How the Citation Tracker Works
24+ Query Variants per Engine
We run 24 different query formulations per LLM engine — category queries, comparison queries, use-case queries, and brand-specific queries — to capture the full surface area of where you could be cited.
Authority Tier Classification
Every citation is classified into three authority tiers: Primary (your brand is the main answer or a recommended solution), Secondary (you are mentioned alongside others), or Absent (your brand does not appear).
Monthly Trend Tracking
Scans run automatically each month. Your dashboard shows month-over-month citation rate changes per engine, sentiment trend, and which specific queries you have gained or lost position on.
What Metrics You Get
The citation tracker delivers four core metrics for each engine and in aggregate across all engines.
Citation Rate per Engine
The percentage of the 24 query variants for which your brand appears in the LLM's answer. This is the primary metric — it tells you how visible you are to users asking about your category. A citation rate of 0–20% indicates low visibility; 40–60% is competitive; 80%+ is dominant.
Authority Tier Breakdown
For every query where you appear, we classify the citation into three tiers. Primary: you are the first-mentioned or recommended solution. Secondary: you appear in a list alongside 2+ competitors. Mentioned: your brand name appears but in a context that does not recommend you. Moving from Secondary to Primary is the highest-value citation improvement.
Sentiment Trend
When you are cited, is the framing positive, neutral, or negative? We classify the sentiment of the sentence and surrounding context where your brand appears. Brands that score well on citation rate but poorly on sentiment are often ranking for complaint-adjacent queries — a common issue that the competitive gap report surfaces explicitly.
Competitive Gap Report
For every query where you are absent, we identify which competitors are cited instead. The gap report shows the 10 highest-priority queries where a direct competitor is cited but you are not, sorted by query intent value. These are your highest-leverage content creation opportunities.
The Baseline → Monitor → Improve Loop
Citation tracking is only valuable if it drives action. The tracker is designed around a three-phase improvement loop that compounds over time.
Month 1: Baseline scan
Run your first scan to establish where you stand today. Most brands discover a citation rate of 15–30% on their best engine and 0–5% on their worst. The baseline scan also identifies your three highest-priority gap queries — the specific questions your customers are asking where a competitor is answering and you are not.
Month 2–3: Content production sprint
Use the gap report to prioritize 3–5 content pieces that directly address the highest-value gap queries. Each piece should follow the First 150 Words template to maximize citability. Publish with clear authorship and methodology sections. The Citation Asset Engine (Scale plan) can generate these assets automatically using our AI content generator.
Month 4–6: Measure the impact
Your Month 4 scan will show whether the content published in Month 2–3 has entered the LLM citation pool. Typical lag from publication to first citation is 4–8 weeks. You will see citation rate increase on the specific query types you targeted. Use this to validate the content strategy and identify the next set of gaps to close.
Month 6+: The compounding effect
As your citation library grows, LLMs that saw you on 3 queries now see you on 12. Citation rate rises across query types you did not specifically target because new content creates cross-query relevance signals. The library compounds — each new citable asset increases the probability of citation on related queries, not just the one it was written for.
Free Scan vs. Scale Plan Tracking
Free Scan (one-time)
- +Overall AIS score (0–100)
- +Per-engine breakdown (4 engines)
- +5 highest-priority citation gaps
- +3 quick-win recommendations
- -No monthly tracking
- -No competitive gap report
- -No sentiment tracking
Scale Plan — $299/mo
Citation Asset Compounding Engine
- +Monthly automated scans
- +Full 24-gap competitive report
- +Authority tier tracking per query
- +Sentiment analysis and trend
- +Citation asset generation (AI-drafted)
- +Asset library with compounding tracking
- +Month-over-month score trend