WTF is AI citation tracking?

"It's increasingly important for publishers to understand when, how and why their content is being used as a source inside AI tools and platforms (often without attribution or traffic). The search landscape has changed exponentially this year, as more people turn to AI tools and platforms like ChatGPT to get information. And though referral traffic from AI platforms is still minuscule, many publishers are starting to track where they are cited in AI-generated responses to users' queries."

"From there, they can monitor their brand visibility and have a clearer picture on what's driving - the albeit small - traffic to their sites from AI platforms. Publishers, analytics firms and SEO consultants are calling it citation tracking. Here's how it works. WTF is citation tracking? It'smonitoring where, how and why a brand's site is mentioned as a source in an AI-generated response to a user's prompt in tools like ChatGPT."

"In ChatGPT and Perplexity, these citations appear as gray bubbles after the information is given. Users can click on those buttons to go to the source website. Citation tracking is a familiar term for PR professionals, well accustomed to monitoring how their clients' businesses are referenced in SEO rankings. But, AI citation tracking has asserted itself across publishers as they try to get a clearer picture of how they're being cited in AI search engines."

Publishers need visibility into when, how and why their content is used as sources inside AI tools and platforms, often without attribution or accompanying traffic. The rise of AI search tools like ChatGPT has shifted the landscape and prompted publishers to monitor AI-generated citations to track brand visibility and what drives limited referral traffic from AI platforms. The practice, called citation tracking, monitors mentions of a brand's site in AI responses. In ChatGPT and Perplexity, citations appear as gray bubbles that users can click to visit source websites. AI citation tracking builds on PR and SEO monitoring but adapts to AI-specific sourcing behaviors.

Read at Digiday