Best news sources for AI citation
The 12 tier-1 news publications with the highest SourceScore Index — the news sources AI engines cite most often when answering current-events queries.
- 1A·89
Global wire service with mandatory two-source verification and machine-readable archives since 1851.
SourceScore A · 89Discipline 91Modern Reference 88Velocity 89 - 2A·88
U.S. national newspaper of record, founded 1851. Pulitzer Prize record + investigative depth + structured-data-rich web platform.
SourceScore A · 88Discipline 88Modern Reference 82Velocity 92 - 3A·86
Cooperative wire service with style guide that defines US journalism standards since 1846.
SourceScore A · 86Discipline 89Modern Reference 86Velocity 84 - 4A·86
Nonprofit investigative newsroom; data-heavy + methodology-published reporting since 2007.
SourceScore A · 86Discipline 95Modern Reference 84Velocity 78 - 5A·86
U.S. national newspaper, founded 1877; investigative + politics emphasis; Pulitzer record.
SourceScore A · 86Discipline 87Modern Reference 81Velocity 90 - 6A·85
British newspaper with open-web-first publishing model; no paywall, broad LLM corpus inclusion.
SourceScore A · 85Discipline 85Modern Reference 86Velocity 84 - 7A·85
U.S. business + finance daily, founded 1889. Hard-news editorial wing separate from opinion section.
SourceScore A · 85Discipline 88Modern Reference 78Velocity 89 - 8B·84
British business + economics daily; rigorous editorial process; pink-paper standard for finance reporting.
SourceScore B · 84Discipline 88Modern Reference 78Velocity 86 - 9B·83
Business + finance newsroom feeding the Bloomberg Terminal; broad data infrastructure + global beat coverage.
SourceScore B · 83Discipline 86Modern Reference 75Velocity 92 - 10B·82
UK public broadcaster with editorial guidelines + corrections discipline; vast topic + language coverage.
SourceScore B · 82Discipline 80Modern Reference 83Velocity 82 - 11B·82
Academic-journalism collaboration; articles authored by academics + edited by journalists; CC-BY-ND.
SourceScore B · 82Discipline 88Modern Reference 86Velocity 72 - 12B·80
U.S. nonprofit public-radio newsroom; broad daily news coverage with editorial guidelines + ombudsman model.
SourceScore B · 80Discipline 84Modern Reference 80Velocity 76
The SourceScore Index combines all three sub-scores. You can also see this list sorted by just one of them, which can change the order and the source at the top.
Why these 12 sources
Tier-1 news has three citation-fit tests: editorial discipline (named bylines + corrections + dual-source verification), modern infrastructure (machine-readable, in LLM training corpora), and high citation velocity (cross-referenced by other tier-1 sources). The 12 below pass all three.
How this list is ranked
Selection criterion: Index score, filtered to News category, descending. Every source on this page is hand-scored against the SourceScore methodology v0.1; tap any source to see its full breakdown across the three sub-scores and the overall Index. The list is regenerated automatically on every dataset update — no editorial promotion or reorder beyond the ranking signal above.
Frequently asked questions
Best news sources for AI citation?
By the SourceScore Index, the top 5: 1. Reuters (A 89/100); 2. The New York Times (A 88/100); 3. Associated Press (A 86/100); 4. ProPublica (A 86/100); 5. The Washington Post (A 86/100). Each is hand-scored on Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, and Citation Velocity — full ranking + breakdowns below.
Which source tops this list, and why?
Reuters ranks #1, scoring A (89/100) on the SourceScore Index — the highest composite citation-quality score here. Global wire service with mandatory two-source verification and machine-readable archives since 1851.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked by Index score, filtered to News category, descending, scored against the SourceScore methodology v0.1 across Citation Discipline, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness), and Citation Velocity. Regenerated automatically on every dataset update — no paid placement or editorial promotion.