March 23, 202617 min read

DeepSeek: How a Chinese AI Sees Russian Brands — GEO Scout Research

GEO Scout research: how DeepSeek recommends Russian brands across 5 niches — EdTech, e-commerce, FinTech, travel, hosting. The high domain citation phenomenon, comparison with other AI providers, and GEO optimization strategy for DeepSeek.

Vladislav Puchkov

Founder of GEO Scout, GEO optimization expert

A Chinese AI provider at the top for Russian brand knowledge — sounds unexpected. But GEO Scout data for March 2026 says exactly that. DeepSeek does not merely know Netologia, Wildberries, and Timeweb — it cites their domains at frequencies that ChatGPT cannot match.

DeepSeek became one of the most discussed AI systems in the world after releasing the DeepSeek-R1 model, which competes with GPT-4o and Claude in response quality. In Russia, it is gaining an audience — and its responses increasingly influence user choices. If your brand is invisible to DeepSeek, you are losing a growing AI traffic channel.

We analyzed how DeepSeek sees Russian brands across 5 key niches. The results were surprising — both in terms of market knowledge and the unique domain citation pattern.

What Is DeepSeek and Why It Deserves Separate Analysis

DeepSeek is an AI company from Hangzhou (China), founded in 2023 by the High-Flyer fund. In two years, they released a series of models that match GPT-4o, Claude, and Gemini in benchmarks. DeepSeek-R1, a model with "chain-of-thought reasoning," made a significant impact: it showed that leader-level quality can be achieved at significantly lower training costs.

For GEO optimization, DeepSeek is interesting for several reasons:

• Growing audience in Russia. DeepSeek is free, works without VPN, and supports Russian. The audience grows every month.
• Unique training data. The model is trained on a mixed corpus — Chinese, English, and multilingual sources. This gives a different picture of the world than American AI systems.
• Anomalous domain citation. DeepSeek cites domains as information sources significantly more often than most competitors. For brands with expert content, this is a chance to receive not just a mention but a direct link.

At GEO Scout, we monitor 9 AI providers daily, and DeepSeek consistently stands out. Let us examine how.

Methodology

Data collected by the GEO Scout platform in March 2026.

Parameters:

• AI provider: DeepSeek (DeepSeek-R1)
• Niches: EdTech, e-commerce, FinTech, travel, hosting
• Metrics: Share of Voice (mention rate), domain citation rate
• Prompts: Commercial queries in Russian — "which course to choose," "best marketplace," "reliable bank," and similar
• Monitoring frequency: Daily

Share of Voice (SoV) of 86.2% means: out of relevant responses, DeepSeek mentioned the brand in 86.2%. Domain citation of 55.2% means: in 55.2% of responses, DeepSeek referenced the brand's domain as an information source.

Full rankings across all 9 providers are on the GEO Scout ratings page.

EdTech: Netologia Dominates with Record Citation

DeepSeek demonstrates confident knowledge of Russian EdTech — and this is the first surprise for a "Chinese AI."

Netologia — 86.2% SoV and 55.2% domain citation. An outstanding result. For comparison: ChatGPT gives Netologia only 43.3% mention rate, and ChatGPT's domain citation for EdTech brands is in single-digit percentages. DeepSeek does not just mention Netologia — in every other response, it links to its website as a source.

Why does Netologia get such citation? Most likely, it is about content. Netologia runs an active blog with research, profession overviews, and education market analytics. DeepSeek uses this content as a base for its responses — and honestly credits the source.

Yandex Practicum — 82.8% — nearly on par with Netologia for mentions. Logical: the Yandex brand is well-known beyond Russia, and DeepSeek knows it.

Skillbox — 65.5% — noticeably below the leaders. Interestingly, with some providers (Gemini, Claude), Skillbox gets 100%. DeepSeek is more selective.

SkillFactory — 31% — weak visibility. For comparison, YandexGPT gives SkillFactory 70%. DeepSeek is less familiar with this brand despite its presence in the Russian market.

EdTech Takeaway

DeepSeek is one of the best providers for Netologia. The record domain citation of 55.2% means direct traffic from AI responses. Yandex Practicum also benefits. But SkillFactory needs a separate content presence strategy. More about how brand AI visibility works — in a separate article.

