AI co-citation analysis: who AI names next to you
Proofsource records every company an AI answer names, in the order it names them, and resolves each name to a real company. You see who appears beside you, who comes first, and which competitors you share answers with most, with country storefronts folded into their parent. It is for marketers who need to know the real competitive set inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews and the other engines your plan covers.
| Company | Shared answers | Named before Driffle |
|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | 142 | 81% |
| Fireflies.ai | 118 | 64% |
| Fathom | 77 | 49% |
 Notion | 41 | 37% |
| tl;dv | 26 | 31% |
AI co-citation analysis, in short
The facts, ready to quote.
- What it records
- Every company named in each answer, with its position
- Real companies
- Names in the text resolved to real companies, beyond the cited links
- One name each
- Company names normalized so spellings and suffixes count as one
- Storefronts
- Country storefronts folded into the parent when one brand tracks both
- Competitor watch
- Shows which competitors are watched daily, and why one is not
- Engines
- Up to 10 AI engines by plan: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI
AI co-citation, explained
AI co-citation is when an AI answer names two or more companies together. If ChatGPT answers "best AI meeting notes app" with Otter, Fireflies and Driffle, those three are co-cited. Over many answers, co-citation shows your real competitive set in AI search: the brands engines think belong on the same shortlist, which is often different from the competitors on your sales slides.
Order matters as much as presence. Being named first in a list of five is worth more than being named fifth, and a brand that always appears just ahead of you is the one to study. Co-citation also has a data problem: the same company appears as "Otter", "Otter.ai" and "Otter AI Inc.", or as several country storefronts, and naive counts split it into pieces.
Proofsource reads each answer, resolves every company it names to a real company even when no link is cited, normalizes names so variants count once, and records each company's position. When a brand tracks both a parent and its country storefront, the storefront folds into the parent. A competitor watch rule shows which competitors are monitored daily and why one is not.
How it works
Which companies AI names alongside you, in what order, with country storefronts folded into their parent company.
Read the answer
Each answer is read for every company it names, not only the linked ones.
Resolve to real companies
Names are matched to real companies and normalized so variants count once.
Record the order
Each company's position in the answer is saved, first, second and so on.
Fold storefronts
Country storefronts merge into the parent when you track both.
See your real set
Rank the companies that share answers with you, and how often they lead.
See it in the product
Screens from the Proofsource app, drawn with sample data for an example brand.
| Company | Counted from | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | Otter, Otter.ai, Otter AI Inc. | 31% |
| Fireflies.ai | Fireflies, Fireflies.ai, Fireflies UK | 24% |
| Fathom | Fathom, Fathom Video | 16% |
Every capability, live today
3 shipped capabilities behind AI co-citation analysis, each in the product now.
Co-citation with position
Records which companies appear together in each answer and the position each one is named in.
One real company per name
Decides which real companies an answer names, beyond the links it cites, counts spellings and suffixes as one name, and folds a country storefront into its parent company.
Competitor watch rule
Decides which competitors the daily site monitor watches and tells you why one is not watched.
Who it is for
Find your real competitive set
See who AI actually puts next to you, not who you assume.
Win the top spot
Track how often each competitor is named before you and close the gap.
Count each company once
Fold country storefronts and name variants so shares are not split.
Show the shortlist
Explain to a client who shares their AI shortlist and in which order.
Why it matters
Real competitors
Co-citation shows who engines group you with.
Order, not just presence
Position shows who leads the shortlist.
Clean counts
Normalized names and merged storefronts stop shares being split.
Clear watch list
You see why a competitor is or is not watched daily.
Google AI OverviewsGoogle AI Mode
AI co-citation analysis: Proofsource and other tools
Competitor views are common in AI visibility tools. Here is what each says on its own pages.
| Capability | Proofsource | Rankscale | SE Ranking | Ahrefs | Otterly.AI | Peec AI | Profound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitors found from answers | YesEvery company named, resolved to real companies | YesAuto-identifies competitorsSource | YesCompetitor suggestions from your mention dataSource | YesCompare any brands on share of voice and mentionsSource | Not listed | Not listed | YesCompare against competitors and industry leadersSource |
| Position in the answer | YesPosition of every company in each answer | YesRanking and average position by topic and engineSource | YesRanking position of brand within AI answersSource | Not listed | YesMentions, coverage rate, average positionSource | YesPosition metric: where brand ranks in answersSource | Not listed |
| Name variants grouped as one company | YesNormalized names and storefronts folded into parents | Not listed | Not listed | YesName-based mentions and URL citations grouped as one entitySource | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Competitors tracked over time | YesA daily monitor watches your competitors and says why one is not watched | YesAutomatic blacklist or manual control of competitor listSource | YesSide-by-side visibility, share of voice, position with changesSource | YesCompare any brands on share of voice, mentions, citations, impressionsSource | YesBrand report compares you with top 5 or all competitorsSource | YesAdd brands and rank against competitorsSource | YesCompare against competitors and industry leaders, with competitors filterSource |
Where each of them shines
Automatic competitor discovery with visibility, citation and sentiment gaps.
Side-by-side competitor tracking with position, share of voice and change over time.
Entity grouping and brand comparisons on Ahrefs' large data set. Compare in full
Clear mention, coverage and average position metrics. Compare in full
Position as a core metric, plus competitor ranking and share of voice. Compare in full
Competitor benchmarking against industry leaders at enterprise scale. Compare in full
Questions about AI co-citation analysis
What is co-citation in AI answers?
It is when an AI answer names two or more companies together. Across many answers it shows which brands engines treat as your shortlist competitors.
Does Proofsource count companies that are named but not linked?
Yes. It resolves every company named in the answer text to a real company, beyond the links the answer cites.
Does it record the order companies are named in?
Yes. Each company's position in each answer is saved, so you can see who is named first and how often a competitor leads you.
What happens with name variants like Otter and Otter.ai?
One shared normalization counts spellings and suffixes of a company as one name, so its share is not split.
What about country storefronts?
When a brand tracks both a parent company and its country storefront, the storefront is folded into the parent.
Why is one of my competitors not watched daily?
A competitor watch rule decides which competitors the daily site monitor watches, and Proofsource tells you the reason when one is not.
Does it work for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews and the other engines your plan covers?
Yes. Co-citation and positions are recorded for every engine your plan covers, up to 10.
Keep exploring
Try it on your own brand.
Proofsource is live: scan your brand and see AI co-citation analysis at work with your own answers, competitors and sources.
Google AI OverviewsGoogle AI Mode