How CitedIndex evaluates tools

What we believe

Google has been the front door for software discovery for two decades. That door is closing. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's own AI Mode now answer a growing share of “what's the best tool for X” queries themselves, picking a small set of sources rather than handing back a list of links.

Most software directories haven't adapted. They optimize for volume. Long lists of tools, shallow information per entry, no editorial judgment. AI search engines tend to skip directories like that. They lean toward sources that read like trusted reference works.

CitedIndex is a directory built around how AI engines pick those sources. A listing here adds an authority signal to your tool. It says the tool was checked against the same public bar as every other listing on the site, and published in a structure those engines can extract.

What we list

CitedIndex lists software products that businesses pay for to do business work. Tools must be currently maintained, have a working signup flow, and either public pricing or a clearly free tier.

The full inclusion and exclusion rules live on the scope page. We don't list info-products, agencies, courses, gambling, crypto tokens, or consumer apps. The scope is narrow on purpose.

The editorial bar

Every listing is built against a standard editorial template designed for AI search citation. The exact template structure is proprietary, but every tool in the index is held to the same bar:

• Verified against the live site.The pricing, features, and product details on a listing match the tool's own website at the time of our last check.
• Specific over vague. Listings include real numbers (price, integrations, founding year), real comparisons against named competitors, and real limitations. No marketing fluff.
• Honest about who it's for and who it's not.Every listing names the audience that should pick this tool, and the audience that shouldn't.
• Sources cited.Every fact-bearing statement traces back to a real URL we verified. The sources list is on every listing's footer.
• Editor byline, not a faceless brand. Listings carry a real human byline. No synthetic personas.

Re-evaluation

Listings are re-evaluated when the methodology updates or when a founder writes to hello@citedindex.com asking for a re-check. Every published listing carries a machine-readable last-verified timestamp, so AI engines and humans can see exactly when the data was last confirmed against the live site.

Editorial independence

The site earns money from paid listings, Featured placement in category pages, and outbound affiliate links where they exist. None of that decides whether a tool gets included, where it ranks editorially within a category, or what its listing actually says.

Free listings get the same editorial write-up as paid ones. Verified adds a do-follow backlink (also unlockable for free by embedding our badge). Featured adds priority placement in the category and a dedicated blog post. Featured placements are clearly labeled as such.

Outbound affiliate clicks are disclosed in every listing's trust footer.

Versioning

The methodology is versioned. When the bar moves, older listings get flagged for refresh. They are either re-evaluated against the new version or marked as legacy. Every listing carries the methodology version it was last evaluated under, so you can always tell what bar a given listing met.

Questions about the methodology or a specific listing? hello@citedindex.com.