What is an AI citation?
A citation is a pointer from an AI answer back to the page, file, or row it used. It lets you check the claim instead of trusting the tone.
In plain English
A citation is not proof until you open it. Models can attach the wrong link or quote a line that does not say what the summary says. Perplexity's docs describe web-grounded answers with citations. Your own files can be citations too, if the tool names the document. Click it. That is the whole practice. A citation that opens a page which does not say the thing the draft said is a failed citation, even if the link is real. Prefer your own file over a random web page when the claim is about your customer. If you will not have time to open links, do not ask for them and then forward the draft anyway. Keep a rejected citation in the notes: the link, and why it did not support the sentence. That habit trains the next review. A fancy footnote with a dead link is worse than no footnote. Circle the unsupported clause in red ink on a printout before you trust the next one. Highlight the orphan clause with a marker.
How an owner would use it
For anything you would sign, open the citation. If there is no citation and the claim was not in your prompt, cut the claim.
Common mistakes
A footnote is not a fact. Models attach the nearest file, or a web page that does not say what the summary claims. Owners forward the answer because it has a link. Open the link. If you would not stake the estimate on that page, cut the sentence. Do not ask for citations and then skip them because you are busy. That habit is worse than no citations, because it feels checked.
A worked example
A gutter company
Open the warranty PDF
This is an illustration, not a customer result. The assistant says a leaf guard is covered for ten years and cites a PDF in the job folder. The owner opens the PDF. The line is about a different product. The estimate goes out without that sentence.
Related terms
Prompts and guides
Questions owners ask
What is a citation in an AI answer?
A citation is a link or file reference the tool gives so you can see where a statement came from.
How do I use citations?
Open them before you repeat the claim to a customer or put it in the books. If the source does not say it, the answer does not get to say it.
What if the tool cites our own old file?
Then the citation worked and the file is wrong. Update or remove the file and ask again. A correct pointer to a stale policy is still a stale answer.
Product guides are on AI apps for business.