The Significance of Co-Citations in Academic and Web Contexts
In academia, the concept of “co-citations” pertains to a research document that references multiple sources. However, the realm of web pages also exhibits instances of co-citations, particularly in the context of search engine optimization. It has been widely speculated that search engines like Google utilize co-citations to identify similarities between websites.
Exploring Co-Citation in Relation to AI
The advent of AI technologies has brought co-citation to the forefront, especially with platforms such as AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Gemini heavily relying on lists for brand and product recommendations. For instance, in a search query for “best CRM solutions,” AI Overviews often cite multiple sources, all of which are in list format.
AI platforms leverage external lists for brand and product recommendations, as demonstrated in this example of “top CRM solutions” in Google’s AI Overviews.
It’s important to note that these sources don’t necessarily need to provide direct links to their recommendations for large language models to generate citations. Therefore, for effective AI optimization, both co-occurrences (unlinked mentions) and co-citations (linked mentions) hold equal significance.
The visibility of your brand in AI-generated answers and search results is directly impacted by its presence on external websites. Furthermore, the brands frequently associated with yours, whether linked or unlinked, play a crucial role in defining its relevance and visibility.
To gauge your site’s visibility, examine around 20 listicles that mention your competitors and check for:
- Appearances in organic search results
- Inclusions in AI Mode and AI Overviews
- References in ChatGPT
While there may be some overlap among these sources, analyzing multiple lists will provide a clearer picture of your business’s relative visibility.
Tools for Identifying Co-Citation Opportunities
InTheMix.ai
InTheMix.ai is a tool that generates related prompts in Gemini based on user queries, analyzes the responses, and lists the sources cited. This free tool also indicates the popularity of each URL based on the number of answers.
InTheMix.ai generates prompts in Gemini and displays the number of answers for each source.
Otterly.ai
Otterly.ai is a premium tool with a free trial that retrieves citations from Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for any given prompt. It also offers weekly tracking of these citations to uncover potential opportunities.
Otterly.ai fetches citations from Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for any prompt.
Reddit, a frequently cited source in Google and ChatGPT, can be a valuable resource for researching citations of your business or competitors. By identifying which subreddits mention your brand alongside competitors, you can gain valuable insights.
Utilize AI Brand Rank’s Reddit section to analyze citations of well-established competitors.
AI Brand Rank provides citations across various platforms, including Reddit, showcasing mentions of “Udemy.”
Evaluating Visibility and Opportunities
By leveraging top platforms to compare mentions of your business or products with those of competitors, you can gain valuable insights into your brand’s visibility within AI training data.