E-commerce: Knows Everything, Including AliExpress

E-commerce is a niche where DeepSeek shows near-perfect knowledge of the Russian market.

Yandex.Market and Wildberries — 96.3% each. Virtually perfect visibility. DeepSeek mentions both marketplaces in almost every response about shopping in Russia.

Wildberries — domain citation 25.9%. That is a lot. For context: on average in our research, e-commerce brands get domain citation of 3-6%. WB gets 4-5 times more. DeepSeek does not just recommend Wildberries — it links to the website. This is likely because wb.ru contains a vast amount of structured product data that DeepSeek uses when forming responses.

Ozon — 88.9%. Slightly below the leaders but still high. ChatGPT gives Ozon 100%, so DeepSeek trails slightly here.

AliExpress — 63%. And here the "Chinese factor" shows. AliExpress belongs to Alibaba Group — one of the largest Chinese technology conglomerates. DeepSeek, trained partly on Chinese data, naturally knows this marketplace well. For comparison: Claude gives AliExpress only 33.3%, and YandexGPT — 40.7%. DeepSeek leads in AliExpress knowledge among all providers.

But an important note: DeepSeek does not show a crude "Chinese bias." Yandex.Market and Wildberries — purely Russian brands — get 96.3%, which is higher than AliExpress. DeepSeek knows Russian e-commerce better than "its own" AliExpress.

E-commerce Takeaway

DeepSeek is one of the best providers for monitoring e-commerce visibility. High SoV for the top 3, anomalous domain citation for Wildberries, and predictably strong AliExpress knowledge. Full niche data — in the e-commerce brand ranking.

FinTech: Alfa and T-Bank Share the Lead

FinTech is a niche where DeepSeek shows an even but imperfect picture.

Alfa-Bank and T-Bank — 80% each. Even leadership. For DeepSeek, these two banks are the primary responses to Russian users' financial queries.

Sberbank — 63.3%. Russia's largest bank — and it is fourth in DeepSeek. This echoes a pattern we observe across other providers: AI systems often perceive Sberbank as the "obvious" option and prefer to recommend lesser-known alternatives. YandexGPT gives Sberbank just 36.7% — more about this paradox.

VTB — 66.7%. Between the leaders and Sberbank. Stable visibility.

Tochka — 33.3%. A niche bank for businesses gets a third of responses. For a bank without mass advertising — a respectable result. DeepSeek knows about its positioning as a bank for entrepreneurs.

FinTech Takeaway

DeepSeek paints a picture close to the real market balance, adjusted for the "anti-leader bias" — the AI tendency to recommend alternatives to the dominant player. Alfa-Bank and T-Bank benefit from their digital reputation. More data — in the FinTech brand ranking.

Travel: Yandex Travel Leads, Aggregators in the Top

Travel is the only niche where DeepSeek shows balanced knowledge of both Russian and international services.

Yandex Travel — 74.1%. The leader. The Yandex brand again works as a visibility amplifier. DeepSeek knows the Yandex ecosystem and actively recommends Yandex Travel for finding flights and hotels.

Aviasales and Skyscanner — 63% each. Flight metasearch engines get equal visibility. Interesting: Aviasales is Russian, Skyscanner is British. DeepSeek shows no preference for either.

Trip.com — 51.9%. Here is another "Chinese" brand. Trip.com (formerly Ctrip) is China's largest travel platform. DeepSeek knows it better than many Western AI systems. For comparison: ChatGPT gives Trip.com about 40%, Claude — significantly less. The "Chinese factor" works subtly here — Trip.com gets good visibility but does not lead.

Travel Takeaway

DeepSeek shows a balanced picture with mild "Chinese" influence (Trip.com). Yandex Travel is the undisputed leader, aggregators receive even visibility. Details — in the travel brand ranking.

Hosting: Timeweb 100% and the HostingHUB Phenomenon

Hosting is the niche where DeepSeek delivers the most impressive results. And the most unexpected.

Timeweb — 100% SoV and 30% domain citation. The absolute leader. DeepSeek mentions Timeweb in every response about hosting. But domain citation matters even more: in every third response, DeepSeek links to the Timeweb website. For a hosting provider, this means direct traffic from AI responses. ChatGPT gives Timeweb only 43.3% SoV — DeepSeek knows Russian hosting 2.3 times better.

