Which sites do AI engines cite for manuscript editing services?

What the numbers say

ChatGPT and Google cite different sites for the same questions. Of the 148 sites ChatGPT cited, 26 appeared anywhere in Google's results for these searches.

• ChatGPT cited reedsy.com more than any other site. It was cited on 21 of the 25 questions and in 93 of the 150 answers. the-efa.org came next, on 19 questions and in 68 answers.
• Google leans on community sites. Reddit showed up in Google's organic results for 25 of the 25 questions that returned results, and in AI Mode for 4. ChatGPT cited Reddit on 1 of the 25.
• Broad questions spread citations the widest. Across its 6 runs, "best design and editing services for solo founders" drew 24 different sites, "best freelance creative services for small businesses" drew 21, and "alternatives to Reedsy for finding a book editor" drew 17.
• Google showed no AI Overview on any of the 25 questions. Overviews appeared on 8 of 15 shorter searches.

How results changed between runs

ChatGPT was run 3 times on 7 October and 3 times on 10 October. Counting each day's 3 runs on their own, 10 sites were cited on 2 or more questions on 7 October and 21 on 10 October. 7 were on both lists. Of the 148 sites ChatGPT cited, 40 were cited on both days. Which sites get cited moves a fair amount between days, so a single check isn't a reliable read for any one site.

How this was measured

Peak Answer wrote 25 questions a buyer asks when an author choosing and pricing a book editor or manuscript editing service, plus a few on freelance creative services generally.

• ChatGPT: each question was asked 6 separate times, 3 on 7 October 2026 and 3 on 10 October 2026, from a US location. The 7 October runs were collected through Bright Data and ChatGPT searched the web on 61 of those 75 answers. The 10 October runs were collected through DataForSEO with web search on. Every cited link was recorded. Brand names were pulled from the answer text with Claude, for all 150 answers.
• Google: the same 25 questions were run once on 7 October 2026 for Google search (organic results), Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews, US results. Google also ran 15 shorter searches, which are only used for the AI Overview count.
• Domains: a domain is the host of the cited link, with "www." removed. Subdomains are kept separate, so fiverr.com and pro.fiverr.com are counted apart.
• Named: a site counts as named in an answer when a brand name Claude pulled from the answer text matches the site's domain name. A firm that goes by a different name in the answer is not counted.

These were the 25 questions:

1. best book editor for self published authors
2. best developmental editor for fiction
3. top rated manuscript editing service
4. best freelance book editor to hire
5. best book editing service for indie authors
6. best editor for a first time novelist
7. best developmental editor for a memoir
8. best copy editor for a self published nonfiction book
9. best book editor on a limited budget
10. best editor for a fantasy novel manuscript
11. how to choose a book editor
12. what to look for in a developmental editor
13. how to pick a manuscript editing service
14. how much does book editing cost
15. how much do developmental editors charge per word
16. average cost of editing a 80000 word novel
17. freelance book editor vs editing service
18. alternatives to Reedsy for finding a book editor
19. is a developmental editor worth it for a self published author
20. is paying for book editing worth it
21. best freelance creative services for small businesses
22. best design and editing services for solo founders
23. how much do freelance creative services cost
24. hiring a freelancer vs an agency for creative work
25. is it worth hiring a professional instead of doing it yourself

What this means

For an editing service or freelance book editor, the pages that get cited are mostly the Reedsy marketplace and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) hiring pages and member directory, followed by editing companies' own pages and cost guides, freelance platforms and a few professional associations. ChatGPT cited Reedsy on 21 questions, the most of any site, and the EFA on 19. Editor World was cited on 12, Upwork on 9, the EFA's member directory on 7 and Reedsy's blog on 6. Professional associations like the Professional Book Editors Association, the CIEP, ACES and Editors Canada were each cited on 2 or 3.

For example, ChatGPT cited Reedsy's book editor page on 21 questions, including "best developmental editor for fiction" and "alternatives to Reedsy for finding a book editor", and the EFA's hiring page on 19, including "how to pick a manuscript editing service". Editor World's page on how much book editing costs was cited on 12, including "how much does book editing cost" and "average cost of editing a 80000 word novel". Reedsy's blog cost guide was cited on 6, including "best book editor on a limited budget". Scribendi's homepage was cited on 4, including "top rated manuscript editing service", and Western Reflections Publishing's guide to finding a book editor on 4, including "best freelance book editor to hire". ProWritingAid's Reedsy alternatives page was cited on 4, including "alternatives to Reedsy for finding a book editor", and the SFWA Writer Beware page on editors on 3, including "what to look for in a developmental editor".

Google is different. Reddit showed up in Google's organic results for 25 of the 25 questions with results, in AI Mode for 4, and in ChatGPT's citations for 1. Facebook group posts also appeared in Google's organic results for 16 questions and Quora answers for 9, and neither was cited by ChatGPT. Being part of those conversations matters more on Google than on ChatGPT.

Limitations

• Only ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and Google search were measured. Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot may cite different sites.
• 6 runs over two days is a small sample for ChatGPT, and results can often vary significantly from run to run.
• Results are for US searches only.

Download the data

One row per site: the questions it was cited on by ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google search, and a page it was cited at.

• Per-site citation counts by engine (251 rows)

How to cite this study

Peak Answer, "Who AI Cites for Manuscript Editing Services", https://peakanswer.com/research/manuscript-editing-services.

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