# Citations The Citations tab reveals which domains AI platforms reference when answering prompts in your space. Unlike traditional SEO where you optimize content on your own site, AI search pulls from across the entire web, creating new opportunities for partnerships, guest content, and off-site optimization. ## Core Metrics ### Citation Rate Answers citing your domain divided by total answers with at least one citation (0-100%). Higher values indicate greater authority. Multiple URLs from the same domain count as one. ### Citation Share Number of times your domain is cited divided by total number of citations (0-100%). This measures your share of all citations across tracked prompts. ### Citations Total number of times your domain is cited across all tracked AI responses. ## Domain Categories Know what kind of sites are being cited with Domain Categories. This visualization shows what types of domains are being cited for the prompts you are tracking. | Category | Description | Examples | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | Owned | The brand's own website and properties | company.com, blog.company.com, help.company.com | | Competitors | Competitor sites added by the brand to their workspace for tracking | Direct competitors | | Social | Social media networks with high reach but often lower purchase intent | Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, X/Twitter | | Communities | Discussion platforms with high engagement and authentic peer recommendations | Reddit, Discord, Quora, specialized forums | | Reviews | High-intent sites where users actively compare and evaluate options | G2, Capterra, NerdWallet, Bankrate, TechRadar | | Media | News outlets, industry publications, and content sites for authority building | TechCrunch, Forbes, The Verge, industry blogs | | Educational | Knowledge bases and learning resources for top-of-funnel awareness | Wikipedia, Investopedia, how-to guides, tutorials | | Marketplaces | E-commerce and service platforms where direct transactions occur | Amazon, Airbnb, Viator, Etsy, B2B marketplaces | | Products | Product and service company websites across all industries | Salesforce, Chime, SaaS tools, financial products, B2B solutions | | Affiliates | Performance-driven sites focused on conversions through affiliate links | Affiliate.com, coupon sites, deal aggregators | | Other | Domains that don't fit into the categories above | Miscellaneous sites, niche platforms, uncategorized | This helps you understand the mix of sources AI engines rely on for different prompts and topics, spot patterns across categories, and see how citation behavior changes by prompt type. ## Citation Rate Time Series Track how your citation rate trends over time with multiple views: * **Overall**: See your citation rate trend across all platforms and topics * **By Topic**: Break down citation rate by topic cluster to identify which topics drive the most citations * **By Platform**: Compare citation rates across AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews) *Note: Platform and answer engine are used interchangeably throughout Analytics.* ## Charts ### Citation Rate by Domain See how often top domains are cited in AI responses over time. Track which domains are gaining or losing citation share. ### Citation Rate by Competitors Compare how often your brand is cited versus competitors. Understand your relative authority and track competitive gaps. ### Top 10 Cited Domains View the domains cited most often in answers, including: * Percentage of total citations * Total citation count ### Top 10 Cited URLs View the URLs from your website that are most often cited, including: * Percentage of total citations * Total citation count This helps you identify which pages on your site are driving your AI visibility. ## Citations Matrix The Citations Matrix shows Topic Citation Rate by Platform, allowing you to: * Compare citation frequency across AI engines * View performance by Topic, Domain Category, or against competitors * Quickly spot gaps and opportunities without digging through individual prompts This gives you a clean snapshot of your relative performance across different dimensions. ## Filters All charts and metrics on this page can be filtered by: * **Date Range**: Select a time period for your analysis * **Region**: Filter by geographic region * **Prompt Type**: Category-related (general prompts) vs Brand-related (prompts mentioning your brand directly) * **Topic**: Filter by topic clusters * **Platform**: Filter by specific AI answer engine * **Persona**: Filter by audience persona --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.airops.com/insights/insights/citations.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.