Getting cited by AI is doing almost nothing for you.
Only about 1% of people click the sources under an AI answer. And 83% of Google's AI Overview searches now end with no click at all.
I call this a ghost citation: the AI lists your page as a source, but your actual words are not in the answer. You get the credit, none of the clicks, and none of the persuasion.
The fix is not more backlinks. It is being the sentence the model quotes.
Try this: take the five questions a buyer asks before choosing in your category. Run them in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Read the answer, not the sources.
If your competitor's phrasing is in the words and yours is only a link at the bottom, you do not have a ranking problem.
What does the AI actually say about your category?
The move. Educational - names the citation-without-clicks problem and hands over the 5-prompt check to see if you're quoted or just linked.
One of the things Alex keeps saying about go-to-market distribution. See the rest →