AI Crypto Citation Sources Reveal AI Visibility Blind Spots

A new study on AI crypto citation sources has turned up a surprising blind spot: the biggest names in crypto data, CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, and DeFiLlama, never once got cited by ChatGPT or Perplexity across more than 100 controlled queries. The research, run by digital marketing agency ICODA in partnership with Semrush, suggests that authority and traffic don’t automatically translate into AI visibility — and that’s a problem for anyone trying to understand how crypto information actually reaches people through generative search.

Key takeaways

• ICODA and Semrush tested over 100 controlled crypto queries on ChatGPT and Perplexity to map which sources AI models actually cite.
• CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, and DeFiLlama received zero citations across every query category and both engines.
• Four source types consistently earned citations instead: SEO roundup sites, financial and trade media, the companies themselves, and community platforms.
• Coin Bureau outperformed data aggregators on recommendation-style queries, while Circle and Tether were cited directly on stablecoin safety questions.
• Citation overlap between ChatGPT and Perplexity swung from high on roundup queries to zero on breaking news.