# Give agents something worth citing

> Build product claims that can be checked, quoted in context, and connected to the correct business.

Canonical: https://byagents.dev/humans/citations-and-evidence
Published: 2026-09-13
Reviewed: 2026-09-13
Publisher: ByAgents
Type: Guide
Level: Business
Outcome: Build a source-backed product explanation that can support a specific recommendation.

A useful citation points to evidence for a specific claim. It is not simply another mention of the brand. To make your business easier to assess, connect important claims to accessible sources and explain the conditions under which those claims hold.

## Separate identity, capability, and proof
An identity claim says who operates the product and where its official information lives. A capability claim says what the offering can do. Evidence explains why a reader should believe that capability applies to the task. These require different material.

For an invoice API, “returns line items” is a capability. A documented sample with the input, expected output, limitations, and test date is evidence for a narrow example. It does not establish accuracy across every invoice layout. For a service business, a detailed case study can show experience on a particular project without implying identical results for every client.

## Make each claim inspectable
- Put the claim near its source, rather than attaching a general list of impressive links.
- State units and scope: per document, per page, per location, or per customer project.
- Identify whether the source is your own documentation, a customer statement, an independent review, or a controlled test.
- Include meaningful dates for facts that can change.
- Preserve limitations when turning a case study into a summary or structured record.

A retrieval system may see only one section of a page. Write that section so the claim and its limits still make sense together. A heading such as “Batch extraction limits” is more informative than “Built for scale” when the reader needs a maximum batch size.

## Reviews need context
A five-star average says less about fit than a review explaining the use case, constraints, and outcome. Do not manufacture reviews, import ratings into unrelated contexts, or mark up testimonials as independent evidence. Google’s review documentation sets specific rules for review snippets, including restrictions on self-serving reviews for organizations and local businesses. Those rules concern a Google search feature, not a universal agent trust score. [Google review guidance](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet).

## Keep third-party information accurate
If you maintain a legitimate directory listing, update the product name, official URL, category, and current description. Avoid creating many near-identical listings simply to repeat a claim. If an independent source contains an error, seek a correction through its normal process; do not represent paid placement as independent endorsement.

## A practical evidence record
For each important claim, record the exact statement, source URL, source type, date checked, scope, and known limitations. Mark unsupported claims as unverified. This gives a person or agent a way to decide what can safely be repeated.

For example: “The sample workflow retrieves a completed extraction result using a documented status endpoint.” Evidence could be a reproducible test with the fixture and returned result. The limitation is equally important: one sample workflow does not establish reliability, security, or agent discovery in production.

## What this work can achieve
Better evidence can reduce ambiguity and make a comparison more useful. It cannot force an assistant to cite your page or recommend your business. Track actual appearances and downstream outcomes separately from the work of publishing the evidence.

## Sources

- [Google: Review snippets](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet)

## Related reading

- [Structured data that helps explain your business](https://byagents.dev/humans/structured-data)
- [Measure agent discovery without fooling yourself](https://byagents.dev/humans/measuring-agent-traffic)
- [API documentation an agent can actually use](https://byagents.dev/humans/api-documentation)