How are citations attributed to my brand?
WriteWorks attributes citations by matching each cited link's domain against your website, and mentions by matching your brand name or domain in the answer text.
This article explains how WriteWorks decides that a citation or mention in an AI response belongs to your brand, and how you can make that matching more accurate.
When an AI engine answers a question, WriteWorks collects two kinds of signal. The first is citations: the source links the engine attaches to its answer, plus any links written into the answer text. The second is mentions: places where your brand is named in the body of the response, even without a link.
Citations are matched by domain. Each cited link is reduced to its website (ignoring a leading www), so a link to www.your-brand.com/pricing counts as your-brand.com. Links to your own website count towards your Citation Share; links to a tracked competitor's website are attributed to that competitor; everything else is classified by source type, such as social, institution or third party.
Mentions are matched by name and domain. A response counts as mentioning you when it contains your brand name or your website domain, ignoring capitalisation. Competitors are matched the same way, using their name as a whole word or their website. If you rename your brand, earlier answers are re-checked against the new name automatically.
You can fine-tune how citations are grouped in Citation categories. There you can assign a domain to a category (Owned, Competition, Social, Institution or Third party) and choose whether every page under that domain counts, not just the exact URL. This is useful when you own several domains or subdomains.
How to improve attribution
- Sign in to WriteWorks and open AI visibility, then Settings.
- In the brand details, check that your brand name and website are exactly as you want them matched.
- Under Competitors, give each competitor a website as well as a name.
- Under Citation categories, assign any extra domains you own to Owned, and turn on Subpaths where every page on that domain should count.
Tip: keep your brand name, website and competitor websites current whenever you launch a new product name or rebrand, so attribution stays complete and accurate.
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