Citations and source analysis
How Signal collects the sources engines cite, and how to use source data to find the pages and third-party sites that shape answers.
Updated
When an engine cites sources, Signal stores each URL with its domain and title. The Sources view aggregates these citations across answers so you can see which sites shape answers in your category.
Reading the sources table
For each domain Signal shows how many answers cited it, the share of all answers, which engines cite it most, and whether it is your domain, a competitor's domain, or a third party. Third-party domains that appear often (review sites, directories, publications, community forums) are where engines learn about your category.
Turning sources into work
- Your own pages: find which of your URLs are cited and which important pages never are. Strengthen pages that answer high-intent prompts directly.
- Competitor pages: read the cited competitor pages to understand the format and depth engines reward.
- Third parties: make sure your profiles and listings on frequently cited domains are accurate and complete. Signal opens an authority task when a third-party domain appears in a meaningful share of recent answers.
Limitations
Engines differ in how they expose sources. Some cite inline, some list sources separately, and some return redirect links that hide the final URL. Signal normalizes what each API returns but cannot see sources an engine used without citing.