ProblemUpdated 2026-09-21

AI cites your page for something your page does not say

A citation shows the model linked the page, not that it took the stated fact from it. A model can combine your page with others and attach the result to your link. Check the value, not the link: compare each fact in the answer with what the cited page says.

How it happens

The model retrieves several pages, composes an answer from all of them, and lists sources at the end. The capacity may come from a retailer, the weight from a review, the name from your page — and your page is cited for all three. To a buyer, your link now vouches for a figure you never published.

How to check

For each fact in the answer:

  1. Find it on the cited page, word for word or number for number.
  2. If it is not there, note which other cited page says it.
  3. Record the model name, the date and the mismatch.

This is the difference between the "cited" and "fact matched" steps of the ladder (/learn/crawled-cited-and-used-are-different-things).

What reduces it

Stating the facts a buyer asks about plainly on your page, with units and limits, gives the model a primary source for the values it is attaching to your link. It does not guarantee the model will use them — the rules that keep a citation apart from use of a fact are at /evidence.

Sources

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