What is an AI citation?

An AI citation is a link to a source page shown with an AI-generated answer, such as the sources in ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Claude with web search, or the links beside a Google AI Overview. It tells the reader where a claim came from, and it is how AI answers send traffic to websites.

How do AI assistants choose what to cite?

When an assistant searches the web, it runs one or more searches, reads a handful of the results and cites the pages it used. So the basics are familiar: the page has to be crawlable by that assistant’s search crawler, indexed by the search system it uses, and contain the specific fact or answer the assistant needed. None of the major vendors publishes a full list of ranking factors for citations.

• ChatGPT search uses OAI-SearchBot; OpenAI says sites that block it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
• Perplexity uses PerplexityBot to surface and link sites in its results.
• Google’s AI features link pages that are indexed and eligible to show with a snippet.

Is a citation the same as a mention?

No. A mention is your brand named in the answer text; a citation is a link to your page. A review site can be cited for an answer that recommends your competitor, and your brand can be recommended with no link at all. Track both (see LLM visibility).

Example

Ask Perplexity what the VAT rate is in Ireland. The answer gives the rates and shows numbered source links, often government and accounting pages. Each of those links is a citation, and the pages that state the figure plainly and keep it current are the ones that get picked.

Want to be cited more? See how to get recommended by ChatGPT.