Often when we think of the term “citation,” whether it pertains to our personal life or our business, we think of something bad or negative. Per Findlaw.com’s definition of “citation,” when someone hears the word “citation,” their mind may immediately go to thoughts of having to appear in court and/or being charged for some kind of minor offense.
But in the world of being found online (SEO, GEO, AEO), particularly in the results spit back by AI search tools like ChatGPT, being awarded a citation is a positive thing. It means the AI search engine in-question has included a link back to your organization’s digital property or assets or an external organization’s digital content that mentions you (often your or an external party’s website, but it could be a social media or discussion-forum presence or post).
Two Types Of Citations You’ll Want And Need To Be Found Online
As we outlined in great detail in our blog post about how to ensure AI search tools view your organization as trustworthy, you are going to want and need these two types of citations to succeed in being found online in AI search tool results:
- Citations from AI search tools themselves where they are sharing a link to content that you own or that mentions you
- Citations from non-search-tool, external organizations who provide links on their digital properties/assets back to your digital properties and assets
You’ll really want and need both of the above in order to drive traffic directly from AI search tools to your website because, as pointed out in the previous blog post whose link we shared above, an AI search tool is less likely to provide a citation (backlink) to your website if you aren’t receiving citations from other creditable external organizations on the internet.
