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Citation EngineeringFree · runs in your browser

Scaffold the whole citation stack

CitationStructure Generator

Generate the full citation structure for an article.

Structure health · 100%

  • ✓ Article title set
  • ✓ Author named
  • ✓ Publisher named
  • ✓ Publication date
  • ✓ Canonical URL
  • ✓ Topic defined
  • ✓ At least 3 citations
---
title: "How AI assistants pick citations in 2026"
author: "Geolify Research"
publisher: "Geolify"
published: "2026-04-11"
topic: "AI search citation patterns"
canonical: "https://geolify.com/knowledge-hub/how-ai-assistants-choose-citations/"
---

# How AI assistants pick citations in 2026

*By Geolify Research · Geolify · 2026-04-11*

## Section 1: [claim 1 headline]

> **Evidence 1:** [claim 1 body - one sentence].
>
> - **Stat:** [hard number]
> - **Source:** [[Source 1 title](https://source1.com)] (Author 1, 2026)
> - **Context:** [methodology / sample size]

[Supporting paragraph that unpacks the evidence block in your own words, linking back to [Source 1](https://source1.com) inline.]

## Section 2: [claim 2 headline]

> **Evidence 2:** [claim 2 body - one sentence].
>
> - **Stat:** [hard number]
> - **Source:** [[Source 2 title](https://source2.com)] (Author 2, 2026)
> - **Context:** [methodology / sample size]

[Supporting paragraph that unpacks the evidence block in your own words, linking back to [Source 2](https://source2.com) inline.]

## Section 3: [claim 3 headline]

> **Evidence 3:** [claim 3 body - one sentence].
>
> - **Stat:** [hard number]
> - **Source:** [[Source 3 title](https://source3.com)] (Author 3, 2026)
> - **Context:** [methodology / sample size]

[Supporting paragraph that unpacks the evidence block in your own words, linking back to [Source 3](https://source3.com) inline.]

## Section 4: [claim 4 headline]

> **Evidence 4:** [claim 4 body - one sentence].
>
> - **Stat:** [hard number]
> - **Source:** [[Source 4 title](https://source4.com)] (Author 4, 2026)
> - **Context:** [methodology / sample size]

[Supporting paragraph that unpacks the evidence block in your own words, linking back to [Source 4](https://source4.com) inline.]

## References

1. Author 1. (2026). *Source 1 title*. Publisher 1. https://source1.com
2. Author 2. (2026). *Source 2 title*. Publisher 2. https://source2.com
3. Author 3. (2026). *Source 3 title*. Publisher 3. https://source3.com
4. Author 4. (2026). *Source 4 title*. Publisher 4. https://source4.com

How it works

Set the article metadata, pick how many citations the piece will carry, and the generator scaffolds the whole citation stack: frontmatter, section headings, evidence blocks, inline source links and a numbered reference list. Three outputs - markdown for drafting, HTML with schema attributes for the final page, and a standalone schema.org Article JSON-LD for the head.

Why scaffold the structure first

  • Retrieval-ready shape. Every section carries its own evidence block so assistants can lift sections independently.
  • Matched signals. Frontmatter, HTML itemprops and JSON-LD all carry the same author, publisher and date - no mismatched metadata.
  • Guaranteed references. The bottom reference list is generated up-front so you can't forget it during writing.
  • One input, three outputs. The same metadata powers the draft, the page and the schema - no triple maintenance.

Pair with

Fill each section's evidence block with the Evidence Block Generator, format the reference list with the Reference Generator, and verify the final page with the Article Schema Generator. Background reading: schema markup for AI search.

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From the Knowledge Hub

AI Search

How AI Assistants Choose Citations

Reverse-engineered: the exact ranking signals ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity use to decide which sources end up in the citation chips at the bottom of an answer - and how to engineer your content to win them.

Tutorials

Schema Markup for AI Search

Not all schema is read equally. The exact JSON-LD types - Article, FAQ, HowTo, Organization, Product - that ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity demonstrably consume, plus copy-paste templates and the gotchas that nuke parsing.

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