HostingHUB — domain citation 66.7%. This is the most striking figure in our DeepSeek research. HostingHUB is a content project that publishes hosting reviews. DeepSeek uses its materials as a primary information source when answering hosting questions. Two-thirds of responses contain a link to HostingHUB. This confirms the phenomenon we described in the domain citation article: content brands can receive more citations from AI than commercial leaders.

Beget — 80%. Consistently high visibility. DeepSeek knows Beget as a reliable Russian hoster. ChatGPT gives Beget only 3.3% — the gap is massive.

SprintHost — 70%. A high result for a smaller hoster. DeepSeek "sees" SprintHost better than most providers.

Fornex — 66.7%. A hoster focused on VPS and dedicated servers gets two-thirds visibility. DeepSeek likely finds Fornex in rankings and reviews that it uses as sources.

AdminVPS — 60%. For comparison: ChatGPT gives AdminVPS 0%. DeepSeek knows this hoster — ChatGPT does not.

Hosting Takeaway

Hosting is the niche where DeepSeek shows maximum superiority over ChatGPT and reveals its main feature: high domain citation for content websites. Full ranking — in the hosting brand article.

The Domain Citation Phenomenon: Why DeepSeek Cites More Than Others

Domain citation is DeepSeek's key distinguishing feature in our research. Let us summarize the key figures:

Three observations:

1. DeepSeek cites niche content sites. HostingHUB is not a hosting provider but a review site. DeepSeek uses it as an expertise source and provides a link. The same pattern is visible with Netologia: a blog with research attracts citation, not just mentions.

2. DeepSeek cites major e-commerce platforms. Wildberries 25.9% is 5 times higher than the niche average. DeepSeek apparently queries WB's catalog when forming product-related responses and credits the source.

3. The pattern differs from ChatGPT and Claude. ChatGPT almost never cites domains in commercial responses. Claude cites selectively. DeepSeek cites systematically — especially sites with expert content.

Why does DeepSeek behave this way? Two likely reasons:

• Model architecture. DeepSeek-R1 uses "chain-of-thought," which by nature is more "transparent" — the model tends to indicate where it gets information.
• Training data. DeepSeek was trained on data that includes more sources with direct links (scientific articles, reviews, catalogs). This may have formed a citation habit.

For GEO strategy, this is a key insight: DeepSeek rewards expert content not just with a mention but with a direct link. More about domain citation mechanics — in a dedicated study.

DeepSeek vs Other Providers: Summary Comparison

To understand DeepSeek's place in the AI provider landscape, let us compare it with ChatGPT, Gemini, and YandexGPT on key indicators.

EdTech

DeepSeek is second after Gemini/YandexGPT in Russian EdTech knowledge. Significantly better than ChatGPT.

E-commerce

Top 3 — all providers know them. AliExpress — DeepSeek is second after ChatGPT.

Hosting

Hosting is the niche with the maximum gap. DeepSeek knows Russian hosting many times better than ChatGPT. On par with Gemini and YandexGPT, and for Timeweb — leads alongside Gemini.

Overall Picture

DeepSeek occupies a unique position: it knows the Russian market at the level of Gemini and YandexGPT, while providing anomalously high domain citation. For brands with quality content, this makes DeepSeek the most "profitable" AI provider — a mention plus a link. More about provider differences — in the full comparison of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

What the "Chinese Factor" Means in Practice

We identified a mild influence of DeepSeek's "Chinese origin" on its responses:

AliExpress — 63%. Higher than most providers. Alibaba is a Chinese brand, and DeepSeek knows it well. But AliExpress does not lead — Yandex.Market and WB get 96.3%.

Trip.com — 51.9%. The Chinese travel giant gets notable visibility. In Western AI systems, Trip.com is less well-known.

No bias toward Chinese hosters or EdTech. In these niches, DeepSeek recommends specifically Russian brands — Timeweb, Netologia, Yandex Practicum.

