How citations are tracked
Where citation data comes from, what counts as a citation, and how Promptive categorizes source domains.
What is a citation
A citation is a URL or domain that an AI platform explicitly referenced in its response. When Perplexity answers "What's the best AI visibility tool?" and links to a Reddit thread, a G2 review, and a competitor's blog post — those are three citations.
Citations are different from brand mentions. A brand can be mentioned without being cited (the AI said the name without linking to any source). A domain can be cited without your brand being mentioned (the AI used your competitor's page as a source while recommending your competitor).
Where data comes from
Citation data is extracted from the actual AI responses Promptive receives when running your prompts. It's not inferred or estimated — it's parsed directly from responses that include explicit source links or footnotes.
Not every AI engine provides citations. Perplexity, Google AI Overview, and increasingly ChatGPT provide source links in their responses. Claude and Gemini are less consistent. Promptive only records citations that appear explicitly in the response — it does not attempt to infer sources that aren't disclosed.
Domain categorization
Every cited domain is classified into one of seven categories (see Sources & citations for the full list). Classification is done automatically and reviewed periodically. If you see a domain miscategorized, email admin@getpromptive.ai.
Plan availability
Citation tracking is available on Starter plan and above ($79/mo). Trial accounts do not include citation data. The Sources section will be visible but locked with an upgrade prompt.
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