Citation Research1

AI citation research and outreach

The sources behind AI answers.

Citation Research is an independent lab studying how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode choose the pages they cite. We publish what we learn, and we use it to earn citations for our clients — manually, one editor at a time.

Read the latest study →Talk to a researcher
Fig. 0 — Who cites whatStudy 007
ANSWER ENGINESOURCE TYPEChatGPT (search on)PerplexityGoogle AI ModeGeminiBrand sites41News & magazines12Reference & official08Forums & Q&A09Directories & portals07Social networks05Video04Reviews & lists02ENGINESOURCEChatGPTPerplexityAI ModeGeminiBrand sitesNewsReferenceForumsDirectoriesSocialVideoReviews
Reading the mapLine weight shows each engine’s share of citations by source type: 3,587 citations in 600 answers asked from India. The highlighted route, Google AI Mode to forums, is the one Study 007 measures.
Latest: Study 010 · Published 5 October 2026Ask AI for an expert and it names a personRead Study 010 →

01 What we do

One lab, three kinds of work.

The research tells us which pages answer engines trust. The agency work puts our clients on those pages. Both run on the same data.

  1. Citation audits

    We ask the questions your buyers ask, across every major answer engine, and record who is cited, where and why. You get the gap: the pages AI trusts that do not mention you.

    Engines
    ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Copilot
    You receive
    A source map and a ranked list of pages to win

  2. Citation building

    We earn mentions on the pages AI already cites: lists, comparisons, reviews, data roundups. Every pitch is written by a person and sent from .

    Method
    Manual editorial outreach, one editor at a time
    Never
    Paid links, automated sequences, anonymous senders

  3. Original research

    We help you publish data worth citing: studies, benchmarks and indexes that journalists and answer engines return to.

    Formats
    Studies, benchmarks, recurring indexes, open datasets
    Standard
    Sample, date and method stated on every number
How citation building works →

02 Latest research

Recent studies & notes.

Latest four publications
All research →

03 Method

Five steps, then again next month.

The same procedure runs our studies and our client work. Nothing is reported without the sample size beside it.

  1. Define the questions

    The real prompts buyers use, from search data and interviews.

  2. Sample the engines

    Each question asked repeatedly, across engines and locations, logged with dates.

  3. Trace the sources

    Every cited URL classified by type, owner and freshness.

  4. Act on the gap

    Outreach to the editors of the pages that carry the citation.

  5. Measure again

    The same questions, re-run monthly. Results reported with sample sizes.

Step 5 feeds step 1Full protocol: Methods, v1.0 →

04 Principles

What we will not do.

  1. i.

    No paid links dressed as editorial.

  2. ii.

    No automated outreach.

  3. iii.

    No fake reviews or self-written “independent” lists.

  4. iv. — and one thing we always do

    Every number we publish states its sample, date and method.

Notice to recipientsOutreach policy

All client outreach comes from one named address. If you received a message from us and want to know who it was for, write to us and we will tell you.

outreach@citationresearch.com

Sent by a person on our team. Never from a lookalike domain, never on a schedule.

Want to know where AI cites your category?

We will run 50 of your buyers’ questions across four engines and show you who gets cited.

Talk to a researcher →
Research
research@citationresearch.com
Outreach
outreach@citationresearch.com