Magnetic hyperfine splitting of the ¹¹⁹Sn⁴⁺ nuclear levels in the antiferromagnetic NiTiO₃ was for the first time observed using the Mössbauer effect. For the majority of the ¹¹⁹Sn⁴⁺ dopant ions, the saturation value of the transferred hyperfine field (at 4.2 K, H = 5.25 T) is found to be equal to that previously reported for ¹¹⁹Sn⁴⁺in the antiferromagnetic MnTi0₃. This finding shows that in both ilmenites the spin polarization of Sn⁴⁺ is produced by the divalent cation half-filled e²_g orbitals involved in interlayer superexchange interactions and implies the location of the dopant within titanium (111) layers. The principal V_zz component of the EFG at the Sn⁴⁺ site in NiTiO₃ is found to have a positive sign and be aligned along the [111] axis, as it was the case for Sn⁴⁺ in MnTiO₃. Lattice-sum calculations on the basis of a simple ionic point-charge model, lead to an erroneous result (in either titanate the sign of V_zz on the Ti⁴⁺ site would be negative) and thus demonstrate their failure in identifying the Sn sites.Read less <