What does AI cite most for education questions in France?
Ranked by the share of answers that cite each source at least once, across 111,959 answers from Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini. YouTube leads; letudiant.fr is the most-cited French education site (7.9%).
In 111,959 AI answers about education in France, the most-cited source is YouTube (31% of answers), then Wikipedia (11.2%) and Facebook (10.4%).
Most-cited sources · % of answers citing
- 1
YouTubeVideo31% - 2
WikipediaReference11.2% - 3
FacebookSocial and creator10.4% - 4
service-public.gouv.frGovernment9.3% - 5
education.gouv.frGovernment8.6% - 6
letudiant.frEducation sites7.9% - 7
onisep.frGovernment6.2% - 8
InstagramSocial and creator4.9% - 9
GoogleOther websites3.7% - 10
TikTokVideo3.1% - 11
IndeedOther websites3% - 12francetravail.frGovernment3%
- 13
maformation.frEducation sites2.9% - 14vacances-scolaires-education.frOther websites2.9%
- 15
naitreetgrandir.comOther websites2.2%
Source mix
- Education sites27.1%
- Video32.8%
- Forums and Q&A2.2%
- Social and creator15.8%
- Reference12.2%
- Document sharing1%
- Schools and universities8.8%
- Government37.3%
- Other websites88.1%
% of answers citing each type at least once.
| # | Source | Type | % of answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | youtube.com | Video | 31.0% |
| 2 | wikipedia.org | Reference | 11.2% |
| 3 | facebook.com | Social and creator | 10.4% |
| 4 | service-public.gouv.fr | Government | 9.3% |
| 5 | education.gouv.fr | Government | 8.6% |
| 6 | letudiant.fr | Education sites | 7.9% |
| 7 | onisep.fr | Government | 6.2% |
| 8 | instagram.com | Social and creator | 4.9% |
| 9 | google.com | Other websites | 3.7% |
| 10 | tiktok.com | Video | 3.1% |
| 11 | indeed.com | Other websites | 3.0% |
| 12 | francetravail.fr | Government | 3.0% |
| 13 | maformation.fr | Education sites | 2.9% |
| 14 | vacances-scolaires-education.fr | Other websites | 2.9% |
| 15 | naitreetgrandir.com | Other websites | 2.2% |
What each source type includes
- ·Education sites: course and tutoring platforms, test-prep and cram schools, school and university guides, and the 33 anonymized international sites.
- ·Video: YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, TED and other video hosts.
- ·Forums and Q&A: Reddit, Quora, Yahoo! Chiebukuro, gutefrage.net, Brainly and other Q&A sites.
- ·Social and creator: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Pinterest, note.com, blogs.
- ·Reference: Wikipedia, Britannica, dictionaries.
- ·Document sharing: Scribd, SlideShare, Studocu, Course Hero, ResearchGate.
- ·Schools and universities: universities, colleges and school websites (.edu, .ac.jp, .edu.au and similar).
- ·Government: government and public bodies (.gov, .go.jp, .gouv.fr, ministries, regions, employment agencies).
- ·Other websites: everything else: publishers, news, software vendors, job boards, shops.
Which French education sites does AI cite most?
Education sites (course and tutoring platforms, test-prep and cram schools, school and university guides) appear in 27.1% of answers. These are the ones AI cites most in France:
| # | Source | % of answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | letudiant.fr | 7.9% |
| 2 | maformation.fr | 2.9% |
| 3 |  ornikar.com | 2.1% |
| 4 |  je-change-de-metier.com | 2.0% |
| 5 |  diplomeo.com | 2.0% |
| 6 |  codesrousseau.fr | 1.4% |
| 7 |  studi.com | 1.2% |
| 8 |  digischool.fr | 1.1% |
| 9 |  lepermislibre.fr | 1.0% |
| 10 | envoituresimone.com | 1.0% |
| 11 |  cidj.com | 0.9% |
| 12 |  superprof.fr | 0.9% |
Which sources does each AI platform cite in France?
The platform changes the answer. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode cite video in up to 45.7% of answers; ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Gemini in at most 0.5%. Pick a platform to see its own ranking.
AI platform
In 111,959 AI answers about education in France, the most-cited source is YouTube (31% of answers), then Wikipedia (11.2%) and Facebook (10.4%).
Most-cited sources · % of answers citing
- 1YouTubeVideo31%
- 2WikipediaReference11.2%
- 3FacebookSocial and creator10.4%
- 4service-public.gouv.frGovernment9.3%
- 5education.gouv.frGovernment8.6%
- 6letudiant.frEducation sites7.9%
- 7onisep.frGovernment6.2%
- 8InstagramSocial and creator4.9%
- 9GoogleOther websites3.7%
- 10TikTokVideo3.1%
- 11IndeedOther websites3%
- 12francetravail.frGovernment3%
- 13maformation.frEducation sites2.9%
- 14vacances-scolaires-education.frOther websites2.9%
- 15naitreetgrandir.comOther websites2.2%
Source mix
- Education sites27.1%
- Video32.8%
- Forums and Q&A2.2%
- Social and creator15.8%
- Reference12.2%
- Document sharing1%
- Schools and universities8.8%
- Government37.3%
- Other websites88.1%
% of answers citing each type at least once.
| Platform | Answers | Most-cited source | Video | Forums and Q&A | Education sites | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All platforms | 111,959 | YouTube31.0% | 32.8% | 2.2% | 27.1% | 37.3% |
| AI Overviews | 76,639 | YouTube43.3% | 45.7% | 3.0% | 31.9% | 41.6% |
| AI Mode | 22,838 | education.gouv.fr9.4% | 7.0% | 0.7% | 21.0% | 33.0% |
| ChatGPT | 1,841 | education.gouv.fr12.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 7.8% | 44.3% |
| Perplexity | 3,228 | service-public.gouv.fr6.8% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 15.5% | 28.6% |
| Copilot | 3,659 |  amazon.fr4.7% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 7.4% | 12.5% |
| Gemini | 3,754 | Wikipedia1.7% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
What do people in France ask AI about education?
