Sources

Use sources

Turn Sources into a concrete outreach and content plan by prioritizing URLs, choosing tactics by page type, and tracking progress over time.

Recap: what Sources tells you

Sources shows which URLs AI models actually cite when answering the prompts you track.

Most of these URLs are third‑party pages acting as independent validators, but you will also see your own properties and competitors when AI uses them as sources. The Sources Overview explains how this fits into your broader measurement. The Citations page at /citations lets you switch between URL, Domain, and Brand views and filter by date range, AI model, page type, mentioned status, and free‑text search so you can focus on the slice that matters for your current campaign. To roll these insights up by host, use the Domains view.

Turn Sources into an action plan

Use this workflow to go from a long list of URLs to a prioritized outreach and content roadmap.

Filter to a meaningful slice

Start on the Citations page in URL view.

Set a Days range that matches your planning horizon (for example, last 30 or 90 days).
Choose one or more Models that map to where your customers search most.
Apply Page type filters if you want to focus on a specific motion, such as Reviews or Forums.
Use Mentioned = No to find influential pages where your brand is missing.

This gives you a manageable starting set tied to a specific time window and use case.

Rank URLs by impact signals

Sort by Frequency to see which URLs show up most often across all tracked prompts. You can dig into how this metric works in Citations (Frequency).

Then inspect extra context per URL:

Prompt count: how many distinct prompts cite this URL.
Topics: the mapped topics or themes those prompts belong to.
Mentioned: whether the page already mentions your brand.
AI models: which models rely on this source.

Use these fields together to decide which URLs could move the needle if you improved your coverage or presence there.

Translate into outreach and content tasks

Turn each cluster into a small backlog and connect it to the playbooks in Recommendations.

For third‑party pages, define outreach sequences, talking points, and target changes.
For your own pages, define content briefs: what needs updating, which prompts and topics to cover better, and how to structure the page so AI models choose it.
For competitor‑heavy clusters, plan counter‑content or reviews that create alternatives where you are currently invisible.

Aim for a short, high‑impact list you can execute in a 4–8 week cycle.

Review your action plan in short cycles. After you finish a batch of outreach or content updates, re‑filter Sources to the same date range and topics and check whether the same URLs still dominate or if new doors have opened.

Prioritize sources with Frequency, Prompts, Topics, and Mentioned

Use the core metrics together to decide where to focus next. Do not think of them as a single score; treat each as a separate signal.

Frequency: how often a URL shapes AI answers

Frequency counts how many times a URL appears across all relevant citations in your selected range.

High frequency URLs consistently influence AI answers and are strong candidates for outreach or content work.
Medium frequency URLs are good secondary targets once you handle the top tier.
Low frequency URLs usually matter only if they are uniquely important (for example, a very niche topic or an authoritative regulator).

Start with URLs that combine high Frequency with meaningful topics and prompt coverage. For a deeper view across your workspace, review Citations (Frequency).

Prompt count: breadth of questions a URL touches

Prompt count shows how many distinct prompts use a URL as a source.

A URL with high Frequency and high prompt count shapes a wide range of customer journeys. Improving your visibility here can shift many prompts at once.
A URL with high Frequency but low prompt count may dominate one critical prompt. These are strategic if that prompt is commercially important (for example, "best enterprise data catalog for banks").

Look at the actual prompts behind a URL before you invest; prioritize URLs tied to your highest‑value queries.

Topics: which themes this URL influences

Topics map prompts into themes so you see what a URL is actually about in your dataset.

Use Topics to:

Focus on strategic themes first (pricing, implementation, security, integrations) rather than generic awareness.
Spot coverage gaps where third‑party sources dominate an entire topic cluster and your brand rarely or never appears.
Avoid spending cycles on topics that are not core to your current playbook.

A URL with moderate Frequency but covering a high‑value topic cluster can be more important than a top‑frequency URL on low‑intent topics.

Mentioned: where your brand is missing

Mentioned indicates whether the source page already includes your brand.

Filter or sort on Mentioned to create two clear work queues:

Mentioned = No: outreach opportunities where you want to get added, upgraded, or correctly represented.
Mentioned = Yes: optimization opportunities where you aim to improve your positioning, update outdated info, or protect against negative shifts.

Combine Mentioned = No with high Frequency, meaningful Topics, and solid prompt coverage to build your first outreach hit list.

Choose tactics by page type

Different page types require different approaches. Use the page_type labels in Sources to match URLs to the right playbook.

Reviews

Reviews pages aggregate user opinions about products or services.

