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BBenchline

Sources

Sources AI answers often lean on

Answer engines repeat pages that already state a fact in public. The list below is a set of source types, not a ranking and not a traffic report.

When an answer names a product, it usually has somewhere to point, even if the chat UI hides the link. The somewhere is rarely a slogan. It is a doc, a comparison, a thread where a practitioner said what they deployed, or a reference page for a brand that is already notable.

Benchline’s crawl cannot see those places. The report includes this list so the next piece of work is obvious after the homepage is readable. Nothing here is a count of citations.

Run a free check

Brand, website, and an optional category. You get a shareable report with a citability score, a prompt pack, and a paste scorer.

Check a brand
Homepage, robots.txt, and llms.txt only. The report page is public.

We request the homepage, /robots.txt, and /llms.txt.

Fills prompts such as “best {category} tools 2026”.

Free. No account. 8 checks per hour and 30 per day from one network. Turnstile runs only when the site operator configures it.

Source types worth writing for

  • Your docs and pricing. State the job, the limit, and the price in sentences. A hero line with no noun is hard to quote.
  • Comparisons. “Acme vs Northwind” pages that admit a difference are easier to reuse than pages that only praise one logo.
  • Community threads. Reddit, Hacker News, and category forums show up because people describe failures, not because the domains are magic.
  • Review sites. Established review pages already use the “who it is for” shape that answers copy. Being listed is not the same as being accurate.
  • Reference entries. Wikipedia and similar references matter when a subject is notable enough to have one. Most products are not, and should not invent a page to force it.
  • Primary material. Standards, changelogs, papers, and filings beat a rewritten affiliate summary.

What to ignore

Ignore advice that assigns a percent of “AI traffic” to any of these. If a tool cannot show the query log, it does not have the number. Use the checker for the on-site half, and use pasted answers for the mention half. The definition of the whole practice is on what GEO is.

Questions

Did you measure how often each source is cited?

No. This page describes source types people repeatedly see in answers. It is not a census, and it has no percentages.

Will Benchline tell me if Reddit mentions my brand?

No. The crawl reads your homepage, robots.txt, and llms.txt. Third-party mentions are outside that fetch. Paste an answer if you want those names scored in a specific reply.

Should I buy placements on review sites?

This guide does not recommend a vendor. A review page helps when it is specific and independent. A paid badge with no detail is a weak thing to quote.

Where should I start if my homepage already passes?

Write one comparison that names real alternatives, and make sure the docs say what the product does in sentences a stranger can repeat.

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