CitationLab

Documentation

Everything you need to know about CitationLab's concepts, features, and best practices

Onboarding
Get started with your first project
Funnel Phases
Understand the customer journey
Prompt Categories
Classify searches for better insights

Onboarding Process

CitationLab's AI-powered onboarding makes it easy to get started. The system helps you set up your project, generate personas, and create relevant prompts automatically.

Funnel Phases (Customer Journey)

CitationLab categorizes prompts based on their position in the marketing funnel. This helps you understand where in the buying journey your customers are.

T
TOFU - Top of Funnel (Awareness)
The customer is in an early stage, seeking general information and learning.

Characteristics:

  • Broad, exploratory questions
  • No specific brand or product references
  • Focus on problem understanding

Examples:

  • "What is AI search optimization?"
  • "How to improve online visibility"
  • "Best practices for digital marketing"
M
MOFU - Middle of Funnel (Consideration)
The customer is evaluating different solutions and comparing alternatives.

Characteristics:

  • Comparing solutions
  • Service/product category specific
  • Focus on features and benefits

Examples:

  • "Best AI visibility monitoring tools"
  • "Marketing agency vs in-house team"
  • "Top SEO software for small business"
B
BOFU - Bottom of Funnel (Decision)
The customer is ready to buy and seeking specific provider information.

Characteristics:

  • Specific brand/product queries
  • Price, review, and contact focus
  • High purchase intent

Examples:

  • "CitationLab pricing"
  • "CitationLab vs Competitor reviews"
  • "Sign up for CitationLab"

Prompt Categories (Scope)

Prompts are also classified by their scope - how specific they are to your brand. This helps you understand how people find you.

General (General)
Broad industry questions without specific context or brand mention.

When used:

Ideal for capturing early-stage searches where users are exploring an industry or topic without having decided on a solution yet.

Examples:

  • "Best SEO tools 2025"
  • "How to track AI citations"
  • "Digital marketing trends"

Benefit: Broad reach - captures many potential customers

Contextual (Contextual)
Questions about services or problem context without mentioning specific brands.

When used:

Perfect for capturing users comparing solutions or looking for specific features without having a preferred provider.

Examples:

  • "Which marketing agency specializes in AI"
  • "SEO consultant vs agency for small business"
  • "AI visibility monitoring tools comparison"

Benefit: Balanced reach and relevance

Brand (Brand-specific)
Questions that explicitly mention your brand name or domain.

When used:

Essential for measuring brand awareness and capturing users actively searching for your business.

Examples:

  • "CitationLab pricing and features"
  • "CitationLab vs Competitor A"
  • "Review of CitationLab platform"

Benefit: High conversion rate - these searchers already know your brand

Best Practices

  • Balanced distribution:

    Aim for 30% General, 40% Contextual, and 30% Brand prompts for best coverage.

  • Cover the entire funnel:

    Ensure you have prompts across all funnel stages (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU) to understand the entire customer journey.

  • Use personas:

    Connect prompts to personas to understand which customer segments are finding you.

  • Monitor over time:

    Use daily runs to track changes in AI visibility and respond quickly to trends.