Understanding cited sources
How to interpret the sources cited by AIs, use the Influence Score, and leverage the Gap Analysis to improve your visibility.
Why sources matter in GEO
Generative AIs like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini don't just recite -- they synthesize. And when they cite external sources, those URLs directly influence who they mention and how they talk about them.
If your competitor shows up in AI responses and you don't, chances are the models are drawing on content where your competitor is present -- and you're not.
That's exactly what the Sources page in Repliq helps you understand and act on.
The 5 source categories
Repliq automatically classifies every source cited by AIs:
| Category | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial | Media, press, specialized blogs | lemonde.fr, 20minutes.ch, techcrunch.com |
| UGC | User-generated content | reddit.com, trustpilot.com, g2.com |
| Corporate | Official brand websites | migros.ch, coop.ch |
| Reference | Encyclopedias and directories | wikipedia.org, crunchbase.com |
| Institutional | Institutions and organizations | admin.ch, who.int |
Each category calls for a different GEO strategy -- we'll cover that in Take action.
The Sources page -- at a glance
Top-of-page KPIs
The page displays 4 key indicators:
- Total sources -- number of distinct domains cited in your AI responses
- Most influential source -- the domain with the highest Influence Score
- Owned pages -- how many of your own pages are cited by AIs
- Competitor sources -- your competitors' sites detected as sources
3 tabs
| Tab | What it shows | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Media | Third-party sources (press, blogs, forums, encyclopedias) | These are the sites feeding AI responses -- your main lever for action |
| Owned | Your own pages cited by AIs | See which of your content "works" and attracts citations |
| Competitors | Your competitors' sites cited as sources | Measure their influence on AI responses |
The visual summary
At the top of the Media tab, a visual summary shows:
- The donut chart -- breakdown of citations by type (owned, competitor, third-party) with the total in the center
- Top domains -- the 5-6 most cited domains with horizontal bars
- Gap Analysis alert -- if opportunities are detected, a banner tells you how many sources cite your competitors but not you
The Sources table -- reading each column
For each source, the table displays:
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Domain | The site name, with mini AI logos showing which platforms cite it and a mini sentiment bar (green/gray/red) |
| Influence Score | A score from 0 to 100 measuring this source's impact on AI responses (green >= 70, orange 40-69, gray < 40) |
| Category | Automatic classification (Editorial, UGC, Corporate, Reference, Institutional) + type (Owned, Competitor, Third-party) |
| Citations | Total number of times this domain is cited |
| Needs Attention | Priority level: CRITICAL (red), HIGH (orange), MEDIUM (yellow), LOW (gray) |
| Brand % | In what percentage of responses citing this source your brand is also mentioned (green >= 50%, orange 1-49%, red 0%) |
| Last seen | Last citation date |
Click the arrow on the left of a domain to see the most cited pages from that site (up to 5 URLs).
Sort: by Influence Score (default), citations, brand rate, Needs Attention, or name. Pagination: 20, 50, or 100 results per page. Search: filter by domain name.
The Influence Score
Every third-party source has an Influence Score from 0 to 100 that measures its actual impact on AI responses in your sector.
The score combines 4 factors:
| Factor | Weight | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 40% | Number of times the source is cited (logarithmic scale) |
| Position | 30% | Where the source appears in the response (earlier = more influence) |
| AI Diversity | 20% | Number of different platforms that cite this source |
| Coverage | 10% | Number of different prompts covered |
Example: A site cited 20 times by 3 AIs across 5 prompts has a higher score than a site cited 30 times only by Perplexity on a single prompt.
The Needs Attention button -- identify your priorities
At the top of the table, a red Needs Attention toggle filters sources that require your attention.
When enabled, the table shows only sources with a high priority level (CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM), sorted by urgency. This score is calculated from:
- The source's Influence Score (an influential source being ignored is critical)
- The gap between competitor mentions and your brand mentions (Gap Analysis)
- The frequency and recurrence of citations
This is your daily starting point: enable the toggle and focus on CRITICAL and HIGH sources first.
The Gap Analysis -- your biggest lever
The Gap Analysis identifies opportunities: influential sources that mention your competitors but don't mention you yet.
How to use it:
- In the visual summary, click the Gap Analysis alert (orange banner)
- Or enable the Needs Attention toggle to see sources that need action
- Identify sources with a high Influence Score and a brand rate of 0%
- Analyze the type of content published on those sites
- Take action (see Take action)
The higher a gap source's Influence Score, the greater the potential impact on your visibility.
The Sentiment Watchtower
At the top of the Media tab, the Sentiment Watchtower highlights sources associated with positive or negative sentiment in AI responses.
Two columns:
- Negative sources -- domains associated with a negative tone about your brand (warning signal)
- Positive sources -- domains that speak favorably about you (nurture these)
If an influential media outlet is associated with negative sentiment about your brand, that's a reputation management priority.
The source detail page
Click on a source to access its full profile:
- KPIs -- citation frequency, brand association rate, Influence Score
- Action banner -- if the source needs your attention, a contextual banner suggests actions tailored to the source type (editorial -> PR, UGC -> customer reviews, reference -> listings to update)
- Timeline -- citation trends over time
- Related prompts -- which prompts cite this source
- Most cited pages -- the exact URLs that appear
- Brand favoritism -- comparison of your mentions vs. your competitors' on this source
Marking a source as a competitor
If a source corresponds to a competitor's website, click the menu on the right and select Mark as competitor. A confirmation dialog will appear. The source is moved to the Competitors tab and your Share of Voice and Gap Analysis are updated accordingly.
Learn more
- Take action -- GEO tactics by source type
- Identify your competitors -- enrich your analyses
- Understanding your performance -- your Overview dashboard