FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CiteCompass Launches 12-Week Observational Study Tracking AI Visibility Across New Zealand’s 2026 Election
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – 26 August 2026 – AI visibility platform CiteCompass has launched what it believes to be New Zealand’s first longitudinal observational study examining how leading generative AI platforms surface and cite political policy information in the lead-up to the 2026 New Zealand General Election.
The CiteCompass NZ Election 2026 AI Visibility Monitor is a 12-week research initiative tracking how generative AI systems including ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity represent information about New Zealand’s six parliamentary parties across five major policy areas:
- Cost of living
- Economy, jobs and growth
- Health
- Housing
- Crime and public safety
As people increasingly use conversational AI tools alongside traditional search engines to research complex subjects, the study will observe how the emerging AI information layer behaves during a major national democratic event.
“Generative AI represents a fundamental shift in how people discover and consume information,” said Doug Johnstone, Co-Founder of CiteCompass.
“When someone asks an AI model to explain a political party’s housing or economic policy, they are no longer simply receiving a list of web links. They are receiving a synthesised answer generated from information the AI system has discovered, interpreted and selected.”
“Our objective is purely observational. We are tracking what information these systems surface, which sources they cite, and how consistently parties and their policies are represented across different AI platforms over the course of the election campaign.”
Non-Partisan Research Framework
The research programme operates under a defined non-partisan methodology and governance framework.
Observational focus: The study measures AI visibility, citations, source selection and related information-discovery characteristics. It does not assess the merits of individual policies, rank political parties or make voting recommendations.
Equal coverage: All six parliamentary parties and all five policy domains are monitored using the same research framework and CiteCompass configuration.
Published methodology: The research methodology is documented in Methodology v1.0, providing transparency around the scope, structure and limitations of the study.
Electoral compliance: CiteCompass has sought guidance through the Electoral Commission advisory process regarding the publication of substantive comparative party findings during the election period.
The research is designed to observe the AI information environment as it develops over time rather than to determine whether any particular AI-generated response is politically correct, preferable or persuasive.
Tracking a New Information Layer
The study reflects a broader change occurring in online information discovery.
Traditional search engines primarily direct users towards external sources. Generative AI platforms can instead synthesise information from multiple sources and present a direct answer to a user’s question.
This creates new questions around visibility, source authority and citation.
For example, when someone asks an AI platform about the cost-of-living policies of a political party:
- Which sources does the AI system discover?
- Which sources does it cite?
- Is the party’s own policy information visible?
- How consistently is that information represented across different AI platforms?
- Does that visibility change as the election campaign progresses?
The CiteCompass study will observe these patterns longitudinally across the 12-week research period.
Research Findings
The NZ Election 2026 AI Visibility Monitor research hub and Methodology v1.0 are publicly available through CiteCompass.
CiteCompass intends to publish analytical updates during the research programme, subject to its research governance framework and any relevant Electoral Commission guidance.
The programme will conclude with a post-election retrospective examining how New Zealand’s AI information environment changed over the course of the study.
Research Hub:
NZ Election 2026 AI Visibility Monitor
About CiteCompass
CiteCompass is an AI visibility platform that helps organisations monitor and analyse how they are discovered, represented and cited across generative AI engines and conversational search platforms.
As information discovery shifts from traditional search results towards AI-generated answers, CiteCompass provides organisations with visibility into how AI systems surface, interpret and cite information about their brands, products, services and markets.
Media Contact
Doug Johnstone
Director and Co-Founder
CiteCompass
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +64 27 590 1723
Website: citecompass.com
Research: NZ Election 2026 AI Visibility Monitor
ENDS