Use them to:

Identify review platforms that heavily influence AI answers for your space.
Spot rating gaps where competitors have many positive reviews and you are under‑represented.
Plan customer campaigns to drive high‑quality reviews on the most influential platforms.

When you win better representation on key review sites, AI models have more positive, up‑to‑date material to draw from.

Comparison, Alternatives, and Listicle pages

Comparison, Alternatives, and Listicle pages frame the shortlist your buyers see.

For high‑impact URLs in these types:

Audit whether your brand appears and how it is positioned against competitors.
Prepare positioning guidance and concrete copy suggestions for editors so it is easy for them to add or update you.
Create or improve your own comparison and alternatives content that covers the same prompts and topics from your perspective.

If you see many Alternatives or Listicle pages where you are missing, prioritize them early; they strongly shape what AI suggests as options.

Forums and Social pages capture real user conversations and recommendations.

On these URLs:

Read threads to understand language, objections, and decision criteria customers actually use.
Plan engagement where appropriate (for example, clarifying misconceptions, sharing resources, or answering technical questions).
Turn repeated questions into content briefs so your docs and marketing pages answer them directly.

Use forums and social sources as qualitative input to your product messaging and FAQ content.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia pages act as neutral, high‑authority references.

When Wikipedia URLs show up frequently:

Check whether your company, category, or related concepts are accurately described and up to date.
Identify citation gaps where high‑quality third‑party sources about you exist but are not referenced.
If appropriate, work with community norms to improve article quality, keeping neutrality and sourcing rules in mind.

The goal is not promotion but making sure accurate, well‑sourced information exists for AI models to rely on.

YouTube

YouTube pages often appear when AI models pull from tutorials, reviews, or walkthroughs.

For influential YouTube URLs:

Classify the creator as independent, partner, or competitor.
For supportive or neutral creators, explore collaborations like updated walkthroughs, feature deep dives, or comparison videos that include your product.
If your own channel appears, evaluate video quality, titles, and descriptions and align them with the prompts and topics where the video is cited.

Video content often shapes AI summaries of workflows and how‑to guidance, so give models strong material to work with.

Marketplace

Marketplace pages list apps, integrations, or partners.

Use marketplace sources to:

Confirm you are present and correctly categorized in the most cited marketplaces.
Improve descriptions, screenshots, and integration details where you already appear.
Identify missing listings where competitors are present and you are not, and evaluate whether joining the marketplace supports your strategy.

Marketplace visibility is especially important when prompts mention specific platforms or integrations.

Generic article, Landing page, and Homepage

Generic Article, Landing page, and Homepage sources typically represent editorial or owned content.

For these types:

Decide if the URL is yours, a partner, or a third‑party publisher.
- If it is yours, review whether the page directly answers the prompts and topics that cite it and consider strengthening structure, examples, and clarity.
- If it belongs to a partner or publisher, explore guest content, case studies, or updated guides that feature your product more explicitly.
- If it is a competitor, treat it as a benchmark when planning your own content: what questions they answer, how they structure information, and why AI may be favoring them.
For Homepages and key Landing pages that frequently appear, confirm they provide enough context, proof, and clear positioning that AI models can confidently reference.

Aim to create or support pages that function as definitive resources for the prompts and topics you care about.

Track progress and iterate

Sources becomes more valuable when you use it as a feedback loop rather than a one‑time audit.

Re‑check the same slice over time

After executing an outreach or content cycle:

Return to /citations and apply the same filters you used when you built your plan (Days range, Models, Page types, Mentioned).
Sort by Frequency again and compare which URLs are now at the top of the list.
Use Mentioned to verify that previously missing brand mentions are now present.

If you use Notes, update them as outcomes land so you can see at a glance which URLs have moved.

Watch for the right kinds of change

Signals that your work is paying off include:

New URLs appearing that belong to your properties or partners and sit in high‑value topics.
Existing third‑party URLs where the content has been updated to include or improve your brand coverage.
Shifts in Frequency or prompt coverage, where pages you influenced now appear in more prompts or models.
Reduced concentration on a small number of competitor‑heavy URLs, replaced by a more balanced mix that includes you.

If you do not see movement after a cycle, revisit your page‑type tactics and consider whether different channels (for example, marketplaces instead of forums) might have more leverage for your audience.

Next steps

Understand Sources metrics

Get a deeper explanation of how Sources works, how citations are captured, and how URL, Domain, and Brand views relate to each other.

Roll up insights by domain

See which domains consistently influence AI visibility across prompts, prioritize partnerships, and coordinate outreach at the domain level.

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