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Citation sources are the tracked domains DevTune monitors for appearances in AI search results. When an AI platform cites a URL or links to a website in its response, DevTune checks whether that domain matches one of your configured citation sources.

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What are Citation Sources?

When AI assistants respond to prompts, they often cite sources:
“According to the documentation at docs.example.com/getting-started…”
or
“Sources: [1] docs.example.com/api-reference…”
Citation sources tell DevTune which domains to look for in these responses. They are organized by brand, allowing DevTune to distinguish between your citations and competitor citations.

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Managing Citation Sources

Citation sources are managed from the Citation Sources tab on the Config page. Navigate to AI Search Tracking > Config in your project sidebar, then select the Citation Sources tab.

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Adding a Citation Source

  1. Click Add Citation Source
  2. Select the brand this domain belongs to (your primary brand or a competitor brand)
  3. Enter the domain (e.g., docs.yourcompany.com)
  4. Optionally add tags to categorize the domain
  5. Save

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Domain Format

Enter domains without the protocol prefix:
  • docs.yourcompany.com - Correct
  • https://docs.yourcompany.com - Incorrect
Add each subdomain separately:
  • yourcompany.com - Main marketing site
  • docs.yourcompany.com - Documentation
  • blog.yourcompany.com - Blog
  • github.com/yourcompany - GitHub repository

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Editing Citation Sources

Click on any citation source to:
  • Change the associated brand
  • Update the domain
  • Add or modify tags

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Removing Citation Sources

Remove a citation source by clicking the delete action. Historical data for the removed citation source is preserved and remains visible in past results.

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Domain Tags

Tags help categorize your citation sources for filtered analysis. When viewing results, you can filter by tag to understand which types of content are performing best.

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Common Tags

  • docs - Documentation and API reference sites
  • blog - Blog and content marketing pages
  • marketing - Product pages and landing pages
  • github - Source code repositories
  • package - Package registry pages (npm, PyPI, Maven, etc.)
  • community - Forums, Stack Overflow, Discord
Tags are optional but recommended for projects with many citation sources.

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Citation Sources by Brand

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Primary Brand Sources

These are the domains that represent your product. Citations to these domains count toward your presence metrics: Typical primary brand sources:
  • Documentation site
  • Marketing website
  • Blog
  • GitHub repository
  • Package registry page

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Competitor Brand Sources

These are domains belonging to competitor brands. Citations to these domains are tracked for competitive analysis: Typical competitor sources:
  • Competitor documentation
  • Competitor marketing site
  • Competitor GitHub repository
Competitor citation sources enable Share of Voice calculations and competitive gap analysis.

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Suggested Competitors

When adding citation sources for competitor brands, DevTune can suggest relevant competitor domains. The suggestion engine uses your product context, category, and existing competitor brands to recommend domains you may want to track. Look for the suggestion feature when adding new citation sources to competitor brands.

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Understanding Citation Source Performance

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Presence by Domain

For each citation source, you can see:
  • How often it appears across all prompts
  • Which platforms cite it most frequently
  • Which prompts trigger its appearance
  • Trend direction over time

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Domain Type Performance

With tags in place, analyze which content types perform best:
  • Do documentation domains get cited more than blog domains?
  • Are GitHub repositories cited frequently?
  • Which domain type drives the most presence?

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Source-Level Insights

Citation source data feeds into several metrics:
  • Docs Presence - Aggregate presence of domains tagged as “docs”
  • Blog Presence - Aggregate presence of domains tagged as “blog”
  • Primary Citation Share - Proportion of total citations pointing to your primary brand sources versus competitor sources

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Best Practices

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Cover All Your Properties

Add every domain where your brand has content that could appear in AI responses. Missing a domain means missed citations in your metrics.

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Track Key Competitors

Add citation sources for your 2-3 most important competitors. This enables meaningful Share of Voice and competitive analysis.

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Use Tags Consistently

Apply tags consistently across all citation sources. This makes filtered analysis reliable and comparable.

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Review Regularly

Periodically check for:
  • New domains you have launched (new documentation sites, new subdomains)
  • Competitor domain changes
  • Domains that have been deprecated or redirected

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Troubleshooting

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Citation Source Never Appears

If a domain never shows up in results:
  • Verify the domain is entered correctly without typos
  • Check that the content on the domain is relevant to your tracked prompts
  • Note that AI platforms may not have indexed newer sites yet
  • Confirm the domain is assigned to the correct brand

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Unexpected Citations

If you see citations you do not expect:
  • Check whether a competitor has launched content on a new domain
  • Review your citation sources for completeness

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Inconsistent Results

Citation appearances vary between test runs because AI responses are not fully deterministic. Look at trends across multiple runs for reliable conclusions.

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Next Steps