The New Rules of Engagement: Mentions, Citations, and AI Referral Traffic
The rise of AI search is causing a significant shift in how organic traffic is distributed, measured, and targeted. AI search often provides a user with a direct, detailed answer to their question, leading to more “zero-click searches” where users get the information they need without having to click on any pages for it. In this new landscape, two new metrics of success have emerged: mentions and citations.
Mentions
In AI search, a mention refers to when an AI-generated response directly mentions the name of a brand, product, or service without directly linking to the corresponding website.
For example, if a user asks for the "best project management tools," the AI might generate a paragraph that names several options, such as Asana, Trello, and Monday.com. While these brands don't get a direct link, being named in the AI's answer positions them as key players in the market, influencing user perception and consideration.
Check out the screenshot below. The AI overview for the query “best project management tools” mentions Trello, Monday.com, Asana, and others, but doesn’t link to any of these sites specifically.
Trello, Todoist, and Asana received mentions in this example.
Citations
A citation in AI search is a direct, clickable link to a webpage that the AI used as a source when generating its answer.
These are often presented as small, numbered icons, links within the text, or a list of source cards alongside or below the AI-generated overview. Think of citations as the new currency of organic traffic from AI search, as they provide a direct path for a user to visit your website.
Take a look at this same screenshot from earlier. Although the AI Overview mentions Trello, Asana, and Monday.com it cites Reddit and Zapier by actually linking to their webpages on the side of the response.
AI Referral Traffic
As millions of users turn to AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity for recommendations, these platforms are beginning to send visitors directly to websites. This new traffic channel, AI referral traffic, illustrates the shift in how users discover content.
AI referral traffic is the audience segment that arrives on your website after clicking a link or citation within an AI-generated response. Unlike traditional search traffic, where a user finds your site via a blue link, this traffic comes from users who have already received an answer directly from an AI. When they click through from a citation, it's often because they want to dive deeper, verify a source, or take a specific action, signaling a much higher level of intent. This indicates that the traffic that comes from AI is further along in the funnel, signaling a higher level of interest.
