Definition
An AI citation is a link or source reference an AI platform attaches to its answer to show where a statement came from. Citations are the clearest signal of which pages an engine trusts for a question, and they are distinct from mentions: a brand can be named in an answer while a review site, a forum or a competitor’s comparison page is cited as the evidence.
Citation behaviour differs by platform. Some cite a handful of sources per answer, some cite per sentence, and the balance between brand sites, publishers and communities varies by industry. Reading citations across your questions tells you which sources teach the engines what to say about your category.
Why it matters
Citations carry the authority. Being cited means your page is the evidence; being mentioned without a citation means someone else’s page is.
How it is measured
Every cited URL in a sampled answer is recorded and classified by domain, source type and page. flowgen reports own-domain versus third-party citations, top cited domains and citation gaps per question.
