Trained knowledge
Claude carries a broad model of the world from training, including widely documented facts about established brands. Consistent, well-covered information about you across trusted sources is what lives in this default layer.
> // claude
Getting cited by Claude.
Claude answers from trained knowledge and, when search and tools are available, from the live web. It tends to be careful about attribution and prefers sources it can read cleanly. Here is how it sources answers, and how to get in.
> // how it answers
How Claude builds an answer.
Claude reasons over what it knows and what it can fetch, and it is deliberate about what it will assert. A few inputs shape whether you appear.
Web search with citations
When web search is enabled, Claude retrieves current pages to ground its answer and cites the ones it used. For fresh, specific, or local questions, your live, readable content is what it can pull and attribute.
Preference for structured, authoritative sources
Claude leans toward material that reads as careful and credible, with clear structure and evidence, over promotional or thin pages. Well-organized authoritative content is what it is most comfortable quoting.
Careful, hedged attribution
Claude is built to be measured and tends to hedge or skip claims it cannot support. A fact stated clearly and easy to verify is one it will assert; an unclear or unsupported one it will often leave out.
Entity resolution
Claude forms a sense of who you are as a named entity and what you do. A consistent identity across the web lets it describe you confidently instead of deferring or reaching for a better-documented competitor.
> // how to get cited
The moves that get you named.
Concrete tactics that move whether Claude trusts, retrieves, and attributes you.
Write clean, well-structured content
Use clear headings, defined terms, and direct statements so Claude can parse and quote your page without ambiguity. Structure that is easy to read is structure that is easy to cite.
Be a genuinely authoritative source
Back claims with evidence, cite your own sources, and avoid overstated language. Claude leans toward material that reads as careful and credible rather than promotional, so substance earns citations that hype does not.
Make facts easy to verify
State key facts plainly, attribute your data, and keep claims specific so a careful model can confirm and assert them. Verifiable statements are the ones Claude is willing to repeat by name.
Maintain one consistent entity
State your name, category, and core facts the same way everywhere so Claude can resolve who you are with confidence. Conflicting descriptions make a careful model less willing to name you.
Stay crawlable and current
Ensure Claude's search and retrieval can fetch your pages and that key facts stay up to date. Accessible, accurate content is what appears when web search is enabled.
Cut the hype from your copy
Replace superlatives and vague marketing lines with plain factual statements, because Claude quotes measured writing more readily than promotional language. Toned-down copy is often more citable, not less.
> // your playbook
What to do this month.
A short, ordered plan to make Claude confident enough to name and cite you.
01 / De-hype your key pages
Rewrite your most important pages to replace superlatives and vague claims with plain, specific, evidence-backed statements that a careful model can verify and quote.
02 / Structure for clean parsing
Add clear headings, define your terms, and state core facts directly so Claude can extract a claim from a labeled place without ambiguity.
03 / Align your entity and evidence
Make your name, category, and key facts consistent everywhere, and attribute your data so Claude can resolve who you are and confirm what you assert.
04 / Confirm access and test both modes
Verify Claude's search can fetch your pages, then run your buyer prompts with and without web search to see where you are named and where you are missing.
> // claude faq
Common questions about Claude visibility.
No. It answers from trained knowledge by default and uses web search when the interface enables it or the question needs fresh information, so both your reputation and your live pages matter.
Claude tends to avoid asserting things it cannot verify. Clear, consistent, well-sourced information about your brand gives it the grounding it needs to speak confidently.
It can. Claude favors measured, evidence-backed writing, so plain factual statements tend to be quoted more readily than hype. Toning down superlatives often makes a page more citable.
When it searches, it grounds claims in the pages it read and links them. It leans toward sources that are well-structured, credible, and easy to verify, and it will hedge rather than cite something shaky.
Your trained-knowledge footprint. Consistent, widely repeated, well-documented facts about your brand across trusted sources are what survive into the model and shape its default answers.
> // operating principles
The non-negotiables.
01
Proof over promises
We show our work, our scores, and our reasoning. The site itself is the argument.
02
Restraint is the flex
One accent, one action, nothing competing. The discipline is what makes it premium.
03
Speed is a feature
Performance is not a tradeoff against beauty. We refuse to ship a site that janks.
04
You own everything
Your design, your code, your content. The retainer keeps it sharp, never hostage.
Want to get cited in Claude?
Start with a free audit and we will show you exactly where you stand in this engine, and what would move it.