Citation
A citation is a source URL an answer engine leaned on when generating an answer. Changing the cited page is often the fastest way to change the answer.
A citation is a source an answer engine used or referenced when producing an answer. In products like Perplexity they are listed explicitly; in others they are implied by the answer's content. Either way, citations are the levers behind the answer.
When you are missing from an answer, the citation list tells you why. The engine may be leaning on a competitor's comparison page, a G2 category page, a listicle, or a Reddit thread instead of your site. Improving your owned page may not help if the engine never reads it.
That is why tracking citations matters more than tracking a score. It converts an abstract visibility number into a concrete fix: improve or earn the page the engine actually cited, then rerun the prompt to see whether the answer changed.
Related: AI visibility · Visibility tracking · Best AI visibility tools · Full glossary