# Citation Strategies Reference

Platform-specific tactics for building citation presence across all major sources.

## Table of Contents
1. Citation Groups Overview
2. Your Site Strategy
3. Video Strategy (YouTube/Vimeo)
4. Reddit Strategy
5. Quora Strategy
6. Affiliate Strategy
7. Help Center Strategy

---

## 1. Citation Groups Overview

### The Five Citation Groups

LLMs pull from these sources when generating answers:

| Group | Examples | Control Level | Cost |
|-------|----------|---------------|------|
| Your Site | Landing pages, blog, help center | High | Time/resources |
| Video | YouTube, Vimeo | High | Production effort |
| UGC | Reddit, Quora | Medium | Authentic participation |
| Tier 1 Affiliates | Dot Dash, G2, Forbes | Low | $$ or PR |
| Tier 2 Affiliates | Niche blogs, guest posts | Medium | Outreach effort |

### Priority Order

For most B2B companies:
1. **Your Site** - Foundation, full control
2. **YouTube** - Underutilized, high impact
3. **Reddit** - Heavily cited, but requires authenticity
4. **Help Center** - Long-tail coverage
5. **Affiliates** - Expensive but effective

---

## 2. Your Site Strategy

### Landing Pages

Create pages for each question cluster:

```
Main query: "Best project management software"

Pages to create:
- /best-project-management-software (main)
- /best-project-management-software-small-teams
- /best-project-management-software-agencies
- /project-management-software-comparison
- /project-management-software-pricing
```

### Page Structure for AEO

```markdown
# [Question as H1]

[Direct answer - 1-2 sentences]

## Quick Comparison
[Table or bullets with key options]

## Detailed Analysis
[For each option: features, pricing, best for]

## FAQs
[Related questions people ask]

## Our Recommendation
[Clear conclusion]
```

### Internal Linking

- Link between related pages
- FAQ sections link to detailed pages
- Comparison pages link to individual reviews

---

## 3. Video Strategy (YouTube/Vimeo)

### Why Video is Underutilized

**The opportunity**:
- Few B2B videos on technical topics
- No community gatekeeping (unlike Reddit)
- High-LTV keywords have no competition
- Videos get cited in LLM answers

**Example opportunities**:
- "How to integrate [API] with [tool]"
- "Complete guide to [technical process]"
- "[Product] tutorial for beginners"
- "[Product A] vs [Product B] comparison"

### Video Content Formula

**Structure**:
1. Hook (5 sec): State what you'll cover
2. Answer (30 sec): Give the key takeaway
3. Detail (3-5 min): Walk through the solution
4. CTA (15 sec): Next steps

**Title format**: "[Question]? Here's the Answer | [Brand]"

### Technical Requirements

Minimum quality:
- 1080p resolution
- Clear audio (external mic)
- Screen recording for tutorials
- Chapters/timestamps

You don't need:
- Professional studio
- Expensive equipment
- Perfect production

### YouTube SEO

- Keyword in title
- Keyword in description (first 100 chars)
- Keyword in tags
- Transcript/captions (auto or manual)
- Chapters with descriptive titles

---

## 4. Reddit Strategy

### Why Reddit Matters

Reddit is the #1 most-asked citation source for AEO because:
- Heavily cited by LLMs
- Authentic human opinions
- Strong community moderation
- Trusted signal for AI

### The Wrong Approach (Spam)

What doesn't work:
- ❌ Creating fake accounts
- ❌ Mass automated comments
- ❌ Self-promotional posts
- ❌ Astroturfing campaigns

**Result**: Accounts banned, comments deleted, brand damaged

### The Right Approach (Authentic)

What works:

**1. Real Account**
- Use your real name/identity
- Build account history over time
- Participate genuinely in communities

**2. Transparent Affiliation**
- Say who you are
- Say where you work
- Disclose any conflicts

**3. Genuine Value**
- Answer the actual question
- Provide useful information
- Don't just pitch your product

### Template for Reddit Engagement

```
[Honest answer to the question]

Full disclosure: I work at [Company], so I'm biased,
but [genuine perspective on the topic].

[Additional helpful information regardless of affiliation]
```

