Ghost Citation
A source that shapes an AI answer without being credited in it. The influence is real and the attribution is invisible. Coined by Kevin Indig in 2026.
What it actually means
A model retrieves your page, uses what it says, and names somebody else. Or names nobody. The answer carries your information and your brand is nowhere in it.
This happens because citation and influence are separate mechanisms. What gets retrieved determines the content; what gets listed is a display decision made afterwards, on different grounds.
Why it wrecks measurement
Every visibility tool in this field counts visible citations, because that is what can be counted. Ghost citations are by definition uncountable, which means every measurement understates influence by an unknown amount.
It also means a brand can be genuinely shaping the answers in its category while its dashboard shows nothing, and can conclude the work is failing when it is not.