AI citation

An AI citation is a reference to your page or brand inside an answer produced by an AI assistant, either as a linked source or as a named mention in the text. Ranking in a list of blue links is a different outcome: a citation means the model used your page while composing its reply. The neighbouring terms describe work rather than results. GEO and AEO name the tactics, an AI citation is the countable outcome those tactics aim at, and LLMO is the broader label some providers put on the same activity. For a buyer, the term matters because it is the one result in this field you can check yourself. A course that teaches citations should show you how to prompt an assistant, log which sources come back and repeat that on a schedule, rather than stopping at content advice. 37 of 44 programs teach it (4 unverified) (checked 18 September 2026). Ask which tracking method a program uses before you pay.

Example

A plumbing supplier publishes a page on how to size a pump. Someone asks an assistant which pump suits a small heating system, and the reply summarises that method with a link back to the supplier's page sitting under the answer. Analytics may record no click at all. The link under the answer is the AI citation.