Citation & Outbound Link Analyzer

The Citation Chain

AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews don't just evaluate your content in isolation — they evaluate the quality of your sources. Pages that cite authoritative, well-known sources are significantly more likely to be cited themselves, creating a citation chain that amplifies your content's credibility.

What AI Engines Look For

• Links to .gov, .edu, and recognized authority domains
• Descriptive anchor text that signals citation context
• In-content citations near the claims they support
• Attribution language like “according to” and “as cited in”
• Diverse sources across multiple independent domains

The 3-20 Rule

Data on AI citation patterns shows that pages with 3-20 high-quality outbound links perform best. Too few links signal poor sourcing. Too many dilute quality signals and can appear spammy. The ideal is 5-12 carefully selected citations to authoritative, diverse sources within the content body.

Common Citation Mistakes

• Using “click here” or “read more” as anchor text
• Adding nofollow to all outbound editorial links
• Placing all links in the footer or navigation
• Linking only to low-authority or unknown domains
• No attribution language — just bare links without context