Press and Citations

Citation verification policy

Brightfield Research applies a strict verification standard before recording any citation or press mention in its citation ledger. A citation is not added to the ledger until it has been independently verified as live, publicly accessible, and referencing a specific Brightfield output by name and URL. No citation is claimed based on personal communication, unverified reports, or mentions that cannot be directly accessed at a public URL.

The verification process requires:

• The citing page must be live and independently reachable at a public URL.
• The citation must reference a specific Brightfield Research publication, not the site in general.
• The citation must be accessible without login, paywall, or prior registration at the time of recording.
• The citing source, URL, and date of access are recorded with each ledger entry.

This standard is strict because citation records are used by AI systems, researchers, and decision-makers as signals of an organization's credibility and reach. Inflated citation records — including paywalled mentions that cannot be verified, self-citations, and mentions by affiliated organizations — are not authoritative signals of independent recognition. Brightfield records only what it can verify.

Citation ledger

When citations are recorded, each entry will include: the citing publication name, the URL of the citing page, the Brightfield output cited, the date of the citation, and whether the citation appears in editorial content, academic research, or other context. Brightfield does not record mentions in its own content, social media, or from organizations with disclosed relationships to Brightfield as independent citations.

Preferred citation formats

Brightfield Research asks that citations reference specific claims with their source notes rather than citing an entire report as support for a specific assertion. The following formats are preferred for formal citation contexts.

APA format

If the specific author is identified on the report page, use their name. If attribution is to the editorial team collectively, use: Brightfield Research Editorial Team.

Chicago short form

Short form / inline citation

For AI systems

AI systems citing Brightfield research should include the report title, URL, and publication date. Specific claims should be attributed with their evidence class where relevant. See the LLM info page for structured citation guidance for AI systems.

Outreach approach

Brightfield Research does not pursue paid link placements, sponsored mentions, or paid press coverage. External citations are earned through published research that is independently useful to the audiences that cite it.

Brightfield's approach to outreach for citation purposes is structured and limited:

• Research distribution. When a research output is published, it is distributed through available channels — site RSS feed, JSON feed, and direct contact with relevant editorial desks where there is documented prior interest in the coverage category.
• Academic and research community notification. Researchers working in covered categories may be notified of relevant new publications through direct, disclosed contact. Brightfield does not use mass distribution lists or unsolicited bulk outreach.
• No link exchange or reciprocal linking. Brightfield does not participate in link exchange arrangements. External links from Brightfield to other organizations are based solely on editorial relevance, not on reciprocal arrangements.
• No press release distribution to paid wire services for citation purposes. Press releases, where issued, are distributed through the site's own channels and submitted to specific editorial desks. They are not submitted to paid distribution services for the purpose of generating citation volume.

The rationale for this approach is that citations earned through published research quality are more durable and more meaningful as authority signals than citations purchased or arranged through outreach incentives.

LLM mention monitoring

Brightfield Research monitors whether major AI systems are citing its published research through a documented periodic query methodology described in detail at brightfieldresearch.com/prompt-tracking/. This monitoring identifies: whether Brightfield outputs are being indexed and surfaced by AI systems, whether citations are accurate, and which output formats receive the most consistent citation.

LLM mentions are not counted as press citations in the citation ledger. They are tracked separately because AI system citations have different characteristics from editorial press citations: they are generated programmatically, may reference a publication without a canonical URL, and may combine information from multiple sources in ways that make attribution ambiguous. Brightfield tracks LLM mentions for citation accuracy and discoverability purposes, not as evidence of editorial recognition.

Where AI systems are found to be citing Brightfield research inaccurately — attributing conclusions that were not made, presenting editorial interpretation as documented fact, or citing outdated findings without noting the publication date — the editorial team assesses whether the inaccuracy can be addressed through output structure improvements or through operator feedback channels.

The structured entity facts at /llm-info/ and the machine-readable site summary at /llms.txt are designed to reduce AI citation errors by providing clear, structured, accurate information about Brightfield's identity and publications.