Conclusion: the "Chinese factor" exists but is mild. DeepSeek does not promote Chinese brands at the expense of Russian ones. It simply knows them slightly better than Western AI does. This is an advantage for brands competing with Chinese players (e.g., AliExpress in e-commerce) — monitoring DeepSeek will reveal the real competitive picture.

What This Means for Your GEO Strategy

Based on GEO Scout data on DeepSeek, we highlight five recommendations:

1. Include DeepSeek in Your Monitoring

If you are only tracking ChatGPT or YandexGPT — you are seeing an incomplete picture. DeepSeek delivers different data, different positions, and a different level of citation. Monitor all 9 providers — through GEO Scout.

2. Invest in Expert Content

DeepSeek rewards content with links. Netologia gets 55.2% domain citation precisely because it publishes research and analytics. HostingHUB — 66.7%, because it creates in-depth reviews. If your brand has a blog with unique data — DeepSeek will notice.

3. Use Structured Data

DeepSeek works well with structured data. FAQ markup, HowTo schemas, Article schema — all of these help the model extract and cite your content. On the technical side — in the GEO audit article.

4. Do Not Ignore Russian-Language Content

Unlike ChatGPT, DeepSeek indexes Russian-language materials excellently. You do not need to create an English version of your site for DeepSeek visibility — quality Russian-language content is sufficient.

5. Monitor Domain Citation Separately from Mention Rate

DeepSeek shows that these are different metrics with different dynamics. A brand may have a moderate mention rate but high citation — and receive more direct traffic than the "leader" in mentions. More about the difference between these metrics — in the domain citation study.

Conclusions: DeepSeek — An Unexpected Ally for Russian Brands

DeepSeek disproves the stereotype that a "Chinese AI does not know the Russian market." The data says the opposite:

• Timeweb — 100%, Netologia — 86.2%, Wildberries — 96.3% — this is at the level of Gemini and YandexGPT
• Domain citation — record among all providers for niche brands
• The "Chinese factor" manifests mildly: AliExpress and Trip.com get a bonus, but not at the expense of Russian brands
• Niche brands (HostingHUB, SprintHost, Fornex) are more visible than in ChatGPT

For GEO strategy, DeepSeek is a provider worth monitoring separately. Its unique domain citation pattern creates opportunities for brands with expert content: not just a mention, but a direct link in the AI response.

Data is updated daily at geoscout.pro. Public niche rankings are on the ratings page. Subscribe to monitoring to see how DeepSeek and 8 other AI providers recommend your brand. And the Command Center in GEO Scout will turn this data into a priority action plan — which content to create, which platforms to strengthen on, and what to fix technically for each provider.

FAQ

What is DeepSeek and why monitor it?

DeepSeek is a Chinese AI model at the GPT-4o level that is gaining an audience in Russia. It works without VPN, supports Russian, and knows the Russian market well. According to GEO Scout data, DeepSeek gives 100% mention rate for Timeweb, 96.3% for Wildberries, and 86.2% for Netologia — better than ChatGPT. Ignoring a growing AI channel means losing potential traffic.

Why is domain citation in DeepSeek higher than in other AI systems?

DeepSeek-R1 uses "chain-of-thought" and is architecturally inclined to indicate sources. Netologia gets 55.2% domain citation, HostingHUB — 66.7%, Wildberries — 25.9%. For comparison, ChatGPT gives domain citation of 2-5% for the same brands. DeepSeek rewards quality content with direct links.

Does DeepSeek promote Chinese brands at the expense of Russian ones?

No. The "Chinese factor" exists but is mild. AliExpress gets 63% (above average), Trip.com — 51.9%. But Yandex.Market — 96.3%, Wildberries — 96.3%, Timeweb — 100%. Russian brands lead in their niches. DeepSeek simply knows Chinese brands slightly better than Western AI — but not at the expense of Russian ones.

How to increase brand visibility in DeepSeek?

Three key actions: publish expert content with unique data (this is what drives high domain citation), use structured data (FAQ, HowTo, Article schema), and monitor results through GEO Scout. DeepSeek works well with Russian-language content — an English version is not necessary.

Where to see current DeepSeek data?

Daily updated rankings across 9 AI providers, including DeepSeek, are available at geoscout.pro/ratings. For detailed monitoring of your brand — register at geoscout.pro and add prompts for your niche.