A mention is a name. A citation is trust.
A mention says: this exists. A citation says: this is where the understanding came from. One puts you in a list. The other makes you a source.
The difference matters because people treat them differently. A name in passing is forgotten. A source is followed, quoted and returned to. It is the gap between being known about and being relied on.
And sources are earned the old way: by being clear, specific and right about something, consistently, in public.
How to become a source, not just a name
- Be specific. Original numbers, clear definitions and concrete examples are what answers borrow.
- Publish what you actually know. First-hand experience is harder to summarise without credit.
- Make claims easy to check. Dates, methods and names let a system, and a person, trust what you say.
- Keep it current. An outdated page gets quoted less, then not at all.
- Track citations, not only mentions. Notice when you are the source of an answer, not just a name inside it.
Visibility used to be about being seen. Increasingly, it is about being believed.
