An LLM citation is a reference in an AI-generated answer to a specific source URL. Citations appear as inline or footnoted links in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude with web access, Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot. Earning LLM citations requires both technical readiness (structured data, llms.txt, server-side rendering) and content patterns the models extract reliably.
Inline link or numbered footnote depending on the engine. Perplexity shows numbered citations prominently. ChatGPT inserts inline links in browse-enabled responses. Google AI Overviews shows linked source cards alongside the generated text.
Content with clear definitions, citable statistics, comparison tables and FAQPage schema. Strong Article schema with author and date attribution. llms.txt declaration so the agent finds canonical sources quickly. Entity recognition through Wikipedia and Wikidata. Strong third-party citations on Reddit, Stack Exchange and topical communities.
Monitoring tools like Profound and Otterly.AI sample prompts and report appearances. The Website AI Agent Readiness Check measures the technical foundation that determines whether your content is eligible for citation in the first place.
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