Reading AI citations
Interpret AI citation sources, analyze linked and unlinked brand mentions, identify realistic gaps, and move qualified URLs into Prospector.
Use AI citations to see which pages supported captured AI answers, which platforms cited each source, whether the page mentions the tracked brand, and which non-owned sources may be realistic outreach targets.
A citation means an AI platform referenced a source. It does not automatically mean the source mentions the brand, links to the client, endorses the brand, or caused the answer.
Before you start
The project needs a completed AI scan from at least one platform that tracks citations. If every enabled AI platform is configured for mentions only, the AI citations view is unavailable because no citation bucket is being measured.
Start with Reading AI answers when you need the answer text that produced the citation set.
Read the source table
Open the relevant project and choose AI citations.
Select the platforms you want to include.
Review each source's URL, title, platforms, best citation position, and weighted score.
Check whether the URL is the primary domain, another owned asset, or an external source.
Open citation history, changes, or volatility when you need evidence across multiple completed runs.
The source score is weighted by platform reach and citation position; it is not traffic, authority, or a guarantee that the page influenced an answer. A source cited by several platforms can rank above a one-platform source even when both appear once.
Analyze what the cited page says
Citation analysis fetches the cited page and checks for the brand, a recognized owned link, source type, opportunity status, and available sentiment evidence.
Select Analyze citations.
Review the credit estimate for the sources that have not been analyzed.
After processing, use the filters to narrow the table.
Analysis costs 75 credits per newly analyzed page. Previously analyzed canonical URLs are skipped rather than forcibly recrawled. Re-analyze can process new citations and reconcile owned-asset classifications, but it does not promise a fresh crawl of every existing row.
Read the resulting states as follows:
Linked
The page mentions the brand and links to a recognized owned domain or page.
Unlinked
The page mentions the brand but no recognized owned link was detected.
Opportunity
The analyzed page does not mention the brand and is classified as a realistic external target.
Gap
The analyzed page does not mention the brand, but it may not be a practical outreach target.
Not available
The page could not be reached or analyzed, such as a paywall, login wall, or temporary failure.
Not analyzed
No citation analysis exists for this source yet.
Owned
The URL matches the primary domain or the client's owned-asset registry.
Use the filters
All shows every source in the selected platform scope.
Has mention shows linked and unlinked brand mentions.
Gaps shows analyzed pages that do not mention the brand.
Opportunities narrows gaps to non-owned sources classified as realistic outreach or content targets.
An opportunity is a prioritization aid, not a promise that the publisher will add a mention or that an AI platform will continue citing the page.
Keep owned assets accurate
Rankability automatically recognizes the primary domain and can recognize other assets registered for the client. Use the shield action to mark or unmark an off-domain page or domain as owned when the automatic classification is incomplete.
Owned classification affects how Rankability presents citation opportunities. Verify shared publishing platforms at the page level so one owned profile does not make an entire third-party domain look owned.
Move a source into Prospector
For a non-owned source, use the bookmark action to add the URL to an existing or new Prospector list. Rankability checks canonical list membership so a URL already saved in Prospector is shown as saved instead of being silently duplicated.
Use Prospector to qualify the source, assign outreach work, and keep the citation report focused on evidence rather than relationship management.
Understand history and alerts
Citation history and volatility compare persisted completed runs. A source can be added, removed, or change position as platforms alter their retrieval results. Compare the same keyword, platform, location, and time window before labeling a change as meaningful.
Recent citation alerts are signals to investigate. Dismissing an alert changes its notification state; it does not delete the underlying citation history.
Troubleshooting
If the table is empty, confirm an AI scan completed and the selected platforms returned citations.
If the tab is missing, check whether the project's enabled AI platforms are configured for mentions only.
If a source says Not available, inspect the URL manually; Rankability may be blocked even when the page opens in your browser.
If an owned source is shown as external, update the client's owned assets and rerun the free classification reconciliation.
If a citation appears stale, run the appropriate AI scan. Citation analysis does not refresh the underlying AI answer.
Next steps
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