Help centerSources
Domains and URLs
Which websites and pages AI cites, which ones help competitors, and where to focus.
When AI answers a question, it often looks things up first. The websites it uses are its sources. Domains lists them by website (example.com); URLs lists the exact pages. Together they show where AI gets its facts and which sources favour your competitors.
Cited or only retrieved
- Cited
- The answer shows the source to the reader, as a link or footnote.
- Reported only
- The model read the source, but the answer didn’t show it. This is also called “retrieved”.
An appearance is one source in one answer. If an answer uses the same source twice, it still counts once. Citation rate is cited appearances divided by all appearances.
The four questions at the top
Each cell shows a share of answers in the range, with the change since the previous period:
- Your site in answers
- Question it answers: Does AI use my site?
- Meaning: Share of answers that use your domain as a source. Being a source is the first step to being recommended.
- Competitor sites in answers
- Question it answers: Do competitors own the answer?
- Meaning: Share of answers that use a competitor's own website, where the competitor writes the facts AI repeats.
- Lost through sources
- Question it answers: How much do I lose through sources?
- Meaning: Share of answers with a cited source where a competitor is named and you are not.
- Where to focus
- Question it answers: Where should I focus?
- Meaning: How many of those lost answers cite one of the top 10 gap sources. A high number means a few placements would close most of the gap.
| Cell | Question it answers | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Your site in answers | Does AI use my site? | Share of answers that use your domain as a source. Being a source is the first step to being recommended. |
| Competitor sites in answers | Do competitors own the answer? | Share of answers that use a competitor's own website, where the competitor writes the facts AI repeats. |
| Lost through sources | How much do I lose through sources? | Share of answers with a cited source where a competitor is named and you are not. |
| Where to focus | Where should I focus? | How many of those lost answers cite one of the top 10 gap sources. A high number means a few placements would close most of the gap. |
For the two competitor cells, a rise is shown in rose because it is bad for you. If you haven’t added competitor domains yet, a link takes you to Brands. Below the cells, one line gives the raw totals: sources, appearances, cited share and answers in range.
All evidence, competitor gaps, brand omissions
These tabs change which answers every number on the page is based on:
- All evidence
- Every answer in the range.
- Competitor gaps
- Answers where this source is cited, a tracked competitor is named, and your brand is not. These are the most winnable answers.
- Brand omissions
- Answers where this source appears, cited or not, and your brand is not named.
Activity, movers, types and platforms
- Source activity
- Appearances or citations of the top 5 sources over time. Use D W M for the interval. Click a legend chip to hide or show a source.
- Domain movers / URL movers
- Sources gaining or losing answer reach, under Top, New, Rising and Falling. They need a previous period to compare with.
- Domain types / URL types
- How appearances split by kind of site (You, Competitor, Community, Reference, Editorial, Review, Directory…) or kind of page (Homepage, Product page, Article, Comparison, Video, Pricing, Discussion…). Click a row to filter the table; click it again to clear the filter.
- Social & community platforms
- Reddit, YouTube, G2, LinkedIn and others, with how often they appear. Click one to filter the table.
The source table
Search, filter by type, and sort by clicking a column header. The table shows 20 rows per page. The default order is Opportunity.
- Appearances
- Answers that used the source, with a change marker or New.
- Citations / Citation rate
- How many of those appearances were cited, and the share.
- Prompts
- How many different prompts led to the source.
- Gap answers
- Answers where the source is cited and a competitor is named without you.
- Opportunity
- How much you could win by getting into this source, judged against the other sources in view. Hover for the counts behind it.
Opportunity
- HighTop 20% of sources in view
- MediumNext 40%
- Your siteYour own domain: not an opportunity
- CompetitorA competitor's own site
Export CSV downloads every row that matches your filters, not only the current page.
A source in detail
Click a row to follow one source from its numbers to the answers behind them.
Metrics
Source appearances, citation rate, distinct prompts and competitor-gap answers, plus an activity chart.By AI model
Which models use the source and how often they cite it.Source evidence
Tabs for the URLs on the domain, the Prompts that led to it, and the Answers. Answers are listed by importance; each one shows whether it cited the source and whether your brand was named. Load 20 more answers fetches more without changing the totals.Brands in related answers
How often each brand appears in answers that used this source.
Answer evidence labels
The back arrow at the top left returns to the list with your filters, page and scroll position intact.Visit site opens the source; Copy link copies its address.
Save an action from a source
Editors can click Add recommendation to save a plan for this source. Up to 20 matching answers are attached as evidence, and it appears under Recommendations. Each source can have one open action at a time.
How pages are matched
- Links that differ only by tracking tags (
utm_…,gclid,fbclidand similar) count as the same page. The#sectionpart of a link is ignored. - YouTube timestamps and share tags are removed, but the video id is kept. All other query parameters are kept, because they can point to a different page.
www.is ignored when matching domains. Your site and competitor sites include their subdomains.- When you edit domains in Brands, past answers are matched again.