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See the ChatGPT sources behind an answer
ChatGPT sources are the pages it links to when it answers with web search. Type a question and we read one real answer on chatgpt.com: the pages it cited, the results it left out and the searches it ran. It is a single reading, and it can change next time.
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Placton tracks
ChatGPT
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Perplexity
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Check what one ChatGPT answer cites
Type a question and, if you want, your domain. We ask chatgpt.com once and show you what comes back, usually in about 30 seconds.
Free and without sign-up, 3 new readings a day. Your question goes to chatgpt.com through our data provider, so leave out names, emails and anything private. Your domain stays in your browser.
What you get from one reading
Four things, each with what it can tell you and what it cannot. None of them is a score: it is what came back from chatgpt.com this one time.
Cited sources
The pages the answer shows as its sources, with their titles and links.
A link does not prove the answer read the page correctly. Open it before you rely on it.
Results it did not cite
Other pages its web search returned that the answer does not link to.
The list can include entries ChatGPT never used, so being here does not mean it read the page.
Background searches
What ChatGPT searched for before it wrote the answer, often called query fan-out.
One or two in our tests so far. They show how it rephrased your question this time, not a fixed recipe.
Your domain
Whether your site is among the sources, only among the results, or nowhere in this reading. Subdomains count.
It is one answer to one question. It does not say how often ChatGPT cites you, or whether it will next time.
The same question, read twice
ChatGPT writes each answer fresh, so its sources are not a fixed list. Here is one question we read twice on November 1, 2026, less than two hours apart, in the same way this tool does.
“best crm for small law firms”
| What | First reading | Second reading |
|---|---|---|
| Read at | 14:34 UTC | 16:19 UTC |
| Sources cited | 10 | 10 |
| Domains behind those sources | 8 | 10 |
| Results it did not cite | 18 | 11 |
| Background searches | 1 | 2 |
In both (6): clio.com, lawmatics.com, tasksession.com, mycase.com, practicepanther.com, hubspot.com.
Only in the first (2): gilzor.com, b2b.cursosconfuturo.com.
Only in the second (4): smokeball.com, trycaddi.com, onesuite.io, monday.com.
Two readings of one question. They show that the list moves, not how much it moves in general, so they are not a statistic. Your own reading of this question may differ from both.
How to see ChatGPT sources in your own chat
Our tool cannot look inside your account. If you are writing a paper or checking a fact, these steps work in your own chat, with no tool at all.
Make sure it searched.
ChatGPT shows sources when it looks things up on the web, not when it answers from what it already learned. If the answer has no links, ask it to search the web and answer again.
Look for the links and the Sources panel.
Sources show as links inside the answer and in a side panel. The button that opens the panel has moved around: it can sit under the answer as “Sources”, or inside the three-dot menu as “View sources”, depending on the account and the browser (opens in a new tab).
Open every link you plan to use.
Check that the page exists and says what the answer claims. An answer can link to a real page and still get the detail wrong.
Treat references typed in the text with extra care.
A list of papers or books written into the answer, without a working link, can be made up. Libraries warn about this: a citation can name a real journal and an article that does not exist (opens in a new tab). Search for the title before you cite it.
Cite the page, not the chat.
Once you have opened a source and read it, that page is what you quote. Your school or publisher may have its own rules on mentioning ChatGPT itself.
How this tool reads chatgpt.com, and what it keeps
A real answer, not a simulation. We ask chatgpt.com through our data provider, DataForSEO, and show what comes back. No model of ours guesses the sources.
Always the same setup. Logged out, from the United States, in English settings, and with web search switched on so that there are sources to show. Your own chats can differ, and we cannot see them.
One reading per question, kept a week. Each new question costs us about a tenth of a cent. For 7 days, the same question brings back that same reading with its date, and then we delete it.
A limit, because each reading costs us money. 3 new readings a day per connection and 200 a day for everyone. When they run out, we say so. Saved readings keep opening.
Your question stays yours. There is no page with your results, no link to share and no list of what people ask. We store a fingerprint of the question, not its text, although the saved reading includes ChatGPT’s background searches, which can echo it. A fingerprint of your connection stays for 24 hours to apply the limit.
