PRIVACY POLICY
The AI Citation Institute — operated by Ben Cope d/b/a AI Citation Institute ("we," "us"). Last updated: 2026-07-30. Contact: [email protected] · 1233 Biltmore Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216.
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices, when you use our website and Services.
1. Information we collect
From you / your account: name, business name, email, billing details (processed by our payment processor — we do not store full card numbers), and account settings.
Service configuration you provide: your website domain(s), competitor names/domains, target query sets, and preferences.
Connected accounts (with your authorization): read/analytics access to services you connect — e.g., Google Search Console, Google Analytics (GA4) — and content-management credentials (e.g., WordPress/Webflow/Shopify) which we store encrypted (AES-256-GCM) and use only to publish on your behalf.
Data we generate or gather to provide the Services: AI-visibility results and scores, citation URLs and mentions, page audits, drafted/optimized content, verified factual claims, competitor intelligence, and attribution metrics.
Automatically (website/platform): usage logs, device/browser data, IP address, and cookies/similar technologies for authentication, security, and analytics.
We do not seek or require the personal information of your end customers, and we design outreach features to avoid collecting end-customer PII.
2. How we use information
- To provide, operate, secure, and improve the Services;
- To monitor AI visibility, generate diagnostics, draft/verify/publish content, and report results;
- To bill you and provide support;
- To detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, competitor scraping, and security incidents;
- To improve our methods and datasets using anonymized and aggregated data (see §4);
- To comply with law and enforce our Terms.
3. Legal bases
Where applicable, we process personal data on the bases of contract (to provide the Services), legitimate interests (security, product improvement), consent (where required, e.g. certain cookies/marketing), and legal obligation.
4. How we share information — and how we don't
- We do not sell your personal information.
- We do not disclose your individual performance data to other clients. Any cross-client
benchmarks are anonymized and aggregated across no fewer than 5 organizations so they do not identify you.
- Service providers / subprocessors who help us run the Services process data under
confidentiality obligations, including: cloud hosting/storage, our payment processor, and the third-party AI and data providers the Services depend on (e.g., AI platforms such as OpenAI/Google/ Anthropic/Perplexity, and SEO-data providers such as DataForSEO). A current list is available on request. ``
- Connected platforms you authorize (Search Console, analytics, CMS) — we exchange data with
these only as needed to provide the Services.
- Legal / safety — we may disclose information to comply with law, enforce agreements, or protect
rights, safety, and property.
- Business transfer — if we reorganize, form an entity, or sell the business, information may
transfer subject to this Policy.
5. Data retention
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We retain information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Services, then as required for legal, tax, security, and dispute-resolution purposes. We delete or anonymize data when no longer needed. Encrypted credentials are deleted when you disconnect a connected account or close your account.
6. Security
We use commercially reasonable safeguards — encryption of stored credentials, access controls, authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring. No system is perfectly secure; you are responsible for safeguarding your own account credentials.
7. Your choices & rights
You may access, update, or delete account information, disconnect connected accounts, and opt out of marketing emails. Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict processing of your personal data, or to object — contact [email protected] and we will respond as required by law.
8. Cookies
We use cookies/similar technologies for sign-in, security, preferences, and analytics. You can control cookies through your browser; some features may not work without them.
9. International transfers
If we transfer data across borders, we use appropriate safeguards (e.g., Standard Contractual Clauses) where required.
10. Children
The Services are for businesses and are not directed to children under 16; we do not knowingly collect their data.
11. Changes
We may update this Policy; material changes will be posted with a new "Last updated" date and, where required, notified.
12. Contact
Questions or requests: [email protected] · 1233 Biltmore Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216.