By Felipe Morales, CEO of ESBUENISIMO LINKS
What sources ChatGPT cites in Colombia: 2026 study of 50 purchase queries
What sources ChatGPT cites in Colombia: our 2026 study of 50 purchase queries across 10 industries and 275 citations. Companies, comparison sites, government and press versus Google AI Mode.
When a Colombian asks ChatGPT which digital bank is best, which health insurer (EPS) to pick or where to buy a TV, the answer comes with links to the sources the tool consulted. Those sources decide which brands appear. To find out which they are, we ran 50 purchase queries across 10 industries on ChatGPT from Colombia on November 5, 2026, and repeated the same questions on Google AI Mode. Here are the results, compared with the equivalent study we ran in Mexico.
What sources ChatGPT cites in Colombia: the summary
ChatGPT gave 275 citations across 50 answers, an average of 5.5 per answer; 272 went to external sites. We classified them by type of site:
View the data as a table
| Company | Comparison sites | Government | News outlets | Associations and other | Social and video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 54.8% | 19.1% | 8.8% | 7.7% | 9.1% | 0.4% |
| Google AI Mode | 40.2% | 18.2% | 3.0% | 15.9% | 15.2% | 7.6% |
| Source type | ChatGPT citations | % on ChatGPT | % on Google AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company or institution website | 149 | 54.8% | 40.2% |
| Comparison sites, marketplaces and portals | 52 | 19.1% | 18.2% |
| Government and regulators | 24 | 8.8% | 3.0% |
| News outlets | 21 | 7.7% | 15.9% |
| Trade associations | 14 | 5.1% | 0% |
| Blogs and other | 11 | 4.0% | 15.2% |
| Social and video | 1 | 0.4% | 7.6% |
Source: ESBUENISIMO LINKS study with ChatGPT and Google AI Mode via DataForSEO, location Colombia, November 5, 2026. Google AI Mode returned sources for 35 of the 50 queries (132 citations).
More than half of ChatGPT's citations went to companies' own sites: Alkosto, Bancolombia, Siigo, Falabella. That is the biggest difference from Mexico, where government sites accounted for 22.2%. In Colombia, the financial regulator (Superfinanciera), the consumer authority (SIC) and the telecom regulator (CRC) appear, but with 8.8% of citations.
The sites ChatGPT cites most in Colombia
Three patterns stand out. First, retail dominates by volume: Alkosto, Ktronix, Mercado Libre and Falabella show up in almost every tech shopping question. Second, in SME software the answer is shaped by the vendors themselves: Siigo and Alegra were cited for e-invoicing, accounting software and POS questions. Third, financial comparison sites matter: Rankia was the site Google AI Mode cited most, with 6 citations, and it appears 4 times on ChatGPT.
One detail worth noting: ChatGPT reviewed 629 search results from 343 domains to build its answers, but cited only 275. Superfinanciera appeared 32 times among the results it consulted and was cited 4 times. Being found by AI doesn't guarantee being cited.
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| Banking and fintech | 12 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 31 |
| Insurance | 17 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 29 |
| Telecom | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Retail and ecommerce | 31 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 |
| Travel and tourism | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17 |
| Education | 17 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 25 |
| Automotive | 8 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 22 |
| Health | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 25 |
| Business software | 35 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 45 |
| Real estate | 2 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
Industry changes everything. In real estate, 14 of 23 citations went to portals such as Fincaraíz, Metrocuadrado and Ciencuadras, and only 2 to developers. In business software it is the opposite: 35 of 45 citations went to vendor sites. In automotive, health and education, news outlets weigh more than average: El Carro Colombiano and El Espectador appeared in car questions, El Espectador in the EPS question, La República in the clinics question and El Tiempo in the engineering degrees question.
Two industries highlight public bodies and trade groups. In telecom, 5 of 18 citations went to government sites, such as the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) and its Postdata portal, which provide official coverage and complaints data. In travel, comparison sites (Despegar, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner) took 8 of 17 citations, and the travel agency association Anato appeared in questions about trustworthy agencies.
The practical consequence: a real estate company that wants to appear on ChatGPT needs a strong presence on portals; a software vendor needs its own site to clearly state prices, features and tax authority (DIAN) requirements. The same strategy doesn't work for both.
