CiteLens Research Reveals Major Discrepancy in Google AI Overviews Between Turkish and English
Turkish AI company CiteLens has published new research demonstrating that Google's AI Overviews cite almost entirely different sources when commercial questions are posed in Turkish versus English, with only a 22% overlap in cited domains.
Edirne-based AI visibility platform CiteLens has released significant new research highlighting a critical linguistic disparity in how Google's AI Overviews (AIOs) function across different languages. The study, conducted on 444 commercial queries, revealed that when the same questions were asked in Turkish and English, the AI-generated answers cited a largely distinct set of sources, with a mere 22% overlap in the domains referenced. This finding challenges the common assumption that AI systems operate uniformly regardless of language.
According to Alper Tekin, Founder of CiteLens, many brands mistakenly believe that AI behaves consistently across all languages. However, the data from their research strongly suggests the opposite: when a question is posed in Turkish, the AI draws upon an entirely different pool of sources compared to an English query. This implies that a brand's visibility in English AI answers does not guarantee similar exposure in Turkish responses, effectively creating two independent visibility markets.
The research methodology involved running 444 commercial questions in both English (gl=us, hl=en) and Turkish (gl=tr, hl=tr) and comparing the cited domains in the AI Overviews. While English queries generated an AI answer in 96% of cases, Turkish queries did so in 94%. The low overlap underscores the necessity for brands targeting the Turkish market, or any multilingual market, to develop distinct Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies for each language.
CiteLens emphasizes that this linguistic divergence means content, authority, and LLM SEO efforts must be approached separately for Turkish. By fixing the market and language for each query, CiteLens provides language-specific, measurable AI visibility data, allowing brands to track their position in platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews directly in Turkish, rather than relying on English proxies. This insight is crucial for companies aiming to effectively reach their target audience in Turkey.
INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
WHY IT MATTERS
This research is crucial for brands and marketers operating in multilingual environments, especially in Turkey, as it reveals that AI visibility is not universal across languages. It underscores the need for localized Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies to ensure brands are effectively cited and recommended by AI systems in different linguistic contexts.
WHO IS INVOLVED
MARKET IMPACT
The findings are expected to significantly influence digital marketing and SEO strategies for brands operating in multilingual markets. It highlights a new dimension of AI optimization, emphasizing that a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to AI visibility will be ineffective, leading to increased demand for specialized GEO services.
This story was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by TurkSpark editors before publication. Facts, figures, and names may be inaccurate — verify important details independently.
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