The education searches with the highest monthly search volume in this data (Ahrefs). Each one triggered an AI answer that was collected.
| Search | In English | Monthly searches |
|---|---|---|
| ecole directe | 529,000 | |
| pronote | 281,000 | |
| toutatice | 237,000 | |
| vacances scolaires | 229,000 | |
| vacances scolaires 2026 | 225,000 | |
| vacances scolaires 2027 | 219,000 | |
| lycée connecté | Connected High School | 203,000 |
| vacances toussaint 2026 | 196,000 | |
| permis de conduire | 154,000 | |
| pcn | 127,000 | |
| vacance scolaire 2026 | 110,000 | |
| mon compte formation | 98,000 |
How does France compare with other countries?
The same measure in every country of the study, all platforms. See all countries side by side.
| Country | Answers | Video | Education sites | Forums and Q&A | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,456,743 | 33.1% | 12.4% | 18.3% | 13.6% |
| India | 629,880 | 25.7% | 41.9% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
| Japan | 274,068 | 16.5% | 42.7% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| United Kingdom | 222,184 | 25.5% | 26.7% | 9.0% | 28.2% |
| Indonesia | 170,993 | 37.8% | 18.5% | 5.3% | 22.2% |
| Brazil | 161,570 | 45.6% | 25.3% | 3.9% | 19.6% |
| Mexico | 141,634 | 47.4% | 18.4% | 3.1% | 24.9% |
| Canada | 131,414 | 33.1% | 24.1% | 18.0% | 18.3% |
| Australia | 128,845 | 25.2% | 20.9% | 9.8% | 31.7% |
| France | 111,959 | 32.8% | 27.1% | 2.2% | 37.3% |
| Germany | 109,804 | 32.1% | 29.2% | 4.9% | 19.1% |
| Philippines | 93,035 | 40.2% | 31.0% | 14.5% | 16.5% |
| Spain | 92,079 | 34.9% | 27.4% | 2.7% | 26.8% |
How was this measured?
- ·Data: Ahrefs Brand Radar, AI responses, France, data date 14 November 2026: every answer whose prompt Ahrefs files under Jobs and Education > Education (including its subcategories), with no site filter. 111,959 rows exported in slices under Ahrefs' row cap, each checked against the count Ahrefs showed.
- ·Answers: 111,959 unique answers after removing duplicates (same platform, prompt, opening text and date), dated 17 August 2026 to 14 November 2026.
- ·Gap: 1,492 ChatGPT answers (1.3% of this country's answers) could not be exported: Ahrefs' export failed on every attempt for that slice, so the ChatGPT figures here use the ChatGPT answers that did export.
- ·Platforms: Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini. Grok was paused in Ahrefs during this period.
- ·Measure: the share of answers that cite a source, or a source type, at least once.
- ·Source types: each cited page is assigned one type by fixed rules (domain lists and suffixes such as .gov or .ac.jp), the same rules in every country.
- ·Anonymized sites: the 33 international education sites of the US study are shown as Brand 1 to Brand 33, numbered by how many answers cite them across all countries.
- ·Platform mix: Google AI Overviews are 68.5% of the answers here, so all-platform figures lean toward Google.
- ·One snapshot: this is one pull, not a trend.
How to cite this study
Suggested citation
Pagadala, V. (2026). Most-Cited Sources in AI Search: Education in France. 111,959 AI answers, Ahrefs Brand Radar (France), answers dated 17 August 2026 to 14 November 2026. https://venkatapagadala.com/ai-retrieval-citations-research/education-industry/france
The data files on this page are licensed under CC BY 4.0: you may reuse them, with credit to this study.
Sources & further reading
Go deeper
Which source does AI cite most for education questions in France?
YouTube. It is cited in 31.0% of 111,959 AI answers to education questions in France, ahead of Wikipedia (11.2%) and Facebook (10.4%).
Which French education sites does AI cite most?
letudiant.fr (7.9% of answers), maformation.fr (2.9%) and ornikar.com (2.1%). Education sites as a group appear in 27.1% of answers in France.
Does ChatGPT cite different sources than Google AI Overviews in France?
Yes. On Google AI Overviews the most-cited source is YouTube (43.3% of its answers); on ChatGPT it is education.gouv.fr (12.0%). Video appears in 45.7% of AI Overviews answers and 0.1% of ChatGPT answers.
How often does AI cite YouTube for education questions in France?
YouTube is cited in 31.0% of AI answers to education questions in France, all platforms combined.
How should I cite this study?
Pagadala, V. (2026). Most-Cited Sources in AI Search: Education in France. 111,959 AI answers, Ahrefs Brand Radar (France), answers dated 17 August 2026 to 14 November 2026. https://venkatapagadala.com/ai-retrieval-citations-research/education-industry/france
Why are some education sites anonymized?
The study is about where AI answers get their sources, not about any one company. The 33 international education sites of the US study are shown as Brand 1 to Brand 33; local sites are named.