The other AI apps we tested wouldn't tell you who to vote for. ChatGPT's web product sometimes did.
On Nov 2 and the morning of Nov 3, it sometimes said which candidate it would choose or lean toward.
Share of answers naming a candidate when asked "A or B?" 113 races, Nov 3, morning.
| ChatGPT web, logged out | 8% |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT web, free account | 4% |
| ChatGPT web, Plus | 1% |
| Other products in this run, combined | 0% |
| Grok API — free tier + web search | 20% |
| ChatGPT API — free tier + web search | 19% |
Where AI gets its election information
Which news outlets, campaign sites and reference pages each chatbot points voters to, and how local those sources are.
Local news as a share of cited links
| Perplexity | 55% |
|---|---|
| Claude | 43% |
| Gemini | 26% |
| ChatGPT | 25% |
The version you use changes the sources you see
The same chatbot can cite different sources in its web app and its developer version. Free and paid accounts can differ too.
Local news as a share of cited links. Same question, same day.
Claude
| Developer API | 48% |
|---|---|
| Free web account | 66% |
ChatGPT
| Developer API | 25% |
|---|---|
| Free web account | 34% |
ChatGPT web figures count only the links our tool captured, a subset of those shown.
Share of cited links, web apps. Same question, same day, six races. The paid account as we ran it.
ChatGPT
| Campaign sites, free account | 34% |
|---|---|
| Campaign sites, Plus account | 22% |
| Local news, free account | 34% |
| Local news, Plus account | 38% |
Claude
| Campaign sites, free account | 2% |
|---|---|
| Campaign sites, Pro account | 3% |
| Local news, free account | 66% |
| Local news, Pro account | 65% |
ChatGPT free vs Plus: on our daily questions, mostly from October. The gap was smaller on Nov 2–3, on few answers, and did not appear in other questions we asked on Nov 3.
ChatGPT web figures count only the links our tool captured, a subset of those shown.
Web vs API data through November 3, 2026; free vs paid through November 3, 2026. Gemini's web app and Grok's free tier are not included because we do not have comparable answers.
What AI cites in each state's top races
In Senate and governor races, the share of citations going to local news varies widely by state.
- AK39
- ME47
- WI58
- VT50
- NH31
- WA
- ID36
- MT49
- ND
- MN30
- IL49
- MI29
- NY38
- MA33
- OR41
- NV40
- WY60
- SD42
- IA41
- IN
- OH32
- PA65
- NJ29
- CT49
- RI33
- CA48
- UT
- CO30
- NE49
- MO
- KY35
- WV29
- VA50
- MD35
- DE44
- AZ39
- NM34
- KS43
- AR33
- TN29
- NC28
- SC37
- DC
- OK34
- LA41
- MS42
- AL42
- GA47
- HI34
- TX25
- FL29
- AK12
- ME9
- WI11
- VT10
- NH24
- WA
- ID17
- MT11
- ND
- MN13
- IL10
- MI15
- NY16
- MA13
- OR17
- NV15
- WY9
- SD7
- IA10
- IN
- OH17
- PA10
- NJ16
- CT14
- RI13
- CA7
- UT
- CO12
- NE13
- MO
- KY13
- WV20
- VA13
- MD8
- DE10
- AZ17
- NM8
- KS14
- AR10
- TN23
- NC17
- SC11
- DC
- OK14
- LA10
- MS12
- AL10
- GA11
- HI8
- TX10
- FL20
- AK3
- ME1
- WI2
- VT6
- NH6
- WA
- ID6
- MT2
- ND
- MN5
- IL4
- MI6
- NY1
- MA7
- OR5
- NV2
- WY3
- SD1
- IA2
- IN
- OH5
- PA1
- NJ9
- CT3
- RI6
- CA1
- UT
- CO4
- NE3
- MO
- KY4
- WV2
- VA3
- MD6
- DE1
- AZ3
- NM3
- KS3
- AR2
- TN3
- NC4
- SC6
- DC
- OK7
- LA3
- MS4
- AL3
- GA1
- HI3
- TX4
- FL6
Percent of cited links in each state's Senate and governor races, on one question asked in every race. Shares depend on how we classify each outlet. Each developer version counts equally. Dashed tiles rest on a single race; grey tiles have no statewide race we followed. A figure describes these contests, not the state as a whole, and darker tiles are relative to the highest value on each map.
How we work
We asked a standing set of questions each day and repeated the pick question in separate runs. We used the same source categories and answer labels for each chatbot. Read our methods
Use the data
Researchers, journalists and civic groups can sign in to explore every answer and download the data. Explore the data