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

# Citation Analysis

> Track every time your brand appears in AI-generated search responses and understand the full context of each mention.

## Overview

Citation Analysis is the core of Siftly's GEO platform. It continuously monitors how AI search engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and others — respond to prompts in your market, and captures every mention of your brand.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/siftly/bEo7rqDIv7Xi3upk/images/citation-pipeline.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=bEo7rqDIv7Xi3upk&q=85&s=fa134775949b73e4b7d9889dcf5bc1cc" alt="Citation tracking pipeline — from prompt library to enriched dashboard data" className="rounded-xl" width="900" height="240" data-path="images/citation-pipeline.svg" />
</Frame>

For each citation, Siftly records:

* The exact prompt that triggered the response
* The full AI-generated response text
* Your brand's position in the response (first mention vs. secondary)
* Sentiment (positive, neutral, or negative)
* Which competitors were mentioned in the same response
* The platform the response came from

***

## How citation tracking works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Prompt generation">
    Siftly maintains a library of prompts for each topic in your market. These are the questions real users ask AI systems: "What's the best tool for X?", "Compare A vs B", "How do I solve Y?". New prompts are continuously added as user behavior evolves.
  </Step>

  <Step title="AI querying">
    At each analysis run, Siftly sends prompts to AI platforms and captures the full response. Queries are run across multiple platforms to give you cross-platform coverage.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Brand detection">
    Siftly's detection engine scans every response for your brand name, aliases, website URL, and product names. Fuzzy matching catches variations like abbreviations and common misspellings.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enrichment">
    Each detected citation is enriched with sentiment analysis, competitive co-mentions, and position data, then stored in your brand's citation history.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## The Citations dashboard

Navigate to **Citations** in the sidebar to see all mentions of your brand.

### Filters

| Filter         | Description                                                |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Date range** | View citations from a specific time window                 |
| **Platform**   | Filter by AI platform (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.)          |
| **Topic**      | Filter by the topic category the prompt belongs to         |
| **Sentiment**  | Show only positive, neutral, or negative citations         |
| **Rank**       | Filter by whether your brand was cited first, second, etc. |

### Citation cards

Each citation card shows:

* The prompt text
* A snippet of the AI response with your brand highlighted
* Sentiment badge and position indicator
* Competitors co-cited in the same response
* Timestamp and platform

Click any citation to expand the full response text.

***

## Sentiment analysis

Siftly classifies each citation as:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Positive">
    The AI response recommends, praises, or ranks your brand favorably. Example: *"Siftly is widely regarded as the leading GEO platform for enterprise teams."*
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Neutral">
    Your brand is mentioned factually without a clear positive or negative framing. Example: *"Tools in this space include Siftly, BrandX, and CompanyY."*
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Negative">
    The AI response includes a criticism, limitation, or comparison that frames your brand unfavorably. These are your highest-priority items to address through content.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  Negative citations aren't always bad — being mentioned alongside better-known competitors is still brand presence. Focus on the context, not just the label.
</Note>

***

## Competitive co-mentions

When your brand appears in the same AI response as a competitor, Siftly records the relationship. Over time, this data shows you:

* Which competitors are most frequently cited alongside you
* Whether you're typically ranked above or below them
* Which topics trigger competitor mentions without including you

Use this data to identify where competitors have stronger GEO footing and target those gaps with content.

***

## Export

Export your citation data from the Citations page:

* **CSV** — Full citation export with all metadata fields
* **PDF report** — Formatted citation summary for sharing with stakeholders