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Citation Opportunities

Learn how to use the Citations tab in Backlink Outreach to find, categorize, and prioritize outreach opportunities from your visibility reports.

The Citations tab shows websites that AI platforms cite when discussing topics in your industry. These are excellent outreach targets because AI already considers them authoritative.

Accessing Citation Opportunities

  1. Go to Dashboard → Backlink Outreach

  2. Click the Citations tab


Understanding the Table

Each citation shows:

Column

Description

Domain

The website (with favicon and link)

Page

The specific URL being cited

Frequency

How often this URL appears in your reports

Status

Processing status (Not Processed, Completed, etc.)

Category

Domain and page type (if processed)

Priority

Outreach priority score (if processed)

Contacts

Number of discovered contacts


Filtering Citations

Search

Type to find specific domains or URLs.

Priority Filter

Filter by outreach priority:

  • All — Show everything

  • High — Best opportunities

  • Medium — Good opportunities

  • Low — Lower priority

Category Filter

Filter by domain category:

  • Blog

  • News

  • Review Site

  • Forum

  • Directory

  • And more...

Status Filter

Status

Meaning

Not Processed

Needs categorization

Pending

Currently being processed

Completed

Successfully categorized

Failed

Processing failed (can retry)


Processing Citations

Why Process?

Raw citations are just URLs. Processing them reveals:

  • Domain Category — What type of site is it?

  • Page Category — What kind of content is it?

  • Prominence — How prominently does AI feature this source?

  • Priority Score — How valuable is this opportunity?

How to Process

  1. Select citations — Check the boxes next to URLs

  2. Click "Categorize" — In the action bar

  3. Confirm — Review credit cost and confirm

  4. Wait — Processing takes a few seconds per URL

Credit cost: 1 credit per 10 URLs


Understanding Categories

Domain Categories

Category

Description

Priority

Blog

Personal or company blog

High

News

News publication

High

Review Site

Product/service reviews

High

Resource Hub

Educational resources

High

Forum

Community discussions

Medium

Directory

Business listings

Medium

Social

Social media

Low

Other

Uncategorized

Low

Page Categories

Category

Description

How-to Guide

Tutorial content

Comparison

Product comparisons

List Article

"Top 10" style content

Review

Product/service review

News Article

News coverage

Resource Page

Curated links/tools


Understanding Priority

Priority is calculated based on:

  1. Domain Category — Blogs and news score higher

  2. Page Category — How-to and comparison content scores higher

  3. Prominence — How prominently the source is featured

  4. Frequency — How often AI cites this source

Priority

What It Means

High

Best outreach targets — prioritize these

Medium

Good opportunities — worth pursuing

Low

Lower value — consider if time permits


Discovering Contacts

Once categorized, you can find contacts for outreach:

  1. Select citations — Check boxes for categorized URLs

  2. Click "Discover Contacts" — In the action bar

  3. Confirm — Review credit cost

  4. Wait — Contact discovery takes longer than categorization

Contact Types

Role

Description

Editor

Content decision maker

Author

Article writer

Marketing

Marketing team contact

General

Generic contact (info@, contact@)

Credit cost: 1 credit per 3 URLs


Starting Outreach

Once you have contacts:

  1. Find a citation with discovered contacts

  2. Click the email icon or "Start Outreach"

  3. Select a contact to email

  4. Write your message (templates available)

  5. Send or schedule the email

💡 Pro+ plan required to send emails

Best Practices

Focus on High Priority

Don't try to contact everyone. Focus on:

  • High priority citations

  • Relevant domain categories (Blogs, News, Resources)

  • URLs with discovered contacts

Personalize Your Outreach

Generic emails get ignored. For each opportunity:

  • Reference their specific content

  • Explain why your link adds value

  • Be concise and professional

Track Your Progress

  • Use status filters to see what's been processed

  • Check the Emails tab for sent outreach

  • Follow up on promising leads


Summary

Step

Action

1

Filter to "Not Processed" citations

2

Process/categorize in batches

3

Filter to "High" priority or order by Score

4

Discover contacts

5

Start outreach


Next Steps

  • 📧 Send outreach emails


Questions?

Contact us at [email protected] — we're happy to help!

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