Citation
When a generative-search system attributes part of its answer to a specific source URL, usually with a footnote-style number or an inline link. The visible signal that a brand was used to ground a model's answer.
Background
Citation rates have replaced rankings as the primary KPI for many publishers under GEO. ChatGPT (with web tool enabled), Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews all emit citations, in slightly different formats. Each system has its own selection logic — recency, authority, structured-data presence, and content-density-per-token all matter.
Tools that use it
- 01→Claude
Anthropic's AI assistant with the Claude family of models (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku), Projects, and Computer Use.
- 02→Perplexity
AI answer engine that combines web search with LLM reasoning and inline source citations.
- 03→ChatGPT
OpenAI's flagship AI assistant — GPT-5 chat with web, voice, image generation, code interpreter, and custom GPTs.