What is an inline citation?
An inline citation is a small marker, usually a number or bracket, placed directly inside an AI-generated answer's text, pointing to the specific source used for that particular sentence, as opposed to one list of sources shown after the whole answer.
The difference from a plain source list is granularity: an inline citation ties one claim to one source, sentence by sentence, rather than bundling every source used anywhere in the answer into a single list at the end that doesn't say which source backed which sentence.
This is the stronger half of the distinction covered under mention-vs-citation: being named inline against a specific claim is closer to grounding than simply appearing somewhere in a general source list. But engines are inconsistent about how thoroughly they mark this. Some only attach a citation to the load-bearing factual claims and leave connective or summarizing sentences unmarked, so counting citations sentence by sentence can undercount how much a given source actually shaped the answer.
Related
- Mention vs citationA mention is the model naming you in its answer. A citation is the model linking a source. You can have either without the other, and they mean different things.
- CitationA citation is a source an AI assistant links or refers to in support of an answer it has given.
- Source cardA source card is the small preview tile an answer engine shows for each source it cites, typically a favicon, the site's name, and a short excerpt, shown separately from the answer text itself.
Want to know where you actually stand on this? Run a free visibility check or try the free tools.