When an AI platform answers a prompt, it often lists the pages it drew on. Each of those pages, cited in one answer, is a citation. The sites behind them are your Sources.
Word | What it means |
|---|---|
Sources | The sites AI cited in the answers to your prompts (also the name of the Sources section in the sidebar) |
Citation | One page cited in one answer. The same page cited in 5 answers is 5 citations |
Citation share | Of every citation in the answers, the share that points at your own site |
You track "best CRM for small business" for HubSpot. One answer cites three pages: a G2 comparison, HubSpot's own CRM page and a Reddit thread. That is 3 citations from 3 Sources, and 1 of the 3 points at HubSpot's site: a Citation share of 33% for that answer.
AI platforms build their answers from the pages they cite. The sites cited most often for your prompts are the ones deciding what AI says about your market.
A citation is a link. People who want more than the answer click through to the cited pages.
A review site or a listicle that AI cites for your prompts, and that names your competitors but not you, is a page worth pitching. A topic where AI cites your competitors' pages and never yours is a page worth writing.
Rank Prompt files every cited page under a kind of source when it reads the citation, so a page is the same kind on every page of the app:
Kind | What it is |
|---|---|
Owned | Your own site |
Competitor | A competitor's own site |
Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Wikipedia | Those sites |
News & editorial | News and editorial sites |
Reviews & directory | Review sites and directories, like G2 or Capterra |
Q&A / forum | Q&A sites and forums, like Quora or Stack Exchange |
Social | Other social networks |
Company | Other companies' sites |
Institutional | Government, education and other institutions |
Reference & docs | Reference sites and documentation |
Marketplace | Marketplaces, like Amazon |
Google Maps place and Google Shopping product | Places and products from Google |
Other | Anything else |
A page reads Classifying for a moment while its site is being filed.
Each cited page also has a kind of content: Blog post, Listicle, Review, Docs, Tutorial, News, Product, Listing, Homepage or Other.
Your own site is the Website in Brand settings and everything under it: hubspot.com also covers blog.hubspot.com.
If the website is a page on a shared platform (an Etsy shop, a Linktree page, a YouTube channel), only that page and what sits under it count, never the whole platform
Other domains you own don't count, and adding them as brand aliases doesn't change that: aliases are names, not domains
A brand with no website has no Citation share
A citation says a page was cited. It doesn't say whether that page names your brand. Only reading the page tells, and Rank Prompt never guesses it from the URL or the title. Until a page is read it shows Not analyzed, and it never counts as a page that doesn't name you.
Analyze reads a page once: its contacts, whether it links to your site, and every business it names. It costs 1 credit per 3 pages; your own pages and pages already analyzed are free. See Offsite mentions.
Where | What you get |
|---|---|
Sources > Citations | The most cited domains, each domain's share, the kinds of source and every cited page |
Sources > Offsite mentions | The third-party pages AI cites, and whether they name you or your competitors (Starter and up) |
Sources > Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Forums | The posts, videos and threads AI cites on each network (Starter and up) |
Sources > Domains, Authors, Tracked pages | Cited domains, who wrote the cited pages, and pages you follow |
A report's Sources tab | The same view for one report |
Citation share | On a report's score card, and as a widget on Home |
AI platforms tend to cite pages that:
Answer one prompt clearly, near the top
Hold original data, prices or comparisons
Are well structured, with headings and lists
Are kept up to date
Open Sources > Offsite mentions, filter to Names a competitor, not you and pitch those pages from Outreach > Backlink outreach.
If people ask AI "What is the best CRM for small business?", make sure a page on your site answers exactly that.
Concept | Key point |
|---|---|
Citation | One page cited in one answer |
Sources | The sites behind the citations |
Citation share | The share of citations that point at your own site |
Your own site | Your website and its subdomains, nothing else |
Start backlink outreach: contact the pages AI cites
Email [email protected] and I'll help.
