> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tryprefer.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sources and Citations: Understand AI Engine References

> Learn how Prefer tracks the domains and URLs AI engines cite, how sources are classified, and how to find the pages driving competitor citations.

Every time an AI engine cites a URL in its answer, Prefer captures it, classifies the source, and rolls it up so you can see exactly where each engine goes for information. This page explains what a citation is, how sources are classified, and how to use the Sources view to find pages worth owning.

## What counts as a citation

A **citation** is any URL an AI engine links to as part of its answer for a tracked prompt. Prefer stores the citing engine, the prompt, the position in the answer, and the destination URL. Deduplication is per (run, prompt, engine, URL).

## How Prefer classifies sources

Each cited URL is tagged with a source type so you can filter by intent rather than raw domain:

* **Owned**: your own domain and known subdomains.
* **Earned**: press, podcasts, and third-party writeups.
* **Third-party**: general reference sites and neutral publishers.
* **Competitor**: a tracked rival's domain.
* **Listicle**: "best of" and comparison round-ups.
* **Review**: G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, and category equivalents.
* **Forum**: Reddit, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, and similar community threads.
* **Directory**: category directories and marketplaces.
* **Community**: Discord, Slack communities, and specialist forums.

## Where you read source data

* **Monitor > Overview > Top cited content**: your owned URLs ranked by citation share.
* **Monitor > Competitors > Sources**: which domains cite which brands, split per engine.
* **Prompt detail > Top Domains / Top Citations**: per-prompt source lists with links out.

## Find pages you should own

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Competitors > Sources">
    Filter to a single competitor.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sort by citation share">
    The top rows are the sources that competitor "owns": pages that engines cite for their brand and not for yours.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send to Action Center">
    Use the row action to create an Action for outreach, guest content, or an owned page that can compete for the same slot.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Listicles and reviews often drive the highest share of citations in software categories. Prioritize inclusion or corrections in those sources before writing new owned content.
</Tip>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Competitors" icon="users" href="/docs/monitor/competitors">
    Compare source ownership across every tracked rival.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Action Center" icon="wand-sparkles" href="/docs/act/action-center">
    Turn source gaps into ranked outreach and content work.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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