ELI RESEARCH
AI-search citation benchmark: which sources support B2B answers?
Being mentioned and being cited as a supporting source are different outcomes.
Citation benchmark in progress. No citation percentages or top cited domains are published until verified data exists.
RELEASE STANDARD
Methodology is publishable before findings are.
Eli can publish the question universe, schema, definitions and quality controls before a benchmark release. It will only publish an aggregate when the underlying observations are complete, reviewable and described with their coverage and limitations. Until then, this page makes no performance, ranking or customer-outcome claim.
Define citation rate carefully
Answers with citations, citations per answer, owned-domain citation and unique domains need distinct denominators; do not create a vague citation score.
Capture URL and domain
Store full URL, root domain, path, publisher, type and owned/third-party classification; domain level can hide earning pages.
Source taxonomy
Classify vendor, docs, publisher, review, community, research, directory and unknown where possible.
Future analysis
Release citation rate by engine, stage, source type, ownership, concentration and category only after quality-checked data.
FAQ
Questions about the research design and release boundary.
What is citation?
Visible source reference supporting an AI answer.
Citation equals recommendation?
No.
Owned better?
Not universally.
Compare engines?
Only with clear definitions.
Guarantee traffic?
No.
CONNECT YOUR WEBSITE
Audit your citation coverage
The Eli AI Search Citation Benchmark measures how often AI answers expose citations, which URLs and domains appear, what source types they represent and how citation behavior differs across engines, buyer questions and categories.
Audit your citation coverage