Mention
A mention shows that a system produced the brand name in a sampled response. It does not establish where the information came from or whether the brand was evaluated positively.
Citation
A citation points to a source used or surfaced with an answer. It is stronger evidence of source visibility, but it still does not prove endorsement or stable inclusion across prompts.
Recommendation
A recommendation is a comparative judgement in context. It should be tested against a defined need, market and prompt set, then checked for accuracy and repeatability.
Practical checklist
- Label each observed outcome
- Preserve the answer and source URL
- Avoid turning one response into a trend
- Re-run samples after material site changes