How companies triple their visibility in ChatGPT
The file format is decisive: Companies that publish their annual reports in HTML format appear three times more often in ChatGPT responses than those that rely on PDFs. In addition, an HTML source leads to factually more accurate statements by artificial intelligence (AI). These and other conclusions are drawn in the large-scale study “AI optimized Reporting” by the USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, and the Vienna-based consulting agency nexxar. For the first time, it provides companies with data-based information on how to prepare their verified financial data so that it can be used as a source by the AI language model ChatGPT.
Almost half of private investors (47 percent) use AI tools such as ChatGPT to interpret financial data or prepare investment decisions. This was shown in a study published by the University of Washington at the end of 2024. Users particularly appreciated the AI’s ability to simplify complex data sets in a matter of seconds. At the same time, more than half of those surveyed (54 percent) doubted the reliability of AI responses.
What sources of information does ChatGPT use?
This is a legitimate concern, as the research trio from St. Pölten, Leipzig, and Vienna has now proven. From September to November 2025, the 20-member team at USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten analyzed over 2,500 prompts with questions on topics such as annual financial statements, management compensation, and sustainability issues from 20 publicly traded companies. In the process, more than 24,000 sources named GPT-4o and GPT-5 were categorized and evaluated.
The result: 85 percent of the time, the AI language model refers to company-owned content such as the verified annual report (58 percent), the investor relations website (15 percent), or the company website (12 percent). In the remaining 15 percent of cases, the AI chatbot draws on external sources such as financial data providers (six percent) or media reports (three percent).
The file format factor: triple visibility with HTML
Whether ChatGPT uses the verified original data or falls back on secondary sources depends largely on the file format of the company source. The study shows that HTML reports (i.e., online annual reports) are three times more prevalent in the AI chatbot’s responses than PDF publications. While ChatGPT resorts to external sources in almost a quarter of cases (24 percent) for PDF reports, this proportion drops to seven percent for HTML reports.
“Large language models such as ChatGPT prefer structured data. They extract information much faster and more accurately from HTML code than from PDF files,” explains Monika Kovarova-Simecek, head of the Master’s program in Digital Business Communications at USTP, where the research project is being conducted.
Fact check: Less misinformation with HTML
An additional fact check of around 200 other ChatGPT responses to the annual reports reveals quality deficiencies that can be particularly significant for potential investors: Only just under 63 percent of the AI statements are complete and correct. A quarter remain incomplete, and 20 percent contain misinformation.
The difference in quality depending on the source is striking: HTML reports lead to correct results in 71 percent of cases, PDF reports in 54 percent. “This makes it all the more important for companies not to put technical hurdles in the way of AI. If ChatGPT resorts to external third-party sources due to a lack of machine-readable data, the risk of misinformation increases,” warns Eloy Barrantes from the reporting agency nexxar. “Annual reports must be as accessible, i.e., machine-readable, as possible.”
What do potential investors ask ChatGPT?
In parallel with the content analysis, the research team at HHL Leipzig evaluated the server logs of five DAX companies to determine which bots most frequently access digital annual reports. The result: among almost five million automated accesses and more than 100 identified bots, ChatGPT dominates with a share of over 30 percent.
In addition, the analysis of over one million specific ChatGPT queries reveals the following interest profile: Users primarily query the AI language model about operational business development, corporate strategy, and financial and sustainability metrics.
“ChatGPT uses digital annual reports as a comprehensive source of information on corporate development. For companies, this means that those who prepare their data in a way that is suitable for AI have a say in what potential investors read about them,” summarizes Henning Zülch, Chair of Accounting, Auditing, and Controlling at HHL.
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
is a university with the right to award doctorates and habilitations. According to the Financial Times ranking, it is one of the leading international business schools and achieves top global rankings in the areas of career counseling, alumni network, and salary after graduation. The goal of Germany’s oldest business school is to educate entrepreneurial, responsible, and capable leaders. HHL is distinguished by excellent teaching, a clear research focus, practical transfer, and outstanding service for its students. The Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany) has named HHL the number one start-up university in Germany for the seventh time in a row in 2025. Over the past 30 years, more than 530 companies with over 30,000 employees have been founded by HHL alumni. HHL was the first German private business school to be accredited by the internationally renowned AACSB and has since achieved this quality status five times in a row.
nexxar
is a leading agency and consulting firm for corporate reports worldwide. Since its founding in 2003, the company has published well over 1,000 business and sustainability reports in online and PDF formats. The Vienna-based company provides reporting services to numerous DAX and ATX corporations and currently works for companies in Europe, Japan, and the US.
About USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten
The St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences (formerly St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences) stands for innovative teaching, effective applied research and – as the leading university of the European University Alliance E³UDRES² – for European spirit in action. As USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, it emphasizes its growing internationality and its role as a dynamic hub for tertiary education, research, and social transformation – regionally, nationally, and throughout Europe. More than 4,000 students receive practice-oriented training in numerous bachelor’s and master’s degree programs as well as part-time continuing education programs in the fields of media, communication, management, digital technologies, computer science & AI, security, railway technology, health, and social sciences. Teaching and research are closely interlinked.
