Citation Spy

How to: Create a Citation Spy Run

Start a competitor citation analysis, track its phases, and turn the final recommendations into an execution list.

6 min read Intermediate

Before you start

Citation Spy requires an active paid plan and a business with valid location data. The business profile is used as the context for competitor discovery and recommendation matching.

Open Citation Spy and choose a business

Go to Tools -> Citation Spy, select the business, and start the run. The same page also shows recent runs, so you can reopen previous results without searching through reports.

Citation Spy start panel with a business selector and previous run history
The start panel and run history are grouped together so the workflow begins in one place.

Track the run phases

Citation Spy progresses through three visible phases: finding competitors, analyzing domains, and matching business-fit recommendations.

Citation Spy run progress rail with completed competitor, domain, and recommendation phases
The progress rail gives a quick status read without exposing internal queue details.

Read the opportunity list

After completion, start with Recommended. It contains the best targets for execution, including competitor-covered opportunities and additional competitive gaps.

  • Directory: The platform or domain to review.
  • Registration: Direct path to the submission page when available.
  • Tags: Local or niche fit signals that explain why the opportunity matters.
Citation Spy opportunities table with recommended citation targets and registration links
The Recommended tab is the operational view for the next outreach or submission step.

Export the run when you need a handoff

Use CSV for a simple execution sheet, or JSON when you need the full structured payload with scores, signals, and registration metadata.

Citation Spy run header with CSV and JSON export actions
Completed runs expose CSV and JSON exports directly in the header.

How to interpret the two tabs

Recommended

The practical action list. Use it for outreach, manual submissions, or passing targets to Citation Blaster.

Competitor Found

The evidence view. Use it to understand which directories were found in competitor footprints.