AI citation and source tracking
AI answers lean on web pages. Aivting lists the sources they cite, shows which cited pages name your brand, and points to the places where competitors are cited and you aren't.
Which sites do AI answers cite?
A source is a web page that an answer cites. Aivting groups sources by domain and by URL. The Domains view has one row per cited site: how many answers cite it, how many of those name your brand, which competitors are named, and when it was first and last seen. The URLs view shows the exact pages.
Both follow your filters and count active prompts only. Aivting does not read the cited page: a source is counted because an answer lists it. See sources, domains and URLs.
Six source types
Each cited site is sorted into one of six types: own, competitor, UGC (forums, Q&A, social posts), reference, editorial or corporate. The mix tells you what kind of site answers rely on. A lot of editorial and UGC suggests answers lean on third parties, not brand sites. The rules are versioned, so a type can change if the rule changes. Details in source types.
Gaps: cited with competitors, never with you
A gap is a domain or page that answers cite when they name a competitor, and that no answer naming your brand cites. It is not your site or a competitor's own site. Gaps sort first in the Sources panel, so the leads are at the top.
A gap is a lead, not a verdict. Aivting doesn't tell you whether to pitch that site, improve your content or ignore it, and being listed there doesn't guarantee an engine will name you. See gaps.
List pages you're missing from
Pages such as "best tools for" or "alternatives" lists are flagged as listicles by a rule that looks at the URL and title. The rule is fair but imperfect: some "the best way to" titles are flagged though they aren't lists, and list pages that use none of the trigger words are missed.
Turn on Listicles only and Gaps only together to see list pages that answers cite next to competitors but never in an answer that names you. See listicles.
Does your own site help? A pattern, not a cause
Your site as a source compares your visibility in answers that cite your website with your visibility in answers that don't. In a fictional example, a brand is named in 9 of 12 answers that cite its site (75%) and in 3 of 28 that don't (11%).
It appears only when at least 10 answers cite your site and at least 10 don't. And it describes a pattern: an engine may cite a page because it already named you, or the reverse. Treat it as a pointer to which pages to look at. See your site as a source.
How source tracking works
Start a run. Aivting stores each answer with the sources it cited.
Open the Sources panel and switch between Domains and URLs.
Filter by type, gaps or listicles to find pages cited with competitors but not with you.
Open the answers behind any row to read how the source was used.
Citation tracking: common questions
What counts as a citation?
A web page that an AI answer lists as a source. Aivting counts it because the answer lists it; it does not read the page itself.
What is a gap?
A domain or page cited in answers that name a competitor and in no answer that names you, excluding your own and competitors' own sites.
Do all engines cite sources?
An answer may cite no sources at all. Aivting counts only the sources that a collected answer actually lists, and never infers the rest.
Will getting listed on a gap site make engines name me?
Not necessarily. Gaps are leads. Aivting measures where answers lean; it can't promise that an engine will name or cite you.
Can I export the sources?
Yes. Owners and editors can export Domains and URLs as CSV files, following the filters on the page.
See where AI answers get their information
Start a run and open the Sources panel to find your first gaps.