Who Does Google Cite on AI Overview Cites for SEO Advice?

Came across this case to Who Does Google Cite for SEO Advice in AI Overviews?

Sara analyzed 8,963 citations to see which domains Google trusts most when generating AI answers for SEO queries.

A few findings that stood out (more in the study):

1.] YouTube is the top cited domain in AI Overviews for SEO queries. With 11.4% of all citations.

2.] Reddit is the #2 most-cited source at 4.5% of citations

3.] SEO tools and specialist sites account for 15% of cited domains. SEO tools like Semrush (#3), Moz (#5), Yoast (#6), and Ahrefs (#11) appear alongside specialist publications like Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land — suggesting that dedicated SEO content earns notable AIO visibility.

4.] Google cites its own properties at 2.76% — primarily Google Search Central / Developers docs. When Google cites itself, it's almost always for technical SEO fundamentals.

Which means Video is the #1 cited content format and Search Engine Land is the #2 source for AI SEO queries at 6.4%, the only category where a news/media publication breaks into the top 3.