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Lily Ray’s study found Google cited brands’ own listicles in AI Overviews, yet excluded those brands from recommendations in most cases. #
Google AI Overviews cited self-promotional “best” listicles while excluding the brands behind them from recommendations in 69% of cases, according to a new analysis of B2B software queries by Lily Ray.
Brands have used self-serving listicles to influence AI search results, but Ray found Google often cited those pages while recommending competitors instead.
**By the numbers. **Ray analyzed 100 B2B “best [category] software” queries in Google AI Overviews across three dates: April 15, May 15, and June 8.
- Of the 80 prompts that triggered an AI Overview, self-promotional listicles were cited 323 times.
- In 224 cases, Google cited a brand’s own page but didn’t recommend that brand.
**Competitors get recommended. **Ray documented several cases where Google cited a brand’s “best” listicle while recommending better-known competitors.
- For “best LMS for selling courses,” Google cited Oasis LMS but did not recommend it. Instead, it recommended Kajabi, Thinkific, LearnWorlds, and Teachable — all of which are named in the Oasis LMS article.
- Similar patterns appeared in queries for help desk, task management, survey, CRM, and SEO software.
Stronger brands still appeared. Brands that already led their categories, were widely mentioned by third-party sources, and had stronger link profiles were more likely to appear in AI Overview recommendations, according to Ray.
- The data showed a consistent split between citations and recommendations. A brand’s page could appear as a source while competitors received the recommendation.
**Organic visibility fell. **Ray also reported organic search declines for many sites that relied heavily on self-promotional listicles.
- The declines began around Jan. 20, across dozens of sites she analyzed. Many also scaled other SEO- and GEO-focused content formats, including AI-generated articles, comparison pages, and large volumes of “best” pages ranking their own brand first.
- Those declines continued and accelerated during Google’s May 2026 core update, according to Ray.
**Review sites gained citations. **Ray found Google relied heavily on third-party and user-generated-content sites for “best” queries, with Reddit citations increasing sharply in recent months.
- Forbes, Reddit, and YouTube were among the most-cited domains in AI Overview responses containing “best.”
**Why we care. **A citation is not a recommendation. Your content can appear in an AI answer while helping competitors capture the visibility that matters most.
**Catch up quick. **Search Engine Land previously reported that some SaaS and B2B brands lost 30% to 50% of their visibility after relying heavily on self-ranked “best” pages, based on earlier research from Ray.
- Search Engine Land also reported that the tactic may create legal riskunder the FTC’s Consumer Review Rule when company-controlled content is presented as independent reviews, reviews are not based on real use, or material relationships are not clearly disclosed.
**About the data. **Using Ahrefs Brand Radar, Ray collected AI Overview answer text and cited sources for 100 B2B “best [category] software” queries at three checkpoints between April and June. The analysis measured two outcomes: whether a self-promotional listicle was cited and whether the brand behind it was recommended.
The report. Why Calling Yourself the Best Could Be Helping Your Competitors Win in AI Search
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