Beat 4 gyms in a 90s handheld RPG by getting your brand cited on Google, AI Overviews, Perplexity and ChatGPT. Every tactic comes from Reach's study of 3.1 million AI citations, so the moves that win battles match what the real engines cite.
Click the screen, then move with ←↑→↓, press Z to select and X to go back.Tap the buttons under the screen to play.
Next time someone asks you why ChatGPT recommends a competitor, these 3 questions explain it. Each gym tests them on a different engine, and every number behind the answers comes from Reach's study of 3.1 million AI citations across 244,330 answers, run in August 2026.
Listicles and complete guides make up 43.7% of what AI engines cite. In legal, how-to guides lead instead, at 28.5%.
1 in 13 AI Overview citations is a YouTube video. ChatGPT cites G2 almost 3 times as often as Google's AI does.
AI Overviews cite Reddit more than any other engine does, at 2.3% of citations. In ecommerce, Reddit alone is 4.1%.
Query fan-out. AI engines split 1 question into several searches, like prices, reviews and alternatives, then build the answer from the winners of each. So you tell 1 story everywhere: on your own pages, on third-party sites and in the forums.
They all ask the same thing in the end: are you the most useful, most trusted answer? They check it differently, so a move that wins 1 gym can do nothing in the next.
Build pages around what the searcher wants to do, link guides that cover the whole topic, and earn links from sites your buyers already trust.
14.1sources per answer in Google's AI Mode, which draws on the same index.
Backfires: keyword stuffing, bought links and mass AI pages.
Put a direct answer in your first 2 sentences, then the detail. YouTube is the most cited third-party site, and Reddit shows up more here than on any other engine.
1 in 13AI Overview citations is a YouTube video.
Backfires: special AI markup. Google says none is needed.
Publish fresh pages with a visible date and specific facts, get on review sites, and put out original data that other sites quote.
11.1sources cited per answer, and only 1% of them are YouTube.
Backfires: blocking its crawler, or hiding your best guide behind a form.
Get on review sites, directories, tech press and the "best of" roundups your buyers read. It cites G2 almost 3 times as often as Google's AI does.
17.6sources cited per answer, the most of any engine.
Backfires: calling yourself #1 on your own homepage, and hidden prompts.
It covers what Google, AI Overviews, Perplexity and ChatGPT each cite, and the page types, third-party sites and forums that win in software, finance, legal, real estate or ecommerce.
A free browser game from Reach AI that teaches SEO and AI search. You play a 90s handheld RPG, pick a starter and beat 4 gyms: Google, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and ChatGPT. Each gym only rewards the tactics that engine actually cites.
The tactics and numbers are. They come from Reach's study of 3.1 million AI citations across 244,330 answers, run in August 2026. The brands and battles are made up, so the game teaches the patterns and never looks up your own brand.
There are 4 gyms and 9 battles. The game saves in your browser as you go, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.
No. Your email is optional, and only if you want the cheat sheet in your inbox, plus your certificate if you finish.
Yes. Use the on-screen buttons, or open it full screen for a bigger screen. On a computer, move with the arrow keys, press Z to select and X to go back.
Reach AI, the AI-native team that turns search into your best performing growth channel. I run growth there, and Reach's search team runs the same 3 questions on real brands in a free audit.
The game runs on example brands. Reach's search team runs the same 3 questions on the searches your buyers type, across all 4 engines, in a free audit. (Reach AI beat Amazon, Shopify and Forbes for our clients, so we can do the same for you)
Answer Quest is a Reach AI game.