News outlets: few on ChatGPT, more on Google AI Mode
Only 13 of ChatGPT's 50 answers cited a news outlet. The most cited were El Espectador and El Carro Colombiano (3 citations each), El Tiempo and La República (2). On Google AI Mode, news outlets weighed twice as much proportionally, 15.9% of citations, led by La República.
| Indicator | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT citations analyzed | 275 | 279 |
| Citations to company sites | 54.8% | 44.1% |
| Citations to government and regulators | 8.8% | 22.2% |
| Citations to comparison sites | 19.1% | 17.6% |
| Citations to news outlets on ChatGPT | 7.7% | 5.4% |
| Citations to news outlets on Google AI Mode | 15.9% | 15.8% |
Source: ESBUENISIMO LINKS studies of November 4 (Mexico) and November 5, 2026 (Colombia), same methodology. Full Mexico data is in our study of what sources ChatGPT cites in Mexico.
The match on Google AI Mode is striking: in both countries almost 16 of every 100 citations went to the press. For a brand, that means an article in an authoritative Colombian outlet is more likely to reach Google's answer than ChatGPT's. Context matters too: according to the Digital News Report 2026, only 25% of Colombians trust most news, the lowest of the six Latin American countries in the report.
ChatGPT and Google AI Mode cite different sources
Of the 172 domains ChatGPT cited and the 107 Google AI Mode cited, only 41 appeared on both. YouTube and Instagram weren't cited by ChatGPT but added 8 citations on AI Mode. Optimizing for one platform doesn't guarantee showing up on the other.
View the data as a table
| ChatGPT citations analyzed | 275 |
| of citations went to news outlets | 7.7% |
| domains cited by both platforms | 41 |
| queries where ChatGPT searched with "2026" | 41 |
Another pattern: in 41 of 50 queries, ChatGPT searched the web adding "2026" to the question. The tool prioritizes current-year information, so a page with 2024 prices or terms has fewer chances of being cited even if it has authority.
How to get ChatGPT to cite your brand in Colombia
- Get your own site in order. It is the source that weighs most: one page per product with prices, terms and a visible update date.
- Check your presence on comparison sites in your industry (Rankia, Selectra, real estate portals). In some industries they weigh more than your own site.
- Earn mentions in Colombian outlets with authority on your topic, especially if Google AI Mode matters to you. Our guide to link building in Colombia explains how to choose them.
- Measure with fixed questions every month, on ChatGPT and on Google, to see whether your brand comes in or drops out.
To start with a diagnosis, the basic steps are in how to appear in ChatGPT. For a plan with industry-level measurement, that is the work of our GEO agency in Colombia.
Methodology
We wrote 50 purchase questions, 5 per industry, in the language a Colombian consumer would use ("carro", "EPS", "CDT", "Saber 11"). We sent them on November 5, 2026 to ChatGPT through DataForSEO's LLM Scraper with location Colombia, and to Google AI Mode with the same location. We counted the links cited in each answer, grouped subdomains under their root domain and classified each domain by hand. These are single-day answers: AI tools change their sources often and a rerun may give somewhat different results.
Frequently Asked Questions
What sources does ChatGPT cite in Colombia?+
In our study of 50 purchase queries (November 5, 2026), 54.8% of citations went to company websites, 19.1% to comparison sites and portals, 8.8% to government and regulators and 7.7% to news outlets.
Which site does ChatGPT cite most in Colombia?+
Alkosto, with 6 citations, followed by Ktronix, Mercado Libre, Siigo and Bancolombia with 5 each. On Google AI Mode the most cited was the financial comparison site Rankia, with 6.
Does ChatGPT cite Colombian news outlets?+
Rarely: 13 of its 50 answers cited a news outlet, mainly El Espectador, El Carro Colombiano, El Tiempo and La República. On Google AI Mode news outlets made up 15.9% of citations, twice as much proportionally.
How does Colombia differ from Mexico?+
In Colombia company sites weigh more (54.8% of citations vs. 44.1% in Mexico) and government sites less (8.8% vs. 22.2%). On Google AI Mode, the press weighed almost the same in both countries: 15.9% and 15.8%.
How do I get ChatGPT to cite my brand in Colombia?+
Keep your site up to date with prices and terms, check your presence on your industry's comparison sites, earn mentions in authoritative Colombian outlets and measure monthly with a fixed set of questions.
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