Sourcing in content is citing the origin of claims, figures and legal references. Companies avoid it for fear of sending the reader elsewhere, but the effect is the opposite: a verifiable claim is more credible, and a link to a primary source is one of the signals of expertise. For generative search engines it also has practical significance, since content that matches the primary source passes verification more easily. Link preferentially to primary sources – the law, the authority, the study, official documentation – not to articles that write about them. For every link, state what the reader will find there, rather than a generic link. Source your own claims as well, at least by stating the methodology. Check links when updating content, since a broken link to a source looks worse than no link at all.
See also: Information gain, Editorial content review, Numerical data and units.
