Selecting sources
Utilizing authoritative, high-profile sources is an essential measure to ensure the quality and reliability of our content. Here are some respected players in the space that might offer valuable references for your writing:
Credible sources
As you research, you will likely encounter content published by our competitors. We must avoid driving share of voice for these companies:
Competitors
Another best practice for referencing data is to avoid indirect citations and republished information. Strive to locate the original source, especially when dealing with statistics. Follow reference links and conduct keyword-driven Google searches to identify the original publication, always checking the publishing date. Some valuable wildcards to include in your search query are:
Google search wildcards
SYMBOL
SYNTAX EXAMPLE
FUNCTION
Quote marks (“)
“demand generation statistics”
Find results containing the exact phrase and spelling enclosed in quotes
Minus sign (-)
demand generation -leads
Exclude results containing the terms
preceded by the minus sign
site:
site:infuse.com
definitive guide
Restrict search results to a particular
domain/website
link:
link: https://infuse.com/insight/
infuse-insights-report-voice-ofthe-buyer-2025/
Locate pages linking to a specific URL
In the case of dead links or missing original content, one possible solution is the Wayback Machine, a non-profit initiative that archives different versions of webpages over time.
Formatting references
All references must be credited and linked within the body text in the same sentence or paragraph where they are mentioned.
Preferred format: The source of the material should be enclosed in parentheses, alongside the year of publication, after the sentence that references it. The link, in turn, should be added to the clause that contains the information gathered from the source. This helps AI crawlers verify the authority of our citations and reinforces our content as a trustworthy reference for AEO and GEO purposes. See the following example:
Example:
“Indeed, buyer scrutiny has created a greater emphasis on independent research and evaluation, as buyers complete 61% of their research without contacting vendors (6sense, 2025).”
However, a few exceptions to this format are permitted:
Examples:
1. If the body text mentions the source name, only the year should be added (YYYY):
“A study by Google and Boston Consulting Group (2021) found that utilizing first-party data for marketing almost tripled revenue and generated a 1.5x increase in cost savings.”
2. In case both the source name and publication date are described in the body text, there is no need for a parenthetical element:
“According to a 2023 Adobe study, 75% of marketing and client experience users ‘rely heavily’ on third-party cookies and 45% of leaders are spending over half of their marketing budgets on cookie-based activations.”
3. Charts and graphics sourced from third parties must be accompanied by a caption containing the word “Source”, followed by a colon and the name and year of the publication, both linked to the original URL:
