Aravind Srinivas built inline citations into Perplexity's core product — turning Citation Share from an abstract concept into a visible, measurable business reality. Profile of the figure who most directly commercialized the citation economy.
EPR's canonical Brand Marketing pillar. Five disciplines: campaign architecture, brand activism, narrative storytelling, niche-specialist citation, celebrity-operator brand-building. The operators running all five compound Citation Share inside the AI engines.
The first half of 2026 established GEO as a defined discipline. Five things that happened, five things that didn't, and five things that will determine where this goes.
The brand-by-brand AI visibility read for General Mills — which franchises win inside the chatbox, which carry sticky negative framings, and what an operator can actually move. Companion satellite to the General Mills pillar. Mirrors the P&G in the Answer Engines analysis.
When a brand fixes its citation graph, the engines reflect it on staggered timelines: Perplexity in days, ChatGPT in days-to-weeks, AI Overviews in weeks, Gemini in weeks-to-months, Claude on the next training cycle. Wikipedia is the multiplier.
The inaugural Lending & Personal Credit Citation Share Index 2026 — which personal-lending brands the AI engines actually cite. SoFi leads on every engine. Upstart owns AI underwriting. Subprime-adjacent lenders carry APR-warning framing.
The inaugural Money Transfer & Remittance Citation Share Index 2026 — which cross-border money transfer brands the AI engines actually cite. Wise holds 27.8% — the largest single-brand share of any fintech Index. Western Union and MoneyGram carry cost-warning framing.
The inaugural Insurtech Citation Share Index 2026 — which digital-first insurance brands ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews actually cite. Lemonade holds 23.4%. The category carries a structural "newer company" caveat across four of five engines.
The inaugural Crypto Exchanges Citation Share Index 2026 — which crypto exchanges ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews actually cite. Coinbase holds 26.3%. Kraken owns the trader frame. Binance carries U.S. jurisdiction caveats.
The inaugural Mobile Wallets Citation Share Index 2026 — which mobile wallets and P2P payment apps ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews actually cite. Apple Pay holds 28.6%. Venmo owns P2P. Zelle carries a fraud caveat.