CONCEPT
AI citations
AI citations are the links engines include in answers — your product pages, review sites, marketplaces, and competitor domains that shape recommendations.
Overview
AI citations are the links engines include in answers — your product pages, review sites, marketplaces, and competitor domains that shape recommendations.
Why it matters for ecommerce
Knowing which domains AI trusts in your category reveals where you need presence — your own PDPs, Amazon, Reddit threads, or editorial reviews.
How Surfacely measures this
Surfacely aggregates cited URLs from live probes, classifies source types, and highlights gaps where competitors earn links you do not.
Where to find this in your report
Open AI Visibility → Citations to see which URLs and domains engines linked when answering category prompts. The dashboard shows cited count vs total probes (e.g. 3/10).
How to improve it
- Target prompts where competitors are cited but you are not — those are the highest-leverage gaps.
- Ensure cited PDPs return 200, valid schema, and clear product titles matching how shoppers ask.
- Build presence on source types AI trusts in your category (reviews, Reddit, editorial).
- Export and fix llms.txt entries for pages you want recommended first.