GEO / AI Search Citation Tracking

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) describe the discipline of getting cited by AI search engines. Unlike traditional SEO which optimises for Google's blue links, GEO optimises for being mentioned inside an AI-generated answer.

Citation tracking is the measurement layer. For each tracked query (e.g. 'best AI content tools for solopreneurs'), a tracker runs the query through an AI engine and records: which domains were cited, in what order, what the AI said about each, and whether the tracked brand domain appears.

Creatara's built-in Citation Tracker uses Gemini 2.5 Flash with native Google Search grounding — meaning the citations come from real, live web sources, not the model's training-cutoff knowledge. Each snapshot stores the response text, ordered citation map with clickable redirect URIs, the search queries Google actually executed, matched targets with rank position, and a trend object computed against the previous snapshot.

Trend kinds: first run (no comparison yet), improved (rank moved up), declined (rank moved down), unchanged (same position), newly cited (first appearance), dropped (was cited, now isn't), still missing (not cited in either run).

Plan limits: Free 0 queries, Pro 10 queries, Enterprise 100 queries. Each tracked query can be re-run manually; weekly auto-run is on the roadmap.

The complementary feature is the Get Cited Action Plan: GPT-5.2 takes the citation gap as context and returns 5–7 prioritised tactics with effort/impact ratings and a concrete first step for each. Each tactic is a checkable task; the progress bar updates as the creator works through the plan.