What is cited.md and how does it work?

AI agents can answer about your company before a human reviews the response. That creates a governance problem. You need to know whether the answer is grounded in verified ground truth and whether you can prove it later. In practice, a cited.md file is a Markdown file that records claims, sources, version details, and ownership in a format humans and systems can read. Teams use it to make answers citation-accurate, improve AI Visibility, and reduce drift between approved content and live agent responses.

Quick answer

cited.md is usually a lightweight citation index for content, policies, or product facts.

It works by compiling raw sources into small claims, attaching each claim to evidence, and publishing the file in a stable location.

AI tools or internal agents can then read the file, trace answers back to verified ground truth, and cite the source that supports the response.

What cited.md is

A cited.md file is a Markdown document that maps claims to sources.

It is not a replacement for your source of truth.

It is a readable layer on top of that source of truth.

In practice, teams use cited.md for:

• product facts
• policy references
• pricing or eligibility rules
• compliance statements
• help center answers
• brand statements used by AI agents

The goal is simple.

If an agent says something, you should be able to point to the exact source that supports it.

How cited.md works

A cited.md file works like a citation map.

It takes the knowledge your team trusts and makes the provenance explicit.

Step	What happens	Why it matters
1. Compile sources	Teams gather raw sources such as policies, product docs, FAQs, and approved statements.	The file starts from verified ground truth.
2. Write atomic claims	Each statement is broken into a small, testable claim.	Smaller claims are easier to verify and update.
3. Attach citations	Each claim gets a source link, document ID, version, date, or owner.	The answer has a clear chain back to evidence.
4. Publish the file	The cited.md file sits in a stable, accessible location.	Humans and systems can find it consistently.
5. Read it in tools	Agents, crawlers, or internal systems ingest the file and match answers to claims.	Responses stay grounded and citation-accurate.
6. Review and refresh	Teams update the file when policies or facts change.	Drift stays low over time.

Some teams generate cited.md from a content system.

Other teams maintain it by hand.

The file name matters less than the structure.

What matters is that every important claim has a source you can inspect.

What a good cited.md file includes

A strong cited.md file is specific.

It should include:

• a clear title or topic label
• one claim per bullet or line
• the source for each claim
• a version number or publish date
• an owner or reviewer
• a status such as draft, approved, or retired
• notes for exceptions or edge cases

That structure helps people audit the content.

It also helps AI systems reduce unsupported answers.

Example structure

## Support policy
- Claim: Enterprise escalations are handled within 1 business day.
- Source: Support policy v2.8
- Verified: 2026-05-14
- Owner: Customer Operations
- Status: Approved

## Billing eligibility
- Claim: Annual contracts are required for regulated customers.
- Source: Billing policy v4.1
- Verified: 2026-05-10
- Owner: Finance
- Status: Approved

This format makes the source visible.

It also makes updates easier when the policy changes.

Why teams use cited.md

Teams use cited.md when answers need proof.

That matters most when AI systems speak on behalf of the organization.

Common use cases include:

• external AI answers about products or policies
• internal support agents that must cite the right rule
• compliance reviews that need a traceable source
• marketing teams that want control over public AI representation
• operations teams that need less drift in agent responses

For regulated industries, the file is useful because it separates belief from evidence.

A claim is not enough.

You need the exact source, the exact version, and the exact owner.

What cited.md does not do

cited.md helps with citation and governance.

It does not fix bad source material.

It does not make stale content current.

It does not force an AI model to obey every rule.

It does not replace your legal, compliance, or policy review process.

If the source is wrong, cited.md only makes the problem easier to see.

That is still useful.

Visibility is better than guessing.

How cited.md supports AI Visibility

AI systems can only cite what they can find and understand.

If your facts live in scattered pages, outdated PDFs, and inconsistent help articles, the answer quality will drift.

A cited.md file gives those systems a cleaner path from question to source.

That helps with:

• brand representation in AI answers
• policy consistency across channels
• citation accuracy in agent responses
• faster reviews for compliance teams
• fewer contradictions between teams

In other words, cited.md gives your knowledge a governed entry point.

Is cited.md a standard?

There is no single universal standard for cited.md.

Different teams use different formats.

Some keep it simple with headings and bullets.

Some add YAML front matter, version fields, or source metadata.

Some pair it with other files such as llms.txt, sitemaps, or internal policy indexes.

The important part is consistency.

If your team and your tools can read it reliably, the file is doing its job.

How to create a useful cited.md file

Start with the questions your agents answer most often.

Then compile the raw sources that define the correct answer.

Next, write the answer as a short claim.

Attach the source to that claim.

Repeat the process for each policy, product fact, or public statement.

Keep the file short enough to maintain.

Keep it current enough to trust.

A good process looks like this:

1. Identify the high-value questions.
2. Gather the approved sources.
3. Break each answer into small claims.
4. Add source, version, and owner fields.
5. Review the file on a schedule.
6. Retire claims that no longer apply.

That keeps the file useful as the business changes.

FAQs

What is cited.md in plain language?

cited.md is a Markdown file that lists claims and the sources behind them.

It gives humans and AI systems a path from answer to evidence.

How does cited.md help AI answers?

It helps AI answers stay grounded by linking claims to verified ground truth.

That makes it easier to cite the right source and spot unsupported statements.

Is cited.md the same as a knowledge base?

No.

A knowledge base stores the content.

A cited.md file points to the content and shows which claims are backed by which sources.

Does cited.md replace policy review?

No.

It supports policy review by making the evidence easier to inspect.

You still need owners, approval steps, and update controls.

What teams benefit most from cited.md?

Teams that answer sensitive or high-volume questions benefit the most.

That includes marketing, compliance, support, operations, and IT.

If your AI agents represent your company, cited.md helps you prove where those answers came from.

Bottom line

cited.md is a simple file with a serious job.

It makes claims traceable.

It makes sources visible.

It makes AI responses easier to audit.

For teams that need citation-accurate answers, it is a practical way to connect public or internal AI behavior to verified ground truth.