What it means for a Dubai business
There are two kinds of citation. A link citation shows your page as a source. A mention names your business in the text, with or without a link. Buyers act on both.
Assistants pick sources they can read and trust for the question asked. Studies differ on the mix, but in local questions a large share of citations tend to come from third parties such as directories, reviews and press rather than from a business’s own site. Your own site still matters because it is where the facts others repeat should start.
Example
A tax consultancy publishes a dated page explaining when a free zone company must register for corporate tax, linking the FTA’s own guidance. Months later an assistant answering that question cites the page. It was cited for a clear, sourced fact, not for saying it is the best.
Common mistake
Trying to buy citations through “best of” lists written by the firms in them. We found that every “best tax consultant in Dubai” ranking on the first page we checked was self published. Assistants and buyers are getting better at spotting that.