What Citations Is
The Citations tab tracks which websites and URLs AI platforms reference when they mention your brand or answer queries in your industry. It shows you exactly where AI systems are pulling information from and how your content compares to competitors. When an AI platform like ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews generates a response, it often cites sources. Citations categorizes these sources and helps you understand your brand’s content presence across AI-generated answers. The tab has two sub-tabs: Summary shows the cards and trend chart, and Citation List shows every cited domain and URL.Why It Matters
AI platforms don’t just mention brands—they cite specific URLs as sources. Understanding citation patterns helps you:- Identify content gaps: See which topics competitors dominate with cited content
- Optimize existing content: Understand which of your pages AI platforms trust and reference
- Discover citation opportunities: Find external sites mentioning your brand that could be leveraged
- Track competitor strategies: See which URLs competitors are getting cited for
- Measure content authority: Understand how often AI platforms trust your owned content vs. third-party mentions
Category Breakdown
On the Summary sub-tab, the Category Breakdown section shows where your citations come from. Each card shows a citation count. When Compare to is on, each card also shows the change from the comparison period.My Pages
Citations of your pages. Direct citations to your website, blog, documentation, or other owned properties. When AI platforms cite your content, it indicates they trust your content as an authoritative source.Competitor Pages
Citations of competitor pages. Direct citations to competitor websites, blogs, or content. Track which competitors are getting cited and for what topics.Only competitors you’ve added in your Brand Kit are tracked. Add all relevant competitors and their website URLs to get complete data.
Social Pages
Citations of social pages. Citations from social platforms like LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Reddit, or Facebook. These show when AI platforms pull information from social discussions.Other Pages
Citations of other pages. External URLs that don’t fall into the above categories.Brand Mentions
Below the Category Breakdown, two cards show how often your brand appears on cited pages:Pages that mention you
Citations of pages that mention your brand. Third-party websites (news sites, review platforms, blogs) that wrote about your brand and were cited in AI responses. This shows your external brand coverage.Pages that don’t mention you
Citations of pages that don’t mention your brand. Sources AI platforms cited to answer queries in your topic area, but they don’t reference your brand. These represent content gap opportunities where you could create content to compete.Citation Trends
The Citation Trends chart shows how your citations change over time. It displays three metrics:- Total Citations: All citations across all categories
- Owned Citations: Citations to your owned pages
- Mentioned Citations: Citations to pages that mention your brand
How to Use Citations
Filter and Explore Citations
Use the filter bar at the top to narrow down your analysis:- Platform: Filter by AI platforms (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini). You can select multiple platforms.
- Topic: Select one or more topics to understand citation trends for different query types.
- Prompt: Focus on citations from specific tracked prompts.
- Location: Filter by the location the prompts ran in.
- Period: Last 7 days, Last 30 days (default), Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last year, or Custom.
- Compare to: Off, Previous period (default), Same period last year, or Custom.
Domain and Page Types
Slate classifies each cited URL by domain type and page type. Use these values with Add filter → Domain type and Add filter → Page type.
Page types are: Homepage, Product Page, Collection Page, Pricing Page, Informational Article, Documentation, Listicle Article, Comparison Page, Support Article, Review Page, Forum Thread, Social Media Post, Video Page, News Article, Case Study, Marketplace Listing, Landing Page, Deal Page, and Other.
Brand referenced filters by whether the page content mentions your brand (Yes or No). Competitor referenced filters by which competitors the page mentions.
Review the Citation List
Open the Citation List sub-tab. Under View citations by, choose Domain or URL. The Domain view shows these columns:- Citations: The domain name (click the row to see individual URLs)
- Number of URLs: Count of unique URLs cited from this domain
- Platform: Which AI platforms cited this domain
- Appearance: Total number of times the domain was cited
- Search: Click the search icon in the header and type in Search citations… to find specific domains or URLs. Search opens the Citation List.
- Download: Click the download icon in the header to export citations. The export uses the Platform, Topic, Prompt, Location, and Period filters. Filters you added with Add filter don’t apply to the export.
Expand Domain Details
Click any domain row to see All URLs for that domain:- Specific URLs that were cited
- How many answers cited each URL
- A View details button for each URL
View Citation Details
Click View details on any URL to open the citation details drawer. The drawer lists All Prompts and Answers that cited the URL.- Type in Search prompts… to find a specific prompt.
- Click View Response to read the full AI answer.
What’s Next
Learn how to leverage citation data for content strategy:- Explore practical use cases in Citation Use Cases
- Add prompts in Prompts Tracked to track citations automatically
- Create a content calendar based on citation gaps