How to track your AI citations and sources with Semrush

When your brand is missing from AI answers, appearance at the pages those answers cite.

Those sources can display you which websites AI platforms depend on for the prompts that matter to your business, which competitor pages appear repeatedly, and anywhere your brand is absent.

The Sources study in Semrush’s Prompt Tracking shows the most cited domains and pages throughout your mark prompts, so you can place citation gaps and near them. 

Use the study to find:

• Competitor satisfied earning citations anywhere yours isn’t
• Third-party pages that power AI answers in your category
• Sources that get cited whenever your brand isn’t mentioned by AI
• Citation gaps you can near through satisfied updates or outreach

This is akin to the rivalrous investigation SEOs already do, but extended to the sources shaping AI-generated answers.

Why should you track AI citation sources?

Tracking AI citation sources shows you which websites AI platforms citation whenever answering questions applicable to your business. 

AI platforms frequently retrieve data from the web whenever generating answers (this is known as retrieval augmented generation, or RAG). 

The citations in those answers display you which pages contributed data during this process.

But citations and brand mentions measure distinct things:

• A citation links to a leaf used as a source
• A brand citation method your brand name appears in the AI-generated answer

Your website can acquire citations without your brand being recommended. And your brand can appear in an answer without your website being cited.

That’s why it helps to appearance at the two together.

If another domain is often cited throughout crucial prompts during your brand is missing from the connected answers, you have a citation gap value investigating.

The Sources study in Position Tracking lets you track those gaps, so you can see who's influencing precious AI answers in your topic and discover your opportunities to get additional visibility. 

Step 1: Build a mark immediate catalog to track

Before you can track citation sources, you need a catalog of prompts to track. This catalog defines the range of AI answers you're monitoring.

Start alongside prompts that indicate the questions your customers really ask, covering:

• Problems they’re trying to solve
• Products they’re evaluating
• Features or requirements they attention about
• Your brand and competitors

For example, a mattress brand akin Amerisleep could track questions specified as “What are fine mattress recommendations for high arm pain?”

Find these questions by exploring revenue and assistance conversations, client interviews and surveys, and applicable forums or online communities anywhere your customers appearance for help. 

Reddit communities are an uncomplicated way to place questions anywhere group are looking for advice, and may ask the identical questions to AI.

You can additionally use Semrush’s Prompt Research tool to detect connected questions group ask AI platforms, or prosecute our guide to prompt investigation for AI SEO.

Once you have a applicable set of prompts to track, set up your run inner the Position Tracking tool.

Select your mark AI platform, location, and add your prompts to commencement tracking regular data points. 

Step 2: Read the Sources report

Once your run is running, open the “Sources” tab.

The metrics at the top of the study provision you an overview of your visibility throughout the immediate set.

• Tracked prompts: The figure of prompts in your campaign
• Source pages: The figure of pages cited throughout answers to those prompts
• Your brand mentions: How frequently your brand appears in the connected answers

For example, the run shown complete tracks 20 prompts in Google AI Mode and surfaces 49 origin pages, alongside the brand mentioned in among the connected answers.

These numbers provision you a quick awareness of how ample the origin pond is and how frequently your brand appears in the answers you’re tracking. They can alter as the run collects new regular snapshots.

If you’re tracking the identical prompts throughout multiple AI platforms, use the dropdown at the top of the study to toggle between them. 

In this project, the identical 20 prompts exterior 40 origin pages in ChatGPT, alongside no brand mention.

Next, appearance at which types of sources contribute to those answers.

See which origin categories appear most

Focus on the “Sources by Category” widget.

Use this perspective to comprehend what kinds of sources AI platforms depend on most throughout your tracked prompts.

For example, ecommerce and retailing sites create up 76% of sources in Amerisleep’s AI Mode report, compared alongside 38% in ChatGPT. Knowledge bases document for 6% of AI Mode’s sources, compared alongside 33% in ChatGPT.

These differences assistance you see which types of sources get cited on all platform. In this campaign, retailers document for most of AI Mode’s sources, during cognition bases create up a larger portion in ChatGPT.

Compare your domain’s portion alongside the another categories to see anywhere your satisfied is contributing and anywhere another sources are shaping the answers. 

Then, assessment the particular pages earning those citations.

Find the exact pages cited most often

You can examine citations by leaf or domain. 

Use the “Pages” perspective to see which idiosyncratic URLs are cited the most throughout your tracked prompts.

For all page, use the following columns to comprehend its citation safety and your brand’s existence in the connected answers:

• Cited for prompts: The figure of tracked prompts anywhere the leaf is cited
• Your mentions: How frequently your brand appears in the connected answers
• Diff: The alter in your brand mentions since the former update
• Mention rate: The percent of connected answers that citation your brand

Benchmark your domain’s citations against competitors

For a broader comparison, toggle to the “Domains” perspective to see how your own citation existence compares alongside competitor and third-party sources.

