# Citation Tracking

Citations are external links that AI models include in their responses. Tracking citations helps you understand which sources AI models trust and reference most frequently.

## What Are Citations?

When AI models generate responses, they often include citations to support their answers with credible sources. These citations can be:

- Direct links to articles or pages
- References to specific domains
- Supporting evidence for claims

Your citations page shows all the sources being referenced across your tracked prompts.

## Understanding the Citations Page

### Key Metrics

**Total Citations**: The total number of external links referenced across all your tracked prompts.

**Unique Domains**: The number of different domains that have been cited. This shows the diversity of sources AI models use.

### Top Cited Domains

This section shows the most frequently referenced domains, ranked by citation count. Each entry displays:

- Domain logo and name
- Domain Rank (DR) score
- Number of citations

Click any domain to expand and see the specific URLs that were cited.

## Viewing Citation Details

### Expanding Domain Citations

Click the arrow next to any domain to see:

- **Individual URLs**: Specific pages that were cited
- **Citation count**: How many times each URL was referenced
- **Associated prompts**: Which prompts generated citations to this URL
- **AI models**: Which AI platforms cited the URL

### Citation Preview

Hover over any URL to see a preview with:

- Page title
- Domain information
- Publication date (when available)

## How Citations Work

### Citation Sources

AI models cite content for several reasons:

1. **Authority**: The source is recognized as credible in its field
2. **Relevance**: The content directly answers the query
3. **Recency**: Recent, up-to-date information
4. **Depth**: Comprehensive, detailed content

### Your Citations vs. Total Citations

The dashboard shows two important numbers:

- **Your Pages Cited**: How many citations point to your content
- **Total Pages Cited**: All citations across all sources

Your goal is to increase your share of total citations over time.

## Improving Your Citation Rate

### 1. Create Citation-Worthy Content

Focus on content that:

- Provides unique insights or data
- Cites credible sources itself
- Uses clear structure with headings
- Includes examples and case studies
- Stays current with regular updates

### 2. Build Domain Authority

Strong domain authority increases your chances of being cited:

- Earn backlinks from reputable sites
- Publish consistently high-quality content
- Establish expertise in your niche
- Engage with your industry community

### 3. Optimize for AI Readability

Make your content easy for AI models to understand:

- Use clear, descriptive headings
- Break content into logical sections
- Include summaries and key takeaways
- Use structured data markup
- Avoid excessive jargon

### 4. Monitor Competitor Citations

See which URLs your competitors get cited for and:

- Identify content gaps you can fill
- Create better, more comprehensive content
- Find citation opportunities in your niche

## Working with Citation Data

### Identifying Citation Gaps

Compare domains cited by AI with your content portfolio:

1. Look at top cited domains in your industry
2. Note topics where you’re not being cited
3. Create or improve content to fill those gaps

### Tracking Citation Performance

Monitor how your citation count changes over time:

- Set a baseline of current citations
- Track monthly growth
- Measure impact of new content
- Identify which content types get cited most

### YouTube Citations

ClayHog tracks video citations separately. When AI models cite YouTube videos:

- You’ll see a YouTube icon next to the citation
- Click “View details” to see video-specific insights
- Track video performance alongside written content

## Citation Best Practices

### For Blog Posts

- Start with a clear, informative title
- Use descriptive meta descriptions
- Include original research or data
- Link to authoritative sources
- Update content regularly

### For Product Pages

- Include detailed feature descriptions
- Provide use cases and examples
- Add comparison tables
- Include customer testimonials
- Keep pricing and features current

### For Documentation

- Organize with clear hierarchy
- Include code examples and tutorials
- Provide troubleshooting guides
- Keep technical details accurate
- Version your documentation

## Understanding Domain Rank (DR)

Domain Rank appears next to each cited domain and indicates:

- **90-100**: Extremely authoritative domain
- **70-89**: Highly authoritative domain
- **50-69**: Moderately authoritative domain
- **30-49**: Developing authority
- **0-29**: Low authority

Higher DR domains generally get cited more frequently by AI models.

## Analyzing Citation Patterns

### Prompt-Specific Citations

Different prompts may favor different types of sources:

- **Informational prompts**: Often cite educational and authoritative sources
- **Comparison prompts**: Frequently cite review sites and product pages
- **How-to prompts**: Tend to cite tutorials and documentation

### Model-Specific Behavior

Different AI models have different citation preferences:

- Some models cite more frequently than others
- Citation formats vary by platform
- Source preferences differ between models

## Next Steps

- Learn about [competitive analysis](/content/help/competitive-analysis/index.html)
- Explore [content optimization](/content/help/content-optimization/index.html)
- Understand [visibility metrics](/content/help/visibility-metrics/index.html)