It does go to third parties. DataForSEO and chatgpt.com receive the question, and OpenAI’s moderation service may check it first. That is why we refuse web addresses, emails, phone numbers and inappropriate content. Leave out anything private. Your domain never leaves your browser.
One reading shows a moment, not a pattern
To know which pages ChatGPT keeps coming back to, or whether it names your brand at all, one answer is not enough. Placton asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity and Grok the questions you choose, again and again, and shows how often you are named or cited, next to which competitors and with which sources. See how following citations works.
What the trial includes
Bring the questions you just tried, or let Placton suggest them. The 7-day trial covers up to 10 of them on five AI platforms.
7 days free, no card. Sign up with your email or Google. When the trial ends, tracking stops and nothing is charged.
Up to 10 prompts. We suggest prompts and competitors from your website, and you edit the list before the first run.
All five AI platforms on day one. ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity and Grok answer your prompts as soon as your email is confirmed.
ChatGPT and Google AI again every day while you keep visiting your dashboard. Claude, Perplexity and Grok are asked once, at sign-up.
One “Run now” and the 18-point site audit. It checks whether AI can read your site, and anyone can run it free in our GEO audit tool.
On paid plans only: team invites and the weekly email summary with alerts.
* On paid plans. ChatGPT is read on chatgpt.com in every country Placton tracks except Venezuela and Puerto Rico, where it is asked weekly through its API.
Placton Starter
Track 20 prompts on 5 AI platforms
$59/ month (USD)
Or $602 billed yearly · save $106
Start your 7-day free trial7 days free. No card required.
- Up to 20 prompts, about 1,440 answers a month
- ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity, Grok
- ChatGPT and Google AI every day*, the other three every week
- Competitor ranking (up to 25 rivals) and every cited URL
- Weekly insights, plus an email summary with alerts
- 18-point AI-readiness site audit
- Up to 2 team members
Need more prompts? Growth is $129 a month for 75 and Scale $299 for 250. Compare all plans
ChatGPT sources FAQ
About Placton itself? Read the full FAQs or see every plan and price.
What are ChatGPT sources?
The web pages ChatGPT links to when it answers with web search. They show where the facts in that answer are supposed to come from. An answer written without searching has no sources to show, because it comes from what the model learned in training.
Is this free?
Yes, with no account and no email. Each connection can ask for 3 new readings a day and the tool makes 200 a day in total, because we pay for each one. A question somebody already asked in the last 7 days opens for free and does not count.
Can it show the sources of a chat I already had?
No. We have no access to your account, your chats, your files or your projects. We ask your question again in a new, logged-out session, so what you see here is another answer to the same question. To see the sources of your own chat, use the links in it and its Sources panel.
Why are the sources different from what I see in ChatGPT?
ChatGPT writes each answer fresh, and it can search differently each time. When you are logged in, it can also draw on your memory, your past chats and where you are. We read it logged out, from the United States, and with search switched on, so the two can easily differ.
Does ChatGPT always show sources?
No. It shows them when it searches the web, and it does not search for every question. Our tool asks with search switched on, which a normal chat does not always do, and even then it can come back empty: one of our test readings had 12 search results and no cited sources at all. When that happens, this tool says so.
Can I trust ChatGPT’s sources?
Check them. A link shows where the answer points, not that the answer read the page correctly. References typed into the text without a working link deserve extra care, because they can be made up. Open the page, read it and cite that.
My site does not appear. What does that mean?
Only that it is not in this one reading of this one question. It does not mean ChatGPT never cites you, and it says nothing about other questions. To know how often you come up, the same questions have to be asked again and again.
Will this get my site cited?
No. It reads the answer, it does not change it, and nobody can promise you a place in a ChatGPT answer. What it gives you is a look at which pages come up for a question, so you can read them and see what they have in common.
What is a background search?
A web search ChatGPT runs before it writes, in its own words. People in SEO call this query fan-out. It can reword your question and add details such as the year, so it shows what the answer went looking for that time.
Can I ask in another language or for another country?
You can write in any language that uses the Latin alphabet, because our content filter cannot read others yet. The reading always comes from the United States in English settings, so it will not match what someone sees elsewhere. Placton’s paid plans and trial let you choose the country and language.
See which sources keep coming back
Enter your website and add the questions you tried, or start from the ones Placton suggests. You edit them, and the first answers arrive the same day.
7 days free. No card required.