After spending some time looking into this I think it was click-baity on the part of beatlenews.com (good call Mervap). The whole endeavor by this guy is not really that credible. Its very easy to pick apart and not well-founded.
For one...this is really old news. The professor started this a couple yrs ago.
But...it does make me think about just what the influence of the Beatles was. I have a book called Beatle Myths...its actually thought provoking. The guy discredits the Btls on almost everything but raises some really really interesting points.
Anyway...
The Beatles influences on their peers?
I think that their influence is more in philosophy and approach as opposed to music. I think they were just too ahead of their time musically and too talented in terms of songwriting for groups to be influenced strictly musically.
Also...did they influence the groups of the 60s in a radical/political way? I know they made some statements that were quite radical in print and in interviews, but I dont think groups were inspired by The Btls in that way. The press largely ignored their political statements early on...until they "insulted Jesus". Omg, then the press was all over it.