AI search engines are changing the way they cite sources when answering automotive-related questions in Indonesia, according to a whitepaper from Maverick Indonesia and GridOto.
The report, News Platforms Losing Ground to Marketplace Platforms and YouTube, argues that AI search visibility is no longer shaped mainly by traditional news coverage. Instead, platforms that help consumers compare, evaluate and make purchase decisions, including automotive marketplaces and YouTube channels, are becoming more influential in AI-generated answers.
Key findings from the report
Marketplace platforms have overtaken news media as a major AI citation source. According to the report, marketplace became the most-cited category, rising from 26 per cent to 31 per cent, while news media declined from 33 per cent to 30 per cent. The findings suggest that AI engines are increasingly favouring transaction-oriented content, such as product listings, price ranges, comparisons and specifications, over broad editorial information.
Social media also recorded significant growth, largely driven by YouTube. The report found that YouTube is becoming a more prominent source in AI answers, particularly where videos provide structured answers to specific consumer questions. Long-form videos, comparison content and buying guides were more likely to be cited than short-form content.
The study also highlights a shift in who AI trusts on YouTube. Individual creators now account for nearly half of YouTube citations in the dataset, while YouTube channels owned by news media have declined. Maverick Indonesia and GridOto suggest this may be because individual creators often frame content from a user or buyer perspective, making it more relevant to consumer decision-making prompts.
News media still matters, but AI appears to be more selective in how it cites publishers. Only six of the top 20 news domains tracked in the report increased their citation share. Suara.com saw the strongest proportional increase, with most of its growth coming from ChatGPT.
The report also points to crawler access as an important, but not sufficient, factor in AI visibility. Media that allowed AI crawler access saw mixed results, while outlets that restricted access often recorded citation share declines. After GridOto opened access to AI crawlers in June 2025, its AI referral traffic showed an upward trend, with ChatGPT emerging as the main driver.
Why it matters for communications professionals
For PR and communications teams, the study suggests that AI search is becoming a reputation channel in its own right. Visibility is no longer only about search rankings, media coverage or owned websites. Brands need to understand which third-party sources AI engines trust and cite when consumers ask questions.
For automotive brands, this means marketplace listings, KOL reviews, YouTube explainers and structured news content can all influence how AI describes a brand or product. The report notes that brand-owned visibility is weakening, with official car brand pages and dealer sites both declining as citation sources.
For publishers, the findings point to the need for “AI-readable” editorial formats. Maverick Indonesia and GridOto recommend structured headlines, ranked lists, comparison tables, FAQs, evergreen explainers, updated buying guides and open crawler access to improve the likelihood of being cited by AI engines.
For communicators more broadly, the lesson is that generative search requires an ecosystem view. AI visibility should be tracked by source type, prompt, platform and competitor, rather than treated as a website or SEO metric alone.
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