Lab study · November 2026
Who tells AI the news in Bulgaria?
We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity whether Bulgaria’s minimum wage is going up and how much prices have risen. Each question went in English and in Bulgarian, three times to each assistant, and we saved all 36 answers with every website they linked to. BNR was linked in 18 of the 36, more than any other website. Seven of the country’s best-known newsrooms were not linked once.
Here is who gets the link when AI answers the news, which newsrooms stay invisible, and what a newsroom can do about it. Every number opens the saved answers behind it.
- 36 answers
- 70 websites linked
- 4 linked by all three
- 7 newsrooms with zero
- manager.bg4
- forbesbulgaria.com15
- investicii.bg3
- infoz.bg5
- bgonair.bg3
- ecb.europa.eu5
- registri.bg1
- osigurovki.bg2
- finansovsuvet.com3
- kik-info.com5
- greco.services1
- accountingservice-bg.com1
- business.dir.bg1
- economic.bg8
- nova.bg15
- news.bg6
- cheapestdestinationsblog.com3
- bnrnews.bg18
- euronews.bg1
- fakti.bg7
- eurofound.europa.eu2
- flagman.bg3
- envoyglobal.com1
- dhconsult.info2
- vesti.bg9
- offnews.bg0
- shum.bg3
- euro-lev.eu3
- radiovelikotarnovo.com1
- dbr.bg1
- postedworkers.gli.government.bg2
- dnesbulgaria.com1
- news.bloomberglaw.com1
- dnesplus.bg1
- novinite.com5
- lexalert.bg6
- strategy.bg6
- trud.bg4
- bta.bg6
- actualno.com2
- bia-bg.com3
- standartnews.com0
- innovires.com3
- global-rates.com1
- dnevnik.bg0
- segabg.com0
- madamebulgaria.com1
- trafficnews.bg4
- eiglaw.com1
- finorum.com1
- tradingeconomics.com7
- 24chasa.bg0
- ruskov-law.eu2
- eranova.bg2
- mlsp.government.bg9
- bulgaristan.bg3
- marica.bg4
- burgasmedia.com1
- capital.bg3
- btvnovinite.bg0
- arlettipartners.com1
- boundlesshq.com1
- banker.bg2
- varnapulse.com1
- dariknews.bg3
- medianews.bg3
- sailglobal.com1
- sofiaglobe.com1
- bntnews.bg11
- mediapool.bg0
- boulevardbulgaria.bg3
- mi.government.bg1
- nsi.bg15
- wageindicator.org1
- 3e-news.net1
- wherewework.bg1
- reddit.com5
70 websites. Who reads them?
Key findings
What ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity linked to when asked about Bulgaria’s minimum wage and rising prices, 36 answers saved on 4 November 2026:
- BNR was the website AI linked to most: 18 of the 36 answers. Forbes Bulgaria, NOVA and the National Statistical Institute followed with 15 each, then BNT with 11.
- Seven of Bulgaria’s best-known newsrooms were not linked in a single answer: bTV, Dnevnik, Mediapool, Sega, OFFNews, Standart and 24 Chasa. Dir.bg appeared once and Capital three times.
- BTA, the news agency whose reporting sits behind many of the articles, was linked in 6 of 36. The BNR article the assistants linked to most credits BTA for its background.
- Only four websites were linked by all three assistants: BNR, NOVA, the National Statistical Institute and Economic.bg. Of the 70 websites linked in total, 51 were linked by one assistant only.
- Forbes Bulgaria was in every one of Perplexity’s 12 answers, and in none of ChatGPT’s. The same publication, three very different pictures.
- The same assistant gave different sources each time. Gemini’s three answers to the same English question linked to 15 websites between them, and not one appeared in all three.
- The language of the question changed the sources. The Bulgarian Industrial Association appeared in all three of Gemini’s Bulgarian answers on the minimum wage and in none of its English ones.
Which websites does AI link to most for Bulgarian news?
The twelve most-linked websites, with each assistant’s share. Each assistant answered 12 times, so 12 is the most any one of them can give. Watch the votes come in: ChatGPT first, then Gemini, then Perplexity. The name links to the website itself; “evidence” opens every saved answer it appeared in.
| # | Website | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BNRbnrnews.bgevidence | 6 | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| 2 | Forbes Bulgariaforbesbulgaria.comevidence | 0 | 3 | 12 | 15 |
| 3 | National Statistical Institutensi.bgevidence | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 4 | NOVAnova.bgevidence | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| 5 | BNTbntnews.bgevidence | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| 6 | Ministry of Labourmlsp.government.bgevidence | 4 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 7 | Vestivesti.bgevidence | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Economic.bgeconomic.bgevidence | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 9 | Fakti.bgfakti.bgevidence | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 10 | Trading Economicstradingeconomics.comevidence | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 11 | BTAbta.bgevidence | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 12 | Lex Alertlexalert.bgevidence | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Five article links to the same website in one answer count as one. Separate domains count separately, even when one organisation owns both.
Which Bulgarian newsrooms did AI not link to at all?
Seven of the country’s best-known newsrooms were not linked in any of the 36 answers. Their reporting on wages and prices exists; the assistants simply reached for other websites. Beside them, for scale, the newsrooms that did appear.
- bTVbtvnovinite.bg0 of 36
- Dnevnikdnevnik.bg0 of 36
- Mediapoolmediapool.bg0 of 36
- Segasegabg.com0 of 36
- OFFNewsoffnews.bg0 of 36
- Standartstandartnews.com0 of 36
- 24 Chasa24chasa.bg0 of 36
- Dir.bgbusiness.dir.bg1 of 36
- Capitalcapital.bg3 of 36
- Darik Newsdariknews.bg3 of 36
- Trudtrud.bg4 of 36
- Novinitenovinite.com5 of 36
- BTAbta.bg6 of 36
- BNRbnrnews.bg18 of 36
Counted with code against every saved answer. One Gemini answer named 24chasa.bg in its text without a link, so it is not a linked appearance. A zero here says nothing about the quality of the reporting; it says the assistants did not point readers to it for these two questions.
Does AI cite the same sources every time?
No. Ask the same assistant the same question three times and you get three different reading lists. Gemini’s three answers to the English minimum-wage question linked 15 websites between them, and not one appeared in all three. Here are all 36 answers, one question at a time: the three assistants side by side, their three replies each, and every website a reply linked. Press any website to see where else it turns up. A ring marks a website an assistant linked in all three of its replies; “Read the answer” opens the saved reply, with a full English translation of the Bulgarian ones.
Press a website to see everywhere else it appears.
The question: Is Bulgaria’s minimum wage going up, by how much and when?
Gemini
The question: Ще се увеличи ли минималната заплата в България, с колко и от кога?
(Is Bulgaria’s minimum wage going up, by how much and when?)
Gemini
The question: How much have prices risen in Bulgaria, and what has become more expensive?
Gemini
The question: С колко са се повишили цените в България и какво е поскъпнало?
(How much have prices risen in Bulgaria, and what has become more expensive?)
Gemini
ChatGPT and Gemini were recorded through DataForSEO’s automated capture with Bulgaria as the location; Perplexity from its website. ChatGPT linked one to four websites per answer, Gemini and Perplexity usually more, which is why ChatGPT’s column is thinner.
Do ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity cite the same Bulgarian sources?
Hardly at all. Of the 70 websites linked, 51 appeared with one assistant only: 26 only in Gemini, 22 only in Perplexity, 3 only in ChatGPT. Just four were linked by all three.
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- All three
- Only ChatGPT: 3
- Only Gemini: 26
- Only Perplexity: 22
- ChatGPT and Gemini: 0
- ChatGPT and Perplexity: 1
- Gemini and Perplexity: 14
- All three: 4
A website is counted once, in the part that matches the assistants that linked it somewhere in the study.
Where does AI get its Bulgarian news from?
Mostly BNR, Forbes Bulgaria, NOVA and the National Statistical Institute, then a long tail of websites, 25 of which appeared only once. Every website linked in the answers, sized by how many answers linked it. 70 websites in all.
- bnrnews.bg18 times
- forbesbulgaria.com15 times
- nova.bg15 times
- nsi.bg15 times
- bntnews.bg11 times
- mlsp.government.bg9 times
- vesti.bg9 times
- economic.bg8 times
- fakti.bg7 times
- tradingeconomics.com7 times
- bta.bg6 times
- lexalert.bg6 times
- news.bg6 times
- strategy.bg6 times
- infoz.bg5 times
- kik-info.com5 times
- novinite.com5 times
- reddit.com5 times
- ecb.europa.eu5 times
- manager.bg4 times
- marica.bg4 times
- trafficnews.bg4 times
- trud.bg4 times
- capital.bg3 times
- dariknews.bg3 times
- bgonair.bg3 times
- bia-bg.com3 times
- flagman.bg3 times
Green: media and newsrooms. Outlined: reference, legal and financial sites, Reddit. No colour: state and European institutions.
Five things we learned
One question, three different lists
Gemini’s three English minimum-wage answers linked 15 different websites: five in the first, seven in the second, seven in the third. Not one appeared in all three.
The language changes the sources
The Bulgarian Industrial Association was in all three of Gemini’s Bulgarian minimum-wage answers and in none of its three English answers to the same question. An observation from this test, not a rule for every future answer.
Only four websites reached all three
BNR, NOVA, the National Statistical Institute and Economic.bg were linked somewhere by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. That covers both topics and both languages together; it does not mean each assistant linked them for every question.
Forbes in every Perplexity answer
Forbes Bulgaria was linked in 12 of Perplexity’s 12 answers, 3 of Gemini’s 12 and none of ChatGPT’s. One publication, three very different levels of visibility.
A link is a path to the article, not to the reporter
It does not say who did the reporting. The BNR minimum-wage article these answers lead to credits BTA for its background on the tripartite council. Our numbers show the website AI pointed to; who stands behind the reporting is only found by reading.
What does this mean for a Bulgarian newsroom?
That there is now one more place where your work is met and credited, and for these two questions seven newsrooms are not in it. For the reader, the link in an AI answer is the path back to the reporting: a place to read more, check a claim and see what was left out.
For the editor, the useful questions are specific: which of our pieces appeared, in which assistant, for which question? Every website in this study opens a record with all the answers it appears in, with the saved text and links, so you can check the evidence without taking our word for it.
What the study cannot tell you: how many people saw the link, how many opened it, and which sources an assistant used without showing them.
If you would like the same check run on your own publication, across more questions, write to us.
How did we do the study?
Two questions, in English and Bulgarian, three times each in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. We saved 36 answers on 4 November 2026.
- In English: “Is Bulgaria’s minimum wage going up, by how much and when?” and “How much have prices risen in Bulgaria, and what has become more expensive?”
- In Bulgarian: „Ще се увеличи ли минималната заплата в България, с колко и от кога?“ and „С колко са се повишили цените в България и какво е поскъпнало?“ (the same two questions)
We asked exactly that, without adding an expected answer, a publication’s name or a request to show sources. Each question started a new conversation. ChatGPT and Gemini were recorded through DataForSEO’s automated capture service, with Bulgaria requested as the location and the language matched to the question; Perplexity from its website. The routes differ, so the results describe this test, not a controlled comparison of the three products.
We counted the websites each answer linked to. Several articles from one website in one answer count as one. Separate domains count separately, even when one organisation owns both. A cited source is a visible reference, not proof that every sentence came from it. One Gemini answer named 24chasa.bg in its text without a link, so it is not in the counts. ChatGPT adds a tracking tag to every link it gives; the pages show the clean address and the downloads keep the originals.
Each of the 36 answers has its own evidence page, with a full English translation of the 18 Bulgarian answers, and each of the 70 websites has a record of every answer it appeared in. The whole study is one table you can download as a spreadsheet or as JSON.
Updates
We will ask the same questions again and add what changed here, newest first. A bigger run, with ten news topics instead of two, is planned.
- 6 November 2026: key findings, the scoreboard and the missing newsrooms added; the links to publishers now show the clean address (ChatGPT adds a tracking tag to every link it gives; the downloads keep the raw links). A Bulgarian version of the study was published.
- 5 November 2026: first run published. 36 answers, 70 websites, 4 linked by all three assistants.
For newsrooms and researchers
Everything on this page can be checked: every number opens the saved answers behind it, and the full data is free to download as a spreadsheet or as JSON. If you use it, please mention Wonder Works and link to this page.
To cite it: Wonder Works, Who Tells AI the News in Bulgaria?, Lab study, 5 November 2026, wonderworksdesign.net/lab/who-tells-ai-the-news-in-bulgaria.
If you would like the same check run on your own publication, across more questions, write to us.
Questions about the findings
What did you ask the AI assistants?
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We asked whether Bulgaria’s minimum wage is going up, by how much and when, and how much prices have risen and what has become more expensive. Both questions were asked in English and Bulgarian, three times in each of ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. We saved 36 answers on 4 November 2026.
Which Bulgarian news websites does AI link to most?
+
BNR (bnrnews.bg), linked in 18 of the 36 answers. Then Forbes Bulgaria, NOVA and the National Statistical Institute with 15 each, BNT with 11, the Ministry of Labour and Vesti with 9, Economic.bg with 8, Fakti.bg and Trading Economics with 7, and BTA and Lex Alert with 6.
Which Bulgarian newsrooms did AI not link to at all?
+
bTV, Dnevnik, Mediapool, Sega, OFFNews, Standart and 24 Chasa were not linked in any of the 36 answers. One Gemini answer named 24chasa.bg in its text without a link. Dir.bg was linked once, Capital and Darik News three times each.
Which sources appeared in all three assistants?
+
Four website domains appeared somewhere in all three assistants’ source lists: bnrnews.bg, nova.bg, nsi.bg and economic.bg. This combines both topics, both languages and all three replies. It does not mean they appeared in every answer.
Why does BTA appear less often than websites that use its reporting?
+
We can only count where the assistants linked. BTA was linked in 6 of 36 answers, while the BNR article linked most often credits BTA for its background reporting. A link is a route back to a story, not a record of who reported it first.
Why are there 15 Gemini websites when the replies had five, seven and seven?
+
The combined list contains 15 different websites. Gemini’s first English minimum-wage reply linked to five websites, its second to seven and its third to seven. Some websites appeared in two replies, so adding five, seven and seven counts them twice. None appeared in all three. Several article links from one website still count as one website in that reply.
Did the language of the question make a difference?
+
There were differences in this test. The Bulgarian Industrial Association appeared in all three Gemini Bulgarian minimum-wage source lists and none of its three English lists. The question language and capture language settings changed together; this is an observation from these saved replies, not proof of a language-only effect.
Which publication appeared most often?
+
BNR’s bnrnews.bg appeared in 18 of the 36 saved replies, the highest website count in this study. Forbes Bulgaria appeared in every Perplexity reply, three Gemini replies and no ChatGPT replies. Source lists differ between products and collection routes, so these counts are not a reporting-quality score.
Are website counts the same as article links?
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No. One answer can link to several articles from the same website. We keep the article links in the evidence, but count that website once in that reply. The study records 70 different website domains, not 70 article links.
Can these results tell us who AI trusts?
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No. These results show the source names and links returned with these answers. They do not reveal hidden sources, prove which article informed every sentence, establish who broke a story, or measure trust, audience reach or clicks.
Why do the links no longer carry a chatgpt.com tag?
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ChatGPT adds “utm_source=chatgpt.com” to every link it gives, which makes a visit from this page look in a publisher’s statistics as if it came from ChatGPT. The page shows the clean address so publishers can see where their readers came from. The raw links, tag included, are kept in the saved answers and the downloads.
Can I inspect the original answers?
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Yes. Every saved reply has a permanent evidence page, its source links and its capture details. All 18 Bulgarian replies also have complete English translations. The original answers are records of what the assistants said, not independently verified economic advice.
Can I use the data?
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Yes. Download the full spreadsheet or JSON from the page, with every question, assistant, answer and source link. If you use it, please mention Wonder Works and link to this page.
Read more
Is AI citing your publication?
We run the same check for your newsroom or business: what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity say, who their links lead to, what they get wrong and what to fix first.