Understanding sources
The websites AI relies on when it answers, and how to turn them into a plan
When an AI engine answers a question that needs current knowledge, it usually searches the web first and builds its answer from what it finds. The pages it relies on are its sources, and the links it shows are citations.
Sources are the closest thing AI search has to backlinks. If the engines keep reading one review site, one comparison article or one forum thread to learn about your category, what that page says about you is what they will say about you. Getting onto, and getting right on, the pages they cite is the most direct lever you have on your visibility. See Citations for the metrics behind this page.
The Sources tab
Open the Sources tab on the Overview to see the sites the engines cite across your prompts, for the period and filters you have set.
Lead strip
- Your content cited: how many times answers cite your own pages, how many distinct pages that covers, and your citation rate, the share of all answers that cite your site at least once.
- Leading source: the most cited domain, its share of citations and what type of site it is.
- New this period: sources cited for the first time ever within your period.
Where Competitors Are Cited and You Aren't
The sites whose answers name a competitor but never you, grouped by type of site. Brands' own websites are left out, since a competitor's homepage is not a place you can earn a mention. This is your shortlist for PR and content outreach. It only appears when there is at least one such site.
Sources per mention
How much evidence the engines attach to each brand when they name it. A competitor with far more sources per mention has a deeper footprint on the sites AI reads.
Top Domains
Citation trends for the most cited domains, as a chart or a list.
Citations by Domain Type
What kinds of sites the engines cite, and whose they are: your Brand, Competitors, or Third-party. Switch between a chart, a day-by-day trend and a list. Picking a type filters the table below to it.
Site types are Product, Docs, Corporate, Blog, Media, Review, Forum, Video, Social, Marketplace, Reference, Authority and Other. Each domain has one type, the same for every project; a domain not typed yet shows as Unclassified.
All Domains and All URLs
The full table. Switch between Domains (whole sites) and URLs (single pages), search by name, or pick a site type from the type menu to narrow it. Your own sites carry a You badge and competitors' sites a Competitor badge. For each source:
- Type: the kind of site.
- Used: its share of all citations in scope.
- Citations: how many times it was cited. With a brand selected, only citations supporting that brand count.
- First seen: the first time your project's answers ever cited it.
The URL view adds a View link that opens the page itself. Very large projects show the top 1,000 domains or URLs by citations, and the subtitle says so, for example "Top 1,000 of 4,210 URLs by citations".
Source domain detail
Click any domain to open its page. For that one domain, over your period:
- Header: Citations and Citation share with their change against the previous period, the number of URLs and Prompts, and First seen / Last seen.
- Citations over time, in total or split by engine.
- A breakdown by Engine, Persona or Topic: does this domain matter more on one engine, or for one audience?
- Brands in answers citing this domain: which brands appear when this domain is cited, with mentions, mention share and sentiment. Click a brand to filter the page to it, or Open profile for its brand profile.
- All URLs on this domain: the individual pages the engines read, with citations, Used, prompts and first seen. With a brand selected, it shows the pages cited for that brand.
- Answers citing this domain: the answers themselves, to open and read.
Single page detail
Click a URL to go one level deeper. You might find that g2.com is a frequent source, then that the engines specifically read one "Best marketing tools" listicle on it. That single page is now a concrete target.
The page view has the same header (without the URL count), trend, breakdown and brands table, plus:
- Cited in N prompts: the prompts that triggered the citation, with topic, personas, engines and citations. Click a prompt to open it.
- Answers citing this page: the answers themselves.
Detail pages keep your period, brand, engine and persona filters. Topic, tag, Buyer Journey and Branded vs Non-branded do not apply there. The breadcrumb takes you back to All Sources or the domain.
Turning sources into a plan
- Start with the gap. Open Where Competitors Are Cited and You Aren't. Every site there already influences answers in your category and does not mention you.
- Go to the page, not the domain. Open the domain, then its URLs, and find the exact pages the engines read. A listicle, a comparison or a review page is a target you can act on; "media sites" is not.
- Read what they say. Open Answers citing this page to see how the engines use it, and visit the page to see what it says about your competitors.
- Pick the move that fits the type:
- Review sites and marketplaces: a complete, current listing, and reviews.
- Media and blogs: PR, expert commentary, guest content, corrections.
- Forums and social: genuine participation where your category is discussed.
- Your own site: pages that answer the exact questions in your prompts, kept current. Watch Your content cited to see whether they are being used.
- Watch the result. Add the domains that matter most to a watchlist, pin a chart note on the day you act, and read the change over the following weeks.