Checklist
AI Citation Source Checklist
A checklist for reviewing the source layer that shapes how AI engines understand your brand, products and competitors.
AI answers are influenced by a wider evidence layer than your website alone. This checklist helps marketing teams review whether the sources AI systems are likely to use contain clear, credible and current information about their products.
Owned sources
- Product and service pages
- Case studies
- Comparison pages
- Pricing or packaging pages
- FAQs
- Documentation or help pages
- About and leadership pages
- Press or newsroom pages
- Sitemap and indexable HTML content
Third-party sources
- Industry publications
- Review platforms
- Directories and listings
- Analyst or research sites
- Partner pages
- Customer stories on third-party sites
- Podcasts and interviews
- Event pages and speaker profiles
- Trade association pages
- Community discussions
- Wikipedia or encyclopaedic references where appropriate
- Reddit or forum discussions where appropriate and authentic
Source quality checks
- Is the source indexed?
- Is the information accurate?
- Is the product named clearly?
- Is the category clear?
- Are claims supported by proof?
- Is the content recent enough?
- Does it mention competitors?
- Does it link to the right page?
- Is the anchor/context natural?
- Could an AI answer use this source confidently?
Common citation gaps
- Product evidence exists only in PDFs
- Case studies are too vague or anonymised
- Review profiles are incomplete
- Directories use outdated descriptions
- PR coverage mentions the company but not the product
- Comparison content is missing
- Competitor pages explain the category better
- Third-party sources do not reflect the current value proposition