Citation intelligence

When AI recommends a competitor, one website is often the reason.

An AI answer is built from sources. Until you know which pages the AI used, every fix is a guess. The most common guess is to write more on your own site. That is often the wrong move.

Get a free snapshot of one client See AI search visibility

Saved AI answers, with notes
Which websites shape answers most
Split between client, rivals and other sites

How it works

Where an answer really comes from.

It takes four simple steps. Once you see them written down, AI search gets much easier to understand.

01The questionSomeone asks in their own words. There is no keyword. No two people ask it the same way.

02The searchThe AI gathers possible sources. These are pages it can reach, trusts, and thinks fit the question.

03The answerIt writes one answer from what it found. It names the companies those sources named.

04The linksSome AI tools link to the sources they used. When they do, you can see which pages shaped the answer.

Citation intelligence

See which websites AI trusted when it answered about your client.

An AI answer is built from sources. If you know which pages the AI used, you can stop guessing. You can plan a real fix.

Saved answerChatGPT · 09:14

Question: “What is the best accounting software for small businesses?”

For a small business with fewer than 25 employees, Alder Accounting is frequently recommended for its bank reconciliation and payroll add-on¹. Reviewers note that Ledgerly has a lower entry price but limited multi-entity support², while Countway is generally positioned at businesses with in-house finance teams³.

Client named: Yes
Position: #1 of 3
Linked as source: Yes

1alderaccounting.example/payroll-integration
2accountingreview.example/ledgerly-review
3countway.example/who-we-serve

Client
Competitor
Linked source

Sources shaping these answersDemo data

alderaccounting.exampleClient
18%34 cited+12%
ledgerly.exampleRival
14%27 cited+4%
accountingreview.exampleReview
10%19 cited+21%
smallbizforum.exampleForum
8%16 cited−6%
financeweekly.examplePress
7%14 cited+9%
countway.exampleRival
6%11 cited−2%

Sources cited across sampled AI answers, with share of citations and change. Demonstration data.
Source	Type	Citations	Share	Change
alderaccounting.example	Client	34	18%	+12%
ledgerly.example	Rival	27	14%	+4%
accountingreview.example	Review	19	10%	+21%
smallbizforum.example	Forum	16	8%	−6%
financeweekly.example	Press	14	7%	+9%
countway.example	Rival	11	6%	−2%

When the AI trusts a review site more than your client’s own site, another blog post rarely fixes it.

What to do

Three kinds of fix, based on who owns the source.

Each case needs a different fix. Two of them need no new writing at all.

The source is yours

The AI already links to the client’s own page. Your job is to protect it. Keep it up to date and clear. Make sure anything the AI might quote is still true.

The source belongs to someone else

A review site or news page is shaping the answer. A new blog post on the client’s site will not change that. Getting the client shown correctly on that page will.

There is no source at all

Nothing on the client’s site answers the question in a way the AI could quote. This is the most common problem. It is usually the cheapest to fix.

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