Quick Answer: To check if AI search is citing your site, run targeted queries in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews using your category keywords, then look at the cited sources panel. Track results in a spreadsheet weekly. Tools like AthenaHQ, Profound, and SE Ranking now offer dedicated AI citation tracking.
How do I manually check AI citations for my site?
Pick the top 10 questions your customers ask. Run each one in ChatGPT (with web browsing on), Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. Note which sites are cited in the sources panel. If your domain appears, log it; if not, log the cited competitors. Repeat weekly. This is the fastest no-cost way to baseline AEO performance.
What tools track AI citations automatically?
The space is new but growing fast. As of 2026, the leading tools are AthenaHQ, Profound, Otterly, AlsoAsked AI, and SE Ranking AI Visibility. They run scheduled prompts across AI engines, track which domains are cited, and surface delta over time. Pricing ranges from $99/month for solo to $999+ for agency tiers.
What is a healthy AI citation rate?
For category-leader brands, expect to be cited in 30–60% of relevant AI responses across major engines. For new or smaller brands, 5–15% is realistic in the first six months of AEO investment. Track the trendline more than the absolute number — month-over-month growth is the signal that AEO is working.
Why does my site not appear in any AI citations?
The most common causes: no llms.txt, no schema markup, headings written as keywords instead of questions, no direct answer blocks, AI crawlers blocked in robots.txt, or the site has weak entity definition (the agent is unsure what your brand actually does). Fix the foundation first.
Can I track AI citations in Google Search Console?
Not directly. Google Search Console reports referrals from Google products including AI Overviews, but it does not show citations from ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude. Use the dedicated tools above to see cross-engine citation data.
How often should I audit AI citations?
Weekly for active campaigns, monthly for steady-state. The AI search landscape shifts faster than traditional SERPs — new models, updated training data, and changing crawler behavior mean a citation pattern can shift within days. Weekly tracking catches both wins and losses early.