The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in smart cities has been rapidly transforming urban landscapes. Despite IoT and AI bringing significant contributions in smart cities individually, a scientometric review of their collective effects still appears limited in the literature. This study aims at identifying tendencies, challenges and emerging concepts in the IoT and AI applications for smart cities from the literature review. These technologies are increasingly transforming city management, with significant socio-economic and environmental impacts necessitating research. This study employs scientometric analysis based on bibliometric principles to identify the evolution and trends in the IoT and AI smart city domain. The paper relies on current articles and publications available in the key databases which is Scopus. we considered Publication production rate, citation frequency, author co–citation maps and journal clustering were used to analyse the trends of IoT and AI technologies applying to urban management. According to the published articles, there is a steep rise in the literature after the year 2018, the research is mainly focused on countries including China, the USA and Spain, with China as the leading country. There are several important issue areas where more research is needed, including longevity, equity and integration. IoT and AI are disruptive for smart cities, there is a need for more extensive research on the necessary ethics, techniques, economic aspects. Larger future research questions should involve the enhancement of sustainability in smart cities, narrowing the digital gap, and promoting equal access and opportunity in these projects.