AI engines build their answers from websites they cite as sources. Sources in SE Visible shows which websites those are, how often AI engines use them, and which of them mention your competitors but not you.
Use it to build a list of websites to reach out to, and to understand what kind of content gets cited in your market.
Table of contents
What Sources shows
Click Sources in the left menu. The table lists every website cited in the AI answers collected for your prompts. It helps you answer three questions:
- Which websites shape AI answers in my market? — sort the table by Coverage.
- Where am I missing? — find cited pages that don't mention your brand.
- Who should I contact first? — use Gap score and the SEO metrics to decide which websites are worth the effort.
Each row is labelled You if it's your own website, or Competitor if it belongs to a competitor you track.
URLs and Domains
Use the switch at the top to change between two views:
- URLs — single pages. Useful when you want to get your brand added to one specific page.
- Domains — whole websites. All subdomains of a domain are combined into one row. Useful when you want to build a relationship with a publisher.
The two views have different columns and filters, described below.
Columns in the URLs view
Each row shows the page title, its URL, and its page type, for example Listicle or Homepage.
How often the page is cited
- Coverage — the share of AI answers that cite this page. The higher it is, the more influence the page has.
- AI answers — how many AI answers cite it.
- Prompts — how many of your prompts got answers that cite it.
Which brands the page mentions
- My brand mentioned — ✓ if the page mentions your brand, ✗ if it doesn't.
- Gap score — how big the opportunity is. It's high for pages that are cited often and mention your competitors but not you. It's 0 when your brand is already mentioned, and N/A for your own pages.
- Mentions — logos of the tracked brands mentioned on the page.
SEO metrics
- Domain traffic — estimated organic traffic to the website the page belongs to.
- DT — Domain Trust, how authoritative the website is.
- Page traffic — estimated organic traffic to this page. N/A if there's no data.
- Has backlink? — whether the page already links to your website. If it does, you'll see whether the link is Dofollow or Nofollow.
- Last check — when the page was last scanned.
Columns in the Domains view
How often the website is cited
- Pages — how many pages from this website are cited.
- Coverage — the share of AI answers that cite this website.
- AI answers — how many AI answers cite it.
- Prompts — how many of your prompts got answers that cite it.
How often the website mentions you
- Your brand mentions — how many of the website's cited pages mention your brand.
- Mention rate — the share of those pages that mention your brand.
- Mentions — logos of the tracked brands mentioned on the website.
SEO metrics
- Domain traffic — estimated organic traffic to the whole website.
- DT — Domain Trust, how authoritative the website is.
- Backlinks — how many links point to the website.
- Ref. domains — how many different websites link to it. This is usually a better sign of strength than the number of backlinks.
Read these together with Coverage. A website with high Coverage and high DT is a top priority. High Coverage with low authority is still worth a mention. Low Coverage with high authority is a long-term goal.
Page types
SE Visible detects the type of each cited page automatically and shows it under the URL:
- Listicle — a list or ranking, such as "Top 10 tools".
- Alternative page — alternatives to a product, such as "Semrush alternatives".
- Comparison page — two or more products compared, such as "X vs Y".
- Reviews & pricing — a review of a product or service, or a page with ratings.
- How-to guide — step-by-step instructions.
- FAQ page — a page of frequently asked questions.
- Article — any other editorial content.
- Homepage, File, Video, Social — and other general types, such as a website's main page, a PDF, a video, or a social media post.
Page types show what kind of content gets cited in your market. If most top sources are listicles and comparison pages, that's where to focus your outreach and content.
Find sources that mention competitors but not you
Open the URLs view, then:
You now have a list of pages that AI engines use, that mention your competitors, and that don't mention you. Filter it by Type to split it into tasks. For example, listicles and comparison pages are outreach targets.
Filter your sources
Use Search to find a website by name. In both views, you can also filter by:
- Is my brand mentioned? — Yes, No, or N/A. Use No to build your gap list.
- Tracked competitors — all of them, or one competitor to see where that brand wins.
In the URLs view, click Filters to add more:
- Number of tracked competitors — how many of your competitors the page mentions.
- Type — one or more page types, such as listicles or comparison pages.
- Has backlink? — whether the page already links to your website.
To clear all filters, click Reset. The filters at the top of the page (date range, topics, AI engines, locations, and sentiment) apply to Sources too.
Export sources
Click Export to download the table as CSV and share it with your team. The export includes all columns, including the SEO metrics and page types.