Citation role classifies what a displayed citation actually does inside an AI-generated answer.
CollectionDefinition
TypeDefinition
Version1.0
Stabilization2026-05-13
Published2026-05-13
Updated2026-05-13
Citation role
Citation role is the function a displayed source performs inside an AI-generated answer. A citation can be governing, supporting, illustrative, ornamental, stale, contradictory or misassigned.
Counting citations without classifying their role produces weak evidence because the visible source may not be the source that actually governs the answer. A mature audit should state which claim the citation supports and whether that role is legitimate.
Canonical definition of proof of fidelity: the minimum evidence required to show that an AI output remains faithful to the canon rather than merely plausible.
Audit service for evaluating whether a site, corpus, page or entity is accessible, retrievable, extractable, citable and governable in AI-mediated answers.