When someone in Spain asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Google’s AI Mode a question, only 24% of the sources the AI cites in its answer are .es domains. That is the finding of a study published in October 2026 by international SEO consultant Aleyda Solis, which compares the weight of local and non-local sources in AI answers in Spain, the United Kingdom and Brazil.
In this article we look, from our experience as an SEO and GEO agency, at how much weight .es domains in AI answers really carry, which platform cites them most, the sectors where they win and where they almost disappear, and what you can do to make your website one of the sources AI chooses.
Summary: the key data in 30 seconds
- 24.0%: the share of AI citations in Spain that point to .es domains. The remaining 76.0% are .com, .org or other non-local domains.
- Spain at the bottom: it is the market with the lowest local share in the study. In Brazil .br domains reach 41.4% and in the UK .uk domains reach 38.3%.
- By platform: ChatGPT cites 24.8% .es domains, Google’s AI Mode 22.6% and Gemini only 16.6%.
- By sector: .es domains are the majority in personal finance (59.4%) and home & DIY (52.9%), but almost vanish in health & wellbeing (2.8%).
- Official sources: around 46% of ChatGPT’s .es citations are institutional sources such as the Bank of Spain or the CNMV.
Citing is not the same as indexing: what the study actually measures
Before getting into the figures, one important nuance. The study does not measure how many .es websites AI “indexes” or knows about, but what percentage of the sources it cites in its answers are .es domains. In other words, it measures real visibility: the links and references users see next to the answer, which can turn into visits, trust and customers.
This is how the analysis was carried out:
- Markets: Spain, the UK and Brazil, with the United States as the comparison baseline.
- Platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode.
- Topics: ten sectors: personal finance, home & DIY, automotive, travel, fashion, sport & fitness, health & wellbeing, consumer electronics, beauty & skincare, and B2B software/SaaS.
- Prompts: the same set of questions, localised for each country’s language and context.
- “Local source” criterion: the country-code domain (.es, .uk, .br), as the clearest geographic targeting signal.
That last point has a practical consequence: a Spanish company using a .com domain counts as a non-local source. So the real weight of Spanish websites in AI answers is probably higher than 24%. What the figure does make clear is that a .es domain alone does not guarantee visibility.
.es domains in AI: Spain vs the UK and Brazil
| Country | Citations to local domains | Citations to non-local domains |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (.br) | 41.4% | 58.6% |
| United Kingdom (.uk) | 38.3% | 61.7% |
| Spain (.es) | 24.0% | 76.0% |
Spain has the lowest share of local sources, although almost 1 in 4 citations is still a .es domain. In our view, two factors may help explain this: the widespread use of .com among Spanish companies, and the fact that Spanish is shared by many countries, which widens the pool of Spanish-language content AI can draw on. These are hypotheses, not conclusions of the study, but they match what we see every day when auditing client websites.
Which AI cites the most .es domains? ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini
| Platform (Spain) | .es domains | Non-local domains |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 24.8% | 75.2% |
| Google AI Mode | 22.6% | 77.4% |
| Gemini | 16.6% | 83.4% |
ChatGPT is the AI that cites the most .es domains in Spain, closely followed by Google’s AI Mode. Gemini lags clearly behind, which is striking because the opposite happens in Brazil: there, Gemini is the only country/platform combination where local sources outnumber non-local ones (51.7%).
There is an important nuance in Google’s case: Google and YouTube take around 19% of AI Mode’s citations in Spain. If they are excluded, the share of .es domains in AI Mode rises to 28.1%, the highest of the three platforms. In other words, when AI Mode looks beyond its own ecosystem, it leans more on Spanish sources.
Another revealing figure: in Spain, ChatGPT shares 51.2% of the domains it cites with its US answers, but only 23.5% of the specific pages. AI turns to the same big sites but picks different pages for each market. Localised content matters more than the domain extension.
Sectors where .es domains win (and where they almost disappear)
| Sector | Spain (.es) | UK (.uk) | Brazil (.br) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal finance | 59.4% | 58.1% | 78.7% |
| Home & DIY | 52.9% | 66.3% | 60.1% |
| Automotive | 38.0% | 61.5% | 63.6% |
| Travel | 23.2% | 35.6% | 43.4% |
| Fashion | 18.4% | 34.4% | 48.8% |
| Sport & fitness | 12.8% | 29.3% | 33.9% |
| Consumer electronics | 12.2% | 20.2% | 30.2% |
| B2B software / SaaS | 10.5% | 14.3% | 15.9% |
| Beauty & skincare | 9.4% | 28.4% | 21.7% |
| Health & wellbeing | 2.8% | 45.2% | 17.3% |
The sector conclusions are clear:
- Personal finance and home are .es territory. They are the only sectors where Spanish domains are the majority. It makes sense: mortgages, taxes, grants and housing rules depend on each country’s legislation. Even so, the differences between platforms are huge: in finance, ChatGPT cites 62.7% .es domains, compared with 30.4% for AI Mode and 22.4% for Gemini.