This gives you a quick baseline of how much of a gap you have to near to capture up to the competition. It additionally shows you what’s operating in your competitors’ strategies.

For example, in Amerisleep’s AI Mode report, Tampa Mattress is cited throughout 11 tracked prompts and Sleep Number throughout 10. 

Meanwhile, Amerisleep’s own domain is cited for fair one.

Expand all domain to see the particular pages being cited. Then, open those pages to comprehend which questions they answer and what data they provide. 

Look for applicable topics or particulars your own satisfied could shield additional fully.

Next, assessment the third-party sources being cited. 

In the identical report, U.S. News is cited throughout six tracked prompts, but none of the connected answers citation Amerisleep.

It’s a fine idea to appearance for sources alongside a elevated “Cited for Prompts” figure and a low “Mention rate” for your brand. 

These sources are getting cited frequently in answers that skip complete your brand, which makes them fine targets for AI citation outreach. As alongside nexus construction outreach, the goal is to get your brand mentioned throughout the pages that power applicable AI answers.

Open all cited leaf and appearance for:

• Whether it covers a use case applicable to your product
• Whether your brand appears on the page
• Whether competitors are included
• Whether the data is current

If the leaf could be improved alongside an update including your brand, regard it an outreach target. Prioritize pages cited throughout multiple applicable prompts anywhere your brand would be a helpful addition.

What to do alongside the output

Once you’ve identified citation gaps, use the study to obtain the next stage on all opportunity. Depending on the site, that next stage could average conducting outreach, construction your own type of a improved page, or updating an existing leaf on your site. 

For a origin leaf value investigating, click “Get mentions” beside it.

The panel shows the prompts anywhere that leaf was cited, whether your brand appeared in the connected answers, and recommendations for earning additional mentions.

For example, one URL in this project was cited throughout 10 tracked prompts.

Amerisleep appeared in fair among the 10 connected answers, giving the origin a 10% Mention charge for the brand.

The panel additionally provides recommendations according to the origin category and citation pattern. In this case, Semrush recommends actions specified as studying the cited retailing sources, optimizing merchandise item pages, applying merchandise schema, and construction buyer-focused content.

Use these recommendations to develop your existence throughout the pages and topics AI platforms already depend on.

Check these sources regularly, since earning a citation or citation one day doesn’t justify your brand volition continue appearing in all forthcoming AI answer. Prompt Tracking updates daily, and you can export the study to Excel, CSV, or Google Sheets or agenda reports daily, weekly, or monthly. 

FAQs

How is the Sources study distinct from Mentions or Visibility Overview?

Mentions display how frequently your brand name appears in AI answers.

Sources shows the domains and URLs cited throughout the prompts in your Prompt Tracking campaign.

Visibility Overview gives you a broader perspective of your brand’s mentions, citations, and cited pages throughout Semrush’s AI visibility database.

Use Visibility Overview to measure your general AI presence. To detect particular prompts and analyze the sources cited in their answers, you can use the Prompt Tracking tool.

For a broader rivalrous workflow, see our guide to benchmarking brand mentions in AI answers.

Can I display Sources by a particular competitor or domain category?

Yes. You can hunt for a particular domain or URL, or display sources by categories specified as:

• Your domain
• Competitors
• Social platforms
• Knowledge bases
• Other domains

You can additionally display by Mention Rate and immediate content to narrow the study to a particular topic or set of prompts.

See the Sources study filters for additional details.

How many prompts can I track, and does that power Source coverage?

The figure of prompts you can track depends on your Semrush plan:

• AI Visibility Toolkit only: 25 prompts
• Starter: 50 prompts
• Pro+: 100 prompts
• Advanced: 200 prompts

Enterprise plans recommendation tradition immediate tracking limits.

The Sources study analyzes citations throughout the prompts you track. So, tracking a broader set of applicable prompts can assistance you see additional of the domains and pages influencing AI answers in your category.

Does the Sources study activity throughout ChatGPT, AI Mode, and Gemini?

Yes. The workflow is akin throughout supported platforms: track your prompts, afterward assessment the sources cited in their answers.

But the sources themselves can differ by platform. If you desire to difference results, use akin prompts, locations, and tongue settings so the difference is meaningful.

Google AI Overviews are distinct from AI Mode. For that workflow, see how to track AI Overviews alongside Semrush.

Start tracking your AI citation sources alongside Semrush

Start alongside the prompts that matter most to your customers.

Then, use the Sources study in Prompt Tracking to discover the domains and pages AI platforms citation for those questions.

Look for sources that appear often whenever your brand is absent, examine why they’re being cited, and rotate the findings into particular satisfied or outreach actions.

Keep monitoring the identical prompts to see whether your pages acquire citations and your brand starts appearing in additional of the connected answers.