Citations

Citations are references to sources Glean used. They appear within the response, immediately following statements that need backing, and provide a brief pointer to the document, file, or person so readers can locate and evaluate the source.

Citations never grant new access. You can only open items you already have permission to view. Source previews and links inherit data controls and retention policies of your organization.

Glean cites the following resources:

• Documents and pages like Google Docs, Confluence pages, and SharePoint pages
• Files like PDFs, presentations, and spreadsheets where a specific portion supports the claim
• People records when the answer reflects a person as a source, such as an author or owner

Citations in Glean responses work as follows:

• Inline markers and a View sources section show the sources used for the answer
• Hovering over a citation previews context
• Opening a source shows a preview so you can confirm you are looking at the right place before you click through
• Clicking a source opens the original item in its native application, such as Google Drive, Confluence, or SharePoint, subject to your access permissions
• Links from the source document stay clickable in the response and open their target directly, rather than only pointing to the source document

When deep-linked citations are enabled, they take you to the exact passage in the source that supports the statement, with the referenced text so you can verify it.

• Hover previews highlight the cited text and show surrounding context.
• For certain file types, the link may jump to a specific section, for example, a slide within a presentation when available.
• Page numbers are also displayed for the appropriate sources.

note

Deep linking availability and behavior can vary by connector and admin settings.

Confluence attachments in citations

When a response draws on content from a file attached to a Confluence page, the citation can identify the specific attachment rather than pointing only to the parent page. This makes it easier to verify the source when the matching content comes from an attached PDF, spreadsheet, or other file. Availability depends on your Confluence deployment type and connector configuration. Where it isn't enabled, the citation points to the parent page.

When citations aren't included

Citations appear when Assistant retrieves content from company sources or web search to build a response. In some cases, citations won't be included:

• Assistant didn't invoke a retrieval tool: If Assistant determines that a query is generic enough to answer without searching, it relies on pre-trained knowledge and won't have source documents to cite. This is more common in fast mode, which prioritizes speed and may use fewer tools.
• You selected No sources. When you select No sources from the + menu, Glean runs in LLM-only mode. In this mode, Glean doesn't search company sources or the web, and it doesn't invoke read tools such as the document reader or Model Context Protocol (MCP) read tools. Responses draw on the model's built-in knowledge and any context you add to the chat, so they usually won't include citations.

Improve citation coverage

If you're not seeing citations when you expect them, try these steps:

• Check your source selection: In the plus (+) menu, select Sources, then choose Company sources only or Both rather than No sources, so Assistant can retrieve content to cite.
• Switch to thinking mode (Customer Key): On a Customer Key, switch to Thinking mode, which spends more time planning and uses more tools to produce more reliable citations. Fast mode prioritizes speed and may skip retrieval steps for queries it considers straightforward.
• Be specific in your query. Rephrase your question to anchor it to company-specific knowledge. Add or tag relevant documentation URLs — for example, "According to our FY25 strategy doc…"
• Explicitly request a search. Prompting Assistant to search (for example, "Use Glean search to answer this") can improve citation coverage.
• Add custom instructions. You can add a custom instruction such as: "For every question, first check the company's internal knowledge and answer based on it. If the information is not found, then use web search and clearly distinguish external sources." This helps guide Assistant to prioritize company knowledge.

note

Glean is continuously improving how Assistant decides when to invoke retrieval tools and include citations, particularly in fast mode.

Report incorrect or low-quality citations

If you see incorrect citations, share your feedback by clicking the thumbs down button and selecting Used incorrect citation or source.

Can't open a cited item

You can only open items you already have permission to view. Citations won't typically reference sources you can't access, but they may remain in your history if your permission is later revoked. Source previews and links inherit data controls and retention policies of your organization.

FAQs

Citations aren't always returned. They appear when Assistant retrieves content from company sources or web search. Responses that rely only on the LLM's pre-trained knowledge won't have citations.

Citations have been shown to steer responses toward being more truthful. However, the absence of citations doesn't indicate that a response is hallucinated or wrong.

Fast mode prioritizes speed and uses a slimmed-down set of tools. It may skip retrieval steps for queries it considers straightforward, which means fewer source documents are available to cite. Thinking mode spends more time planning, invokes more tools, and synthesizes more context, producing more complete answers with more reliable citations. If consistent citations are important, use thinking mode.

When you select No sources in the Sources menu, Assistant runs in LLM-only mode. It doesn't search company sources or the web, and it doesn't invoke read tools such as the document reader or Model Context Protocol (MCP) read tools. It can still use information you provide in the chat, such as attached documents, and write tools can still be available. Responses generated this way usually won't include citations because Assistant doesn't retrieve company or web sources. In a project chat, Assistant can still read that project's own sources, so those responses may include citations.