# Citations The Citations page provides a comprehensive view of all URLs cited across AI responses for the prompts you're tracking. Use this page to identify offsite optimization opportunities: pages where you could be mentioned but aren't, high-authority sources influencing AI answers, and gaps in your citation landscape. Unlike traditional SEO where you optimize your own site, AI search cites content from across the web. Citations helps you understand which external pages are driving AI visibility and where strategic outreach or content partnerships could improve your brand's presence. *** ## Citations Table The main view displays a table of all cited URLs with the following columns: | Column | Description | | -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **URL** | The specific page cited in AI responses | | **Brand Referenced** | Whether the page content actually references your brand (Yes/No) | | **Competitors Referenced** | Which tracked competitors are mentioned in the page content | | **Domain** | The domain where the URL is found | | **Domain Type** | Category of the domain (Owned, Competitors, Reviews, etc.). See [Citation analytics](https://docs.airops.com/insights/insights/citations) for the full breakdown | | **Page Type** | The type of page based on content and structure (see Page Types below) | | **Citation Rate** | Percentage of answers citing this URL out of total answers with at least one citation (0-100%). Higher values indicate greater authority | | **Citation Share** | Percentage of times this URL is cited out of total citations (0-100%) | | **Citation Count** | Total number of times this URL was cited in the selected time period | ### URL vs Domain View Toggle between **URL** and **Domain** views at the top of the table: * **URL View**: Shows individual pages with their metrics * **Domain View**: Aggregates metrics by domain to see overall domain performance *** ## Filtering and Organization Use the controls at the top of the page to slice the data: * **Date Range:** Select the time period to analyze * **Region:** Filter by geographic region (e.g., United States) * **Filter:** Apply additional filters including: * **Brand Referenced:** Show only URLs that do or don't mention your brand * **Competitors Referenced:** Filter by which competitors appear in the content * **Domain:** Filter by specific domains * **Domain Type:** Filter by domain category (Owned, Competitors, Reviews, etc.) * **Page Type:** Filter by page type (Listicle, Product Page, etc.) * **Platform:** Filter by AI answer engine * **Persona:** Filter by audience persona * **Topic:** Filter by topic cluster * **Prompt Type:** Category-related vs Brand-related prompts *** ## Finding Offsite Opportunities The real power of Citations is identifying pages where you should be mentioned but aren't. Use filters strategically to find opportunities: ### Example: Finding Competitor Gaps 1. Set **Brand Referenced** to "No" (pages that don't mention you) 2. Set **Competitors Referenced** to a specific competitor (pages that mention them) 3. Filter **Page Type** to "Listicle article" (high-value roundup content) 4. Sort by **Citation Rate** to find the most authoritative pages This surfaces listicles where your competitor appears but you don't. These are prime targets for outreach. ### Example: Reviewing High-Authority Sources 1. Sort by **Citation Rate** descending 2. Review which domains and page types AI engines trust most 3. Identify patterns in content format and structure 4. Use insights to guide your own content strategy *** ## Page Types Every cited URL is automatically categorized into one of the following page types: | Page Type | Description | Examples | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Homepage** | Main landing page of a website or brand | company.com, brand.com | | **Product page** | Individual product with features, pricing, purchase option | company.com/product/analytics, shopify.com/enterprise | | **Collection page** | Multiple products or content items grouped together | company.com/products, blog.com/category/marketing | | **Pricing page** | Dedicated page showing pricing tiers or plans | company.com/pricing, saas.com/plans | | **Informational article** | Standard informational article or blog content | company.com/blog/what-is-a-crm, medium.com/@author/post | | **Documentation** | Technical reference, API docs, product specs | docs.company.com/api, developer.stripe.com/docs | | **Listicle article** | "Best of," "Top X," ranked lists | "10 Best CRMs for 2025," "Top Project Management Tools" | | **Comparison page** | Side-by-side product or service comparisons | "Salesforce vs HubSpot," "Airbnb vs Vrbo comparison" | | **Support article** | FAQ, troubleshooting, or help center content | help.company.com/articles, support documentation, FAQ pages | | **Review page** | Detailed product or service review with rating/analysis | G2 review page, TechRadar product review, Capterra reviews | | **Forum thread** | Community discussion or Q\&A thread | Reddit post, Quora answer, community forum discussion | | **Social media post** | Individual post on social platforms | LinkedIn post, X/Twitter thread, Instagram post | | **Video page** | YouTube video, Vimeo, or video content page | YouTube.com/watch?v=, Vimeo video, embedded video content | | **News article** | Timely news or press coverage | TechCrunch article, Forbes news, industry publication | | **Case study** | Customer success story or use case | "How Spotify uses Snowflake," customer story page | | **Marketplace listing** | Product listing on e-commerce/service platform | Amazon product page, Airbnb listing, Etsy shop item | | **Landing page** | Campaign or conversion-focused page (not homepage) | company.com/demo, campaign-specific landing pages | | **Deal page** | Discount, promo code, or affiliate deal page | RetailMeNot coupon, affiliate discount page, deal aggregator | | **Other** | Pages that don't fit the categories above | Miscellaneous pages, unique formats, uncategorized content | Page type works alongside domain type to give you a complete picture. For example, a "Listicle article" on a "Reviews" domain (like G2) carries different weight than a "Listicle article" on a "Media" domain (like TechCrunch). *** ## Key Metrics Explained ### Citation Rate **Answers citing the URL ÷ Total answers with at least one citation** (0-100%) Higher citation rates indicate the URL has greater authority in AI responses. A page with 5% citation rate appears in 5% of all answers that include any citation. Multiple URLs from the same domain are deduplicated when calculating domain-level citation rate. ### Citation Share **Number of times the URL is cited ÷ Total number of citations** (0-100%) This measures what portion of all citations go to this specific URL. Useful for understanding relative importance across all cited sources. ### Citation Count The raw number of times this URL appeared as a citation during the selected time period. Includes change indicators showing increase or decrease from the previous period. *** ## Bulk Actions Select multiple citations using the checkboxes on the left side of each row to take action at scale: * **Create New Grid**: Generate a new Grid pre-populated with your selected citations for outreach planning or content analysis * **Add to Existing Grid**: Append selected citations to any existing Grid. A mapping modal appears so you can map citation data (URL, domain, page type, metrics, etc.) to the appropriate Grid columns. This enables you to move from analysis to execution: build outreach lists, track partnership opportunities, or feed citations into content workflows. *** ## Configuring Competitors Competitors shown in the **Competitors Referenced** column are configured in [Settings](https://docs.airops.com/insights/settings). Add competitors you want to track to see when their brands appear in cited content. This powers competitive analysis across the Citations page.