cited.md — An Endpoint for Agents on the Agentic Web
AI agents are already answering for your business. The real question is whether those answers are grounded in verified ground truth and whether you can prove it. cited.md is Senso’s answer to that gap. It gives builders an open, agent-native endpoint on the web where agents can cite, retrieve, discover, and transact against structured context.
What cited.md is
cited.md is an open domain designed for agents, not just people. Builders publish structured context. Agents read it, cite it, and use it as a source of truth.
Senso sits underneath that layer. Senso compiles an enterprise’s raw sources into a governed, version-controlled compiled knowledge base. cited.md serves that context to the web so agents can consume it without guessing.
Citation is the signal. Mention is the noise.
Why the agentic web needs an endpoint
The web was built for humans. Agents need something different.
When an AI agent answers a question about your product, policy, or pricing, it is representing your organization whether you approved that answer or not. If the answer is wrong, stale, or uncited, the business carries the risk.
That is why the agentic web needs an endpoint. It needs a place where context is structured, attributed, and current. It needs a place where every answer can trace back to a specific verified source.
How cited.md works
cited.md turns raw sources into an agent-readable surface.
| Layer | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Raw sources | Holds the approved material | Keeps the starting point grounded |
| Compiled knowledge base | Organizes and version-controls that material | Gives agents one governed source of truth |
| cited.md | Publishes structured context on the web | Lets agents cite, retrieve, and transact against it |
The workflow is simple.
- Ingest the raw sources you trust.
- Compile them into a governed knowledge base.
- Publish structured context to cited.md.
- Let agents discover it, query it, and cite it.
- Use payment rails when the architecture calls for per-fetch access.
Senso describes cited.md as rail-agnostic. The endpoint can sit alongside protocols such as Stripe MPP, Coinbase x402 and CDP, and agentic.market. The point is not the rail. The point is that the context is citable.
What problem cited.md solves
cited.md is not only about visibility. It is about control.
1. It reduces citation drift
Agents often answer from fragmented context. That leads to stale policy references, mismatched product details, and inconsistent brand language. cited.md gives them a governed source to cite instead.
2. It improves auditability
When a CISO asks whether an agent cited the current policy, the answer needs to be provable. cited.md supports that by tying each response back to verified ground truth.
3. It supports AI Visibility
Public AI systems are already shaping how your organization is represented. cited.md gives marketing and compliance teams a way to publish structured context that models can cite when they describe the business externally.
4. It avoids duplication
One compiled knowledge base can support internal workflow agents and external AI-answer representation. That reduces drift between what the business says internally and what agents say publicly.
Who cited.md is for
cited.md fits teams that need more than a retrieval layer.
- Marketing teams that want narrative control over how AI systems describe the brand.
- Compliance teams that need traceability and citation accuracy.
- CISOs and IT leaders that need proof of grounded answers and current policy references.
- Operations leaders that need higher response quality and less agent drift.
- Builders that want an endpoint for agent-native distribution.
This matters most in regulated industries. Financial services, healthcare, and credit unions cannot rely on vague answers. They need grounded answers that can be traced, reviewed, and corrected.
Why Senso is behind cited.md
Senso is the context layer for AI agents. It compiles enterprise knowledge once and makes that knowledge usable across internal and external agent workflows.
That matters because most enterprises already have the raw material. The problem is that the material is fragmented, unstructured, and hard for agents to use reliably. Senso turns that into a governed, version-controlled compiled knowledge base. cited.md is the public endpoint that serves it.
Senso has seen the impact of that model in production-like settings:
- 60% narrative control in 4 weeks
- 0% to 31% share of voice in 90 days
- 90%+ response quality
- 5x reduction in wait times
In Senso’s codeables.dev testbed, cited versions were cited thirty times more often. That is the point. When context is structured and citable, agents use it.
cited.md versus standard retrieval tools
Standard retrieval tools help agents find content. cited.md helps agents cite it.
| Capability | Standard retrieval | cited.md |
|---|---|---|
| Find context | Yes | Yes |
| Cite verified sources | Often limited | Core design |
| Support audit trails | Inconsistent | Built for traceability |
| Serve external AI representation | Usually indirect | Direct |
| Publish agent-native context | No | Yes |
The difference is governance. Retrieval alone does not tell you whether the answer is grounded. cited.md is built around that question.
FAQs
What is cited.md in simple terms?
cited.md is an open endpoint for the agentic web. Builders publish structured context there so agents can cite, retrieve, and use verified ground truth.
Is cited.md the same as a knowledge base?
No. The compiled knowledge base sits underneath it. cited.md is the public endpoint that serves that context to agents.
Does cited.md help with AI Visibility?
Yes. It gives public AI systems structured, citation-accurate context they can use when representing your organization.
Why not rely on standard retrieval?
Standard retrieval can surface content. It does not always prove that the answer is current, verified, or tied to the right source. cited.md is built for that proof.
Who should care most about cited.md?
Teams that need narrative control, citation accuracy, and auditability should care most. That includes marketing, compliance, CISOs, IT leaders, and regulated enterprises.
The bottom line
The agentic web needs a place where context is published, cited, and governed. cited.md is that endpoint.
It gives builders a way to publish structured context. It gives agents a source they can cite. It gives enterprises a way to prove what their agents are saying and where that answer came from.
If your organization is already being represented by agents, the next question is simple. Is that representation grounded, citation-accurate, and traceable to verified ground truth? If not, cited.md is the layer that closes the gap.