Do AI Answers Cite Wix Sites? The Data.
Original research: 144 questions asked to Google Gemini across 6 UK sectors (food, creative, home, beauty, health, coaching). 432 answers analysed. Every cited URL logged by platform and structured data presence. Wix sites were cited in 20.1% of answers overall, but accounted for only 2.5% of all individual citations. 62.6% of cited pages had structured data, compared with 75.8% of the control group. The full dataset is published as CSV.
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Methodology
144 real customer questions, 24 per sector, across 6 UK sectors: food, creative, home, beauty, health and coaching. Three Gemini answers per question (432 total). Every cited URL categorised by platform (Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify, Webflow, GoDaddy, custom domain, directory) and checked for structured data. A matched control sample of non-cited pages was collected. The full dataset is published as CSV under CC BY 4.0.
Key Findings
20.1% of answers cited at least one Wix site. Wix accounted for 2.5% of all individual citations. Custom domains and directories dominated at 51.1%, WordPress at 32.6%. 62.6% of cited pages had structured data, but 75.8% of control (non-cited) pages also had it. 99.1% of answers cited at least one source.
Citation Rate by Sector
Food and hospitality: 44.4%. Creative and handmade: 27.8%. Home services: 18.1%. Beauty and personal care: 13.9%. Health and therapy: 8.3%. Coaching and professional services: 8.3%. The variation likely reflects the competitive landscape and type of content available in each sector.
Schema Types on Cited Pages
BreadcrumbList and WebSite each appeared on 36% of cited pages. Organisation on 34%. WebPage on 29%. Article on 25%. ImageObject on 20%. Person on 18%. BlogPosting on 13%. LocalBusiness on 11%. FAQPage on 8%. These are descriptive frequencies, not evidence that any specific schema type caused citation.
What This Means for Wix Site Owners
Structured data is the price of entry, not a silver bullet. Most pages had it, cited or not. Ranking in normal search still matters. Wix is weakest in health and professional sectors. This study measures correlation, not causation.
The Bottom Line
AI answers are won largely the same way normal search is won, with one addition. More than half the pages that rank in ordinary Google search for these questions were also the ones Gemini cited, so ranking is still the engine. Structured data is the entry fee on top: it is on almost every competitive page, cited or not, so its absence keeps you out of the running while its presence alone does not push you to the front. Wix already appears in one in five answers but has citation-share ground to make up, and the widest opening is in the sectors where it is weakest.
What to Do About It
1. Add proper structured data beyond the Wix defaults (Organisation, LocalBusiness, and FAQ where it fits). 2. Rank in normal search first, because that is the set AI draws from. 3. Answer the actual question in plain language near the top of the page. 4. Be the first-party source so AI does not need to cite a directory instead of you. 5. Move early in a weak sector (health, therapy, coaching, professional services), where the space is currently open.
By Michael Andrews - UK's #1 Wix SEO Expert | Get a Free SEO Audit