> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcited.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prompt Intent

> The