What it is
The Citations tab analyzes how AI engines reference external sources when generating responses for your tracked search terms.
It shows:
Which domains are cited most often
Which URLs influence responses
Which brands benefit from citations
How citation authority shifts over time
This is your authority and source influence dashboard.
Why it matters
AI engines often ground responses in external content.
Being cited means:
Your brand is connected to authoritative sources
You are part of referenced content
You are included in supporting evidence
Citations influence:
Trust signals
Narrative framing
Competitive positioning
This tab helps you understand the ecosystem behind AI-generated answers.
Filters & controls
At the top of the page, you can refine what data is shown.
Filter by:
AI Engine: View performance across all engines or isolate one (e.g. Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity).
Topic: Focus on a specific topic group.
Tags: Filter by custom term tags.
Queries: Narrow down to specific tracked search terms.
Additional citation-specific filters
You can also filter by:
Brand: All brands, Own brand only or Without your brand
Region (if supported)
Search term search (filter by specific query)
Changing these filters updates all metrics and charts dynamically.
Top metrics block
At the top of the page, you’ll see summary citation metrics.
Metrics include:
Total citations: Total number of citation occurrences
Unique URLs cited: Number of distinct URLs referenced
Unique domains: Number of distinct root domains cited
Total brands found: Number of brands associated with cited content
These reflect the selected filters and timeframe.
Citation analytics charts
Top 20 citations by domain
Shows the top domains ranked by total citations.
Stacked by URL
Hovering reveals specific cited pages within the domain
This highlights dominant source domains in AI responses.
Weekly mentions by top domain
Shows weekly citation frequency for the top 20 domains over the selected period.
Use this to identify:
Emerging sources
Declining authority
Stable domain dominance
Citation category distribution
Breaks down citation categories by total mentions.
Examples:
Blog posts
Reviews
Documentation
News articles
This helps you understand what type of content AI engines rely on.
Category distribution over time
Shows the percentage breakdown of citation categories by week.
This reveals shifts in:
Content format influence
Source type dominance
AI grounding patterns
Brand share charts
These charts show citation distribution by brand.
Includes:
Share by citation mentions
Share by unique URLs
Share by unique domains
This shows citation authority relative to competitors.
Brand distribution charts
Additional visual breakdowns include:
Distribution by total citation mentions
Distribution by unique URLs
These help compare brand-level authority footprint.
Top domains table
Below the charts, you’ll find a detailed domain-level table.
For each domain, you can see:
Number of brands mentioned by that domain
First appearance date
Last appearance date
Total citations
Domain share
Expanded domain view
When expanding a domain row, you can see:
List of brands mentioned
Number of mentions per brand
Share percentage per brand
Linked search terms
“Go to search term” shortcut
“Expand executions” to view runs where the domain was cited
This connects domain authority directly to:
Queries
Brand performance
Execution-level evidence
Top URLs table
This section lists the most cited individual URLs.
For each URL, you can see:
Number of brands mentioned
First appearance
Last appearance
Total citations
Domain share
You can:
Go to the related search term
Expand executions to see when the URL was referenced
This reveals which specific pages influence AI responses.
Top brands by citation
This section shows brand-level citation performance.
For each brand, you can see:
Total citations
Share percentage
Number of unique URLs
Number of unique domains
This measures citation authority strength relative to competitors.
How to use the citations tab strategically
Use this page to:
Identify high-impact domains
Spot authority gaps
Track citation growth over time
Compare citation dominance vs visibility
Discover PR or content opportunities
Examples:
If a domain consistently cites competitors but not you, consider outreach.
If blog content dominates citations, strengthen educational content.
If review sites drive mentions, optimize positioning there.
Relationship to other tabs
Overview page shows performance trends.
Competitors tab shows brand comparisons.
Search term detail shows execution-level citations.
Citations tab shows ecosystem-level source authority.
Together, they explain both performance and influence.