The pipeline

How AI Citation Building Works

Seven stages from prompt to placement.

AI citation building runs as a pipeline. Our AI citation marketplace turns one target prompt into analyzed sources, matched publishers and live, monitored placements.

9 days

Avg to first live placement

24

Related prompts per analysis

17

Avg publisher matches

12 mo

Placement monitoring

Pipeline medians. Demo data, July 2026.

01

Stage 1 of 7

Enter the target prompt

Type the AI search prompt you want your brand cited for. CiteMP expands it into the related questions buyers actually ask AI platforms.

Your input

Best CRM for independent estate agents in the UK

Related prompts

24

Commercial intent

High

Source categories

6

02

Stage 2 of 7

Source analysis

We map which source types ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity lean on for your topic, benchmarked against our AI citation data.

Source type distribution

CiteMP source analysis, July 2026
  • Comparison articles31%
  • Industry publishers24%
  • Listicles18%
  • Review platforms13%
  • Original research9%
  • Other5%
03

Stage 3 of 7

Campaign package

The source mix becomes a placement package with transparent campaign pricing. There are no fixed bundles, so every package mirrors how the topic gets cited.

UK Estate Agent CRM Authority Campaign

Sample package
  • 2 Comparison article placements
  • 2 Listicle inclusions
  • 3 Niche edit placements
  • 1 Editorial feature

Delivery

4 – 6 weeks

Matches

17

Confidence

88%

04

Stage 4 of 7

Publisher matching

Each line item is matched to vetted publishers from the placement marketplace, ranked by topic relevance, authority and citation history.

Top matches

Ranked by AI relevance
  • CYW

    Cyber Weekly

    Original research coverage

    AI relevance

    95/100

  • UKPJ

    UK Property Journal

    Comparison article

    AI relevance

    94/100

  • EI

    Ecommerce Insider

    Editorial feature

    AI relevance

    93/100

Avg matches per campaign

17

(Demo data)

05

Stage 5 of 7

Content creation

Writers produce content in the format the topic already gets cited in, or you supply your own. Publishers keep full editorial control.

  • Written in the format the topic gets cited in
  • Publisher editorial review on every draft
  • Bring your own content and we adapt it
  • Revisions handled inside the pipeline

Publisher acceptance rate

76%

(Demo data)

06

Stage 6 of 7

Publication

Placements go live on schedules set per format. It's the working end of GEO link building, where links land on pages AI platforms already cite.

Typical time to live

Niche edits & listicles

5–10 days

Guest posts & comparisons

10–14 days

Editorial & digital PR

2–4 weeks

Median to first live placement

9 days

(Demo data)

07

Stage 7 of 7

Reporting

One dashboard tracks placements, citation pickup, referral traffic and assisted conversions. Monitoring runs for 12 months after launch.

Month one snapshot

(Demo data)

Placements published

642

Citation pickup

1,284

Referral traffic

16,430

Assisted conversions

342

Every placement monitored for 12 months

What you get at each stage

Every deliverable comes from the same pipeline and the same vetted publisher network. Nothing is outsourced to link farms.

Stages 1–3

Before you launch

  • Related-prompt map for your topic
  • Source distribution report
  • Priced placement package
  • Publisher shortlist preview
Stages 4–6

While it runs

  • Matched publisher briefs
  • Content drafts for approval
  • Live placement URLs as they publish
  • Weekly progress updates
Stage 7

After it goes live

  • Citation pickup across AI platforms
  • Referral & conversion reporting
  • 12-month link monitoring
  • Replacement if a placement drops

Start stage one with your own prompt.

The analysis is instant and the package is priced before you pay. Every placement comes from the AI link building marketplace.