- Automotive holds up with 38.0% local citations.
- Travel, fashion and sport are international territory. In travel, more than 3 in 4 citations go to non-local domains. For tourism businesses like those in the Canary Islands, this means competing with large international platforms inside AI answers too.
- Health is the big gap: only 2.8% .es citations, compared with 45.2% in the UK. For Spanish clinics, pharmacies and healthcare professionals, there is a huge space to fill with expert, trustworthy content.
Institutional sources: the great ally of .es domains in ChatGPT
Around 46% of the .es citations ChatGPT makes in Spain are institutional sources: public bodies, financial regulators or academic institutions, such as bde.es (Bank of Spain) or cnmv.es. That is the highest share of the three countries analysed.
In Google’s AI Mode and Gemini, however, between 81% and 99% of local citations are online shops, media outlets and service companies. That is good news for any business: this space is not reserved for public bodies. There is room for private companies that publish useful, local, well-structured content.
How to get AI to cite your website: 6 GEO keys
The study itself recommends identifying the sources AI cites, analysing what they offer and prioritising locally relevant content. Building on that, these are the actions we apply in our Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) projects:
- Find out which sources AI cites for your key searches. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode the questions your ideal customer would ask and note which websites appear. That is your real competitor map.
- Analyse those pages. Check what information they provide, who they target and what your content is missing to match them.
- Create content with real local context. Prices in euros, Spanish (or Canary Islands) regulations, locations, opening hours, case studies and your own data. That is what generic .com content cannot offer.
- Build presence on third-party sites. Local press, associations, sector directories, comparison sites and an optimised Google Business Profile. AI trusts what others say about you.
- Strengthen technical location signals. Correct hreflang tags, structured data (Organization, LocalBusiness, FAQPage), consistent address and phone number across the site and crawlable content. Good SEO is still the foundation for appearing in AI answers.
- Measure platform by platform. No AI is “the most local” in every country, so the national average is only a starting point. What works in ChatGPT may not work in Gemini.
Is it worth having a .es domain to appear in AI answers?
Our recommendation is not to change domain just because of this study. A .es domain is a clear signal of targeting Spain and, if you are launching a new project aimed at the Spanish market, it is a very solid option. But the data shows that what really matters is not the extension, but the local relevance of the content and the authority of the brand. A poorly planned domain migration can cost more rankings than it brings. If you have a .com with quality local content, focus on strengthening that content and your local signals.
Frequently asked questions about .es domains in AI
What percentage of .es domains does AI cite in Spain?
According to Aleyda Solis’s study (October 2026), 24.0% of the citations from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode in Spain are .es domains. The remaining 76.0% are non-local domains.
Which AI cites the most .es websites?
ChatGPT, with 24.8% of citations going to .es domains, followed by Google’s AI Mode (22.6%) and Gemini (16.6%). Excluding citations to Google and YouTube, AI Mode rises to 28.1%.
In which sectors do .es domains carry the most weight?
In personal finance (59.4%) and home & DIY (52.9%). The sectors with the lowest .es presence are health & wellbeing (2.8%), beauty (9.4%) and B2B software (10.5%).
Does a Spanish website with a .com count as a local source?
Not in this study, which uses the country-code domain as its indicator. That is why the real weight of Spanish websites in AI answers is probably higher than 24%.
Conclusion: AI visibility is also won locally
The fact that only 1 in 4 AI citations in Spain is a .es domain is not bad news: it is an opportunity. There are entire sectors, such as health, travel and beauty, where Spanish sources barely appear, and AI is looking for local, reliable, well-structured content to answer with.
At Akrolih we are one of the first agencies in the Canary Islands to work specifically on GEO, not just SEO. If you want to know what AI says about your business and how to become one of its sources, get in touch or discover our SEO services in Tenerife.
Data source: Aleyda Solis, “Local vs Global AI Citations” (October 2026).
