Diagnosis
For every topic cluster, Sitefire runs a diagnosis agent that analyzes why certain content gets cited by AI engines and yours doesn’t. The output is a structured report that ends with one clear recommended action.
The 4C Framework
Sitefire uses 4C classification to turn citation evidence into a recommended action. Each C answers one question:
| Axis | Question | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| C0 Source Class | Who publishes the cited content? | Whether owned content, editorial coverage, or UGC is the right route |
| C1 Content Type | What kind of page is cited? | Whether the brand has the right asset type |
| C2 Content Format | How is the article structured? | Whether the brand has the right article format |
| C3 Content Angle | Why does this version win? | Which angle, freshness, audience, and authority signals to copy or beat |
C0 comes first because Sitefire needs to know where citations happen before deciding what to create or improve. C1, C2, and C3 then explain the winning content pattern.
What the Agent Analyzes
1. Visibility vs. Citations
The agent starts by mapping who gets mentioned and who gets cited. These are different signals:
- Visibility means an AI engine talks about your brand when answering a question
- Citation means it links to your content as a source
A brand can have high visibility (AI engines mention it frequently) but zero citations (they never link to its pages). This is common - and it’s the gap Sitefire closes.
2. Citation Landscape (C0)
Who owns the citations for this cluster? The agent classifies every cited URL with C0, the source class:
| C0 Source Class | Example |
|---|---|
| Corporate | Company blogs, agency sites, SaaS review pages |
| Editorial | TechRadar, Forbes, industry publications |
| UGC | Reddit threads, Stack Overflow, community forums |
| Competitor | Direct competitor pages |
| Own | Your own content |
| Reference | Wikipedia, standards bodies, documentation sites |
C0 decides whether owned content is the right arena. If editorial sites or UGC own most citations, the best action may be Editorial Coverage or Engage UGC instead of writing another page on your own site.
3. Top-Cited Content (C1, C2, C3)
When owned or competitor content can plausibly win, the agent classifies every top-cited page along three more axes to identify the winning formula.
C1: Content Type
C1 asks what kind of page this is. AI engines overwhelmingly cite the same type of page for a given query. If every cited result is a blog post, your product page will not break through - regardless of how good it is.
| Content Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Blog Post / Article | Editorial content - guides, comparisons, listicles |
| Product / Feature Page | Marketing page for a product, feature, or pricing |
| Category / Listing Page | Collection or directory of items |
| Landing Page | Focused conversion page for a service or tool |
| Video | YouTube or video-dominant result |
| Interactive Tool | Calculator, checker, generator, playground |
| Documentation | Reference docs, API docs, knowledge base |
| Forum / Discussion | Reddit, Stack Overflow, community Q&A |
C2: Content Format
C2 asks how a blog post or article is structured. A how-to guide and a comparison article serve fundamentally different intents - even though both are blog posts. Format mismatches are the most common missed opportunity.
| Content Format | Signals |
|---|---|
| How-to Guide | Step-by-step instructions |
| Listicle | Numbered list - “10 best…”, “top N…” |
| Definitive Guide | Long-form, “complete guide”, “everything you need” |
| Comparison | X vs Y, head-to-head evaluation |
| Review | Single product or service evaluation |
| Opinion / Thought Piece | Perspective, argument, commentary |
| Roundup | Curated from multiple sources or experts |
| Statistics Post | Aggregated data - “N statistics about…” |
| Checklist | Actionable verification list |
| Case Study | Real-world implementation with results |
C3: Content Angle
C3 asks what the hook is. The winning angle tells you how to position your content against what already gets cited.
| Angle | Signals |
|---|---|
| Freshness | Current year in title, “2026”, “updated” |
| Speed / Ease | ”quick”, “easy”, “in 5 minutes” |
| Cost | ”free”, “cheap”, “budget”, “open-source” |
| Audience-specific | ”for beginners”, “for enterprise”, “for developers” |
| Depth | ”complete”, “ultimate”, “everything you need” |
| Niche Specificity | Narrow use case or industry vertical |
| Authority | ”expert-tested”, “we reviewed N products”, data-driven |
4. Your Existing Content
Finally, the agent looks at what you already have. Does your site have a page that matches the winning C1 + C2 profile? If so, how does it perform compared to the top-cited content?
This final step compares your existing content against the 4C pattern found in the citation landscape.
The 4 Actions
Based on the diagnosis, Sitefire recommends one of four actions:
| Diagnosis finding | Action | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial or UGC dominates citations | Editorial coverage or Engage UGC | The winning sources are not owned pages, so the strategy is to earn coverage or participate where citations happen. |
| C1 or C2 mismatch | Create content | You don’t have the right type or format of page. No amount of optimization will fix a product page competing against listicles. |
| C1 + C2 match, low citations | Improve content | You have the right page - it just underperforms. Sitefire scores it with the GEO Score and generates specific improvements. |
The key principle: C0 decides where to act, while C1 and C2 decide whether to create or improve owned content. When C1 or C2 do not match, you need new content - not optimization. Only when your content type and format already match the cited results does page-level improvement make sense.