### The 5-Comment Rule

You don't need thousands of comments:
- 5 authentic, helpful comments
- In threads that get cited
- Over several weeks/months
- Can meaningfully impact citations

### Finding Relevant Threads

1. Search Reddit for your keywords
2. Look for recent threads (last 6 months)
3. Check if threads appear in LLM citations
4. Prioritize high-engagement threads

---

## 5. Quora Strategy

### Quora vs Reddit

| Aspect | Reddit | Quora |
|--------|--------|-------|
| Format | Community threads | Q&A |
| Moderation | Community | Platform |
| Promotion tolerance | Very low | Medium |
| Citation frequency | Very high | Medium |

### Quora Approach

**Profile setup**:
- Real name and credentials
- Professional photo
- Clear expertise areas

**Answer strategy**:
- Answer questions in your expertise
- Provide comprehensive, helpful answers
- Link to resources where relevant (not just your site)
- Build topic authority over time

### Topic Authority

Quora has "topic authority" concept:
- Answer multiple questions in same topic
- Get upvotes on answers
- Become recognized expert
- Your answers surface more

---

## 6. Affiliate Strategy

### Tier 1 Affiliates

**Who they are**:
- Dot Dash Meredith (Investopedia, Good Housekeeping, etc.)
- G2, Capterra, TrustRadius (software reviews)
- Forbes Advisor, Business Insider
- Industry-specific publications

**How to get listed**:
1. **Paid placement**: Most common, expensive ($5K-50K+)
2. **PR outreach**: For genuinely newsworthy products
3. **Review profiles**: Encourage customer reviews on G2/Capterra

### Tier 2 Affiliates

**Who they are**:
- Niche industry blogs
- Influencer sites
- Guest post targets

**How to engage**:
1. **Guest posting**: Write for relevant blogs
2. **Expert quotes**: Offer expertise for articles
3. **Partnerships**: Cross-promotion deals

### ROI Consideration

Affiliate mentions are:
- ✅ Controllable (you pay, you appear)
- ✅ Authoritative (established publications)
- ❌ Expensive (significant budget required)
- ❌ Ongoing (need to maintain)

**Best for**: Companies with marketing budget seeking predictable results

---

## 7. Help Center Strategy

### Why Help Centers Are Underrated

Help centers excel at AEO because:
- Answer specific questions directly
- Cover long-tail queries
- Community can fill gaps
- High intent (users seeking solutions)

### Structure for AEO

**URL structure**:
```
example.com/help/                    (not help.example.com)
example.com/help/getting-started/
example.com/help/integrations/
example.com/help/billing/
```

**Article structure**:
```markdown
# [Question as title]

[Direct answer - 1-2 sentences]

## Steps
1. First step
2. Second step
3. Third step

## Related Questions
- [Link to related article]
- [Link to related article]

## Still need help?
[Contact support]
```

### Mining Content Ideas

**Sources for help center questions**:
1. Support ticket analysis (most common questions)
2. Sales call transcripts (pre-purchase questions)
3. Onboarding session recordings
4. Community forum questions
5. ChatGPT/Perplexity query analysis

### Community Contributions

Enable community to fill long-tail:
- Community Q&A section
- User-submitted tips
- Voting on helpfulness
- Staff-verified answers

### Schema Markup

Add FAQPage schema to help articles:
```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "How do I reset my password?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "To reset your password..."
    }
  }]
}
```

---

## Strategy Selection Matrix

| Company Stage | Primary Focus | Secondary Focus |
|---------------|---------------|-----------------|
| Pre-seed | Help Center, Reddit | - |
| Seed | Your Site, YouTube | Reddit |
| Series A | All owned channels | Tier 2 affiliates |
| Series B+ | Full strategy | Tier 1 affiliates |

### Budget Allocation

For limited budget, prioritize:
1. Your site (time investment)
2. YouTube (production costs only)
3. Reddit (time investment)
4. Help center (time investment)

For larger budget, add:
5. Tier 2 affiliates
6. G2/Capterra profiles
7. Tier 1 affiliates
