Quickstart Guide

Cite AI is built to help you understand and influence that visibility. It shows you when your brand is mentioned, how prominently it appears, which competitors are included, and what sources are shaping those responses. Instead of guessing how AI models perceive your brand, you get a clear, structured view of what’s actually happening.

This quickstart guide walks you through how to set up Cite AI and start getting value immediately. From adding prompts and competitors to analyzing responses and sources, each step is designed to help you move from setup to insight as quickly as possible.

Step 1: Set Up Your Brand

Once you log into Cite AI, the first step is creating your brand workspace.

This is where all your prompts, data, and analytics will live. Add your brand name and define the scope of what you want to track. A clear setup here ensures everything that follows stays relevant and actionable.

Step 2: Add Prompts and Topics

Cite AI works by analyzing how AI models respond to prompts, so this step is key.

You can add prompts in a few different ways:

• Manually by clicking “Add Prompt”
• Bulk upload using the required format
• Suggested prompts provided by Cite AI, with the option to generate more

You can also add broader topics. For example, if your brand focuses on travel-friendly shoes, you can enter that as a topic and let Cite AI generate relevant prompts automatically.

This helps you scale your prompt coverage quickly without starting from scratch.

Step 3: Add Competitors

To understand your position, you need context.

Add competitors directly from the dashboard so you can compare how often your brand appears in AI responses versus others in your category. This benchmarking is essential for identifying gaps and opportunities.

Step 4: See Data Start Populating

Once your prompts are set, Cite AI begins running them across multiple AI models like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Mode.

Data starts populating shortly after setup, so you can begin exploring insights almost immediately. As more responses are processed, your dashboard continues to update and deepen over time.

Step 5: Understand Your Dashboard

Your dashboard is where everything comes together.

Cite AI collects responses from different AI models and turns them into clear, structured analytics that show how your brand appears in AI-generated answers.

The most important metric here is brand mentions.

This tells you how often your brand appears across all responses, giving you a clear view of overall visibility.

Alongside that, you’ll see average position, which indicates how prominently your brand appears within each response. Appearing earlier typically means stronger visibility and impact.

Step 6: Review Recent Mentions

Scroll down to find recent mention cards.

These show the latest AI-generated responses to your prompts, including which brands were mentioned in each one.

This is where you move beyond metrics and start seeing real context. You can understand how different AI models talk about your brand and how you’re positioned against competitors.

Step 7: Dive Into Prompt-Level Insights

Click into any prompt to explore detailed data behind it.

Here, you can see:

• Which brands are mentioned
• How frequently they appear
• Where they show up in responses
• Which sources are influencing the output

You can also view responses over time, helping you spot patterns and track changes in visibility.

Step 8: Analyze Sources Influencing AI

The Sources section shows which websites and domains AI models rely on when generating responses.

A key metric here is usage percentage, which tells you how often each source is referenced.

This helps you understand what content is shaping AI outputs and where your brand may need stronger presence. You can also click into individual sources to see the exact pages influencing responses.

Step 9: Explore Conversations in Chats

The Chats section gives you a direct view of the conversations being analyzed.

This allows you to trace how responses are formed, understand context, and see exactly where and how brand mentions appear within full AI interactions.

Step 10: Manage Your Workspace

As your team grows, you can manage everything easily within Cite AI.

• Update your brand details in Settings
• Add team members in Users by assigning roles like Admin, Member, or Viewer

This keeps your workspace organized and collaborative.

What’s Next

Now that your workspace is set up, the focus shifts from setup to optimization.

Start by reviewing your brand mentions and identifying where you’re not showing up. Look at competitor visibility to understand who is being surfaced instead and why.

Then, dig into the Sources section to see which content AI models rely on most. This will give you a clear direction on where to strengthen your presence, whether that’s through your own content or third-party coverage.

Finally, keep expanding your prompts and topics to improve coverage over time. The more relevant prompts you track, the more complete your view of AI visibility becomes.

Cite AI is most powerful when used consistently. As you monitor changes and refine your AEO strategy, you’ll be able to improve not just how often your brand appears, but how prominently it shows up when it matters most.