Understanding sources

Written By Rankshift

The Sources page shows which websites and exact URLs the AI models use when creating answers to your prompts. This helps you see which content the AI relies on and trusts.

Go to Sources in your sidebar to view source analytics.

Why sources matter

When LLMs generate response, they use information from many websites across the internet. Knowing these sources helps you:

  • Spot trusted content: See which websites the AI models use most often.

  • Find chances to improve: Check if your content is used in sources but not directly mentioned in AI answers.

  • Watch your competition: See which websites your competitors use or are featured on. Identify which pages of your competitors are highly consulted by LLMs (= perform a content gap analysis).

Important: A source might help shape an AI answer even if it isn’t directly cited. Your content could still influence a response without being clearly referenced.

How to use the source data

Source data can guide smart choices for your content and outreach:

  • Find partnership opportunities: Spot top-performing sources where it could be useful to have your brand mentioned. Think of listicle articles and review websites.

  • Improve your content strategy: Study what successful sources are doing to better organize and present your own content.

  • Discover content gaps: Identify topics and formats that perform well but aren’t yet part of your content.

Two views of source data

Domains

Metrics:

  • Pages: Number of pages for this domain.

  • # Used: Total number of times links from this domain were found across all answers. If the same page is linked multiple times in different answers, each instance is counted.

  • Avg. Used: The average number of times links from this domain appear per answer.

    Example: If there are 100 answers and this domain is linked 50 times in total, the average usage is 0.5.

  • Cover: Percentage of prompt answers that contain at least one link from this domain.

    Example: If 25 out of 100 answers mention this domain, coverage is 25%.

  • Mention: Number of answers that contain this brand. Multiple pages from the same domain on the same answer count as 1.

    Example: If 12 answers have this domain as a source and mention your brand, this value is 12.

  • First seen: The first time an answer referenced this domain as a source.

  • Last seen: The last time an answer referenced this domain as a source.

Pages

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