Weekly presence since week 1. Each panel has its own scale; compare the shape of the curves, not heights across panels. Hollow circles mark weeks with a reduced base; blue markers are events, click to see them.
All weeks
Week 3 ranking
| Model | Presence | Week change | 4-week avg. | Since W1 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Google AI Overviews | 48.3% | ↓ −1.7 pp | 49.5% | ↓ −2.0 pp | Significant |
| 2. Google AI Mode | 33.4% | ↓ −9.6 pp | 42.4% | ↓ −17.4 pp | Significant |
| 3. Perplexity | 20.9% | ↓ −2.0 pp | 22.3% | ↓ −2.4 pp | Significant |
| 4. Grok | 18.7% | ↓ −4.2 pp | 20.4% | ↓ −0.7 pp | Significant |
| 5. ChatGPT | 5.1% | ↑ +0.8 pp | 4.6% | ↑ +0.6 pp | Within noise |
| 6. Copilot | 0.5% | ↑ +0.2 pp | 0.4% | ↑ +0.2 pp | Within noise |
| 7. Gemini | 0.2% | ↑ +0.1 pp | 0.2% | ↑ +0.1 pp | Within noise |
Presence: share of the model's answers that cite youtube.com among their sources. Changes in percentage points (pp).
Events
Large changes in the series and what is known about them. We only log explanations with a source; when there is none, we say so.
- W2 · Jan 5–11 No explanation found Google AI Mode falls from 50.9% (week 1) to 43.0% and 33.4% (week 3), and only rises above 40% again in week 8. We found no public change to AI Mode in that window.
Method, in short
Source: data observed and catalogued by First Answer. Each week, we measure by model the share of answers that cite youtube.com among their sources and compare it with the previous week. A change is flagged as significant only when it exceeds the 95% margin and is at least 1 pp. Weeks with a smaller-than-usual base are flagged and left out of the comparison.
Limitations
The index measures what First Answer's base observes, not every search made on the models. We do not disclose volumes, questions, topics, categories, brands, channels or clients; only aggregate measures by model. Claude is not included in this series. Explanations under Events come from external sources and state how confirmed they are.
How to cite
Beckmann, R. (2026). YouTube in AI search: weekly index (week 3, Jan 12–18, 2026). First Answer. https://rodrigobeckmann.com/en/research/indices/youtube-in-ai-search/2026-w03