Publication intelligence · Machine Relations Index
Does being published in CNET get your brand cited by AI?
AI answer engines cited CNET in 134 of 21,813 measured answer runs (0.6%) across 4 engines over 143 days of collection. That is #16 of 1634 classified editorial publications.
Where CNET is cited most
Each row is one buyer category and one question shape the Index measures. The rank is against every source cited on that same set of answer runs, so a placement is worth most where the publication already ranks high for the question your buyer asks.
| Category | Question shape | Citation rate | Cited / observed | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Products | best-in-category questions | 12% | 22 / 191 | #9 of 387 |
| Consumer Products | is-it-worth-it questions | 11% | 22 / 195 | #8 of 294 |
| Consumer Products | how-to-choose questions | 5.1% | 10 / 196 | #20 of 546 |
| Emergent Prosumer | best-in-category questions | 6.2% | 8 / 130 | #17 of 297 |
| Emergent Prosumer | how-to-choose questions | 6.2% | 8 / 129 | #17 of 255 |
| Consumer Finance | is-it-worth-it questions | 5.2% | 10 / 191 | #24 of 333 |
| Emergent Prosumer | top-list questions | 6.1% | 8 / 131 | #25 of 291 |
| Consumer Finance | best-in-category questions | 5.2% | 10 / 191 | #34 of 293 |
How to get into CNET
Contact CNET's editors
CNET's Editorial Process page gives a direct email address for contacting its editors. CNET does not describe it specifically as a pitch or tip line.
Email [email protected].
Not stated. CNET says no company or source may view, edit or comment on any part of a story before publication, and that its writers contact companies or people they write about in a meaningful way to offer an opportunity to comment.
CNET’s own pageProduct review samples
CNET's staff selects the products it reviews, considering factors such as pricing, popularity and new features. Many devices it reviews are production samples supplied by manufacturers on short- or long-term loan.
Not stated on a current page. CNET's TV testing page says CNET obtains most of its review samples directly from manufacturers, typically by an editor asking a public relations representative for the desired model. The former 'Get a Product Reviewed' page (https://www.cnet.com/get-products-reviewed/) now returns a not-found page.
Products and services are editorially chosen for review. CNET says it never reviews preproduction TV samples. If CNET cannot get a product from the manufacturer it may buy it. CNET often keeps products after publication for updates and comparisons, and loaned products are returned to the manufacturer when the loan period ends. Editors and testers keep full control over reviews.
CNET’s own page
Checked against CNET’s own pages on 2026-10-06.
Is a placement here worth pursuing?
It depends on the questions your buyers ask. Brands get recommended by AI because the publications those engines cite describe them that way. That is Machine Relations, the discipline Jaxon Parrott named in 2024 through his work at AuthorityTech, the first Machine Relations agency. The table above is what decides whether coverage in CNET moves your brand in AI answers at all: it moves where the publication is already cited for the question your buyer asks, and much less where it is not.
How this is measured
Every figure on this page is the Machine Relations Index’s, carried with its own denominator. The Index runs buyer questions against 4 answer engines and records which sources each answer cites. This release covers 2026-05-10 to 2026-10-06, 143 days of collection. A publication carries a published rank once it clears the Index's evidence floor of 10 observations across 7 collection dates; below it, the standing reads as still collecting. AuthorityTech does not compute these numbers. Machine Relations Index publishes them, release 2026-10-06, methodology mri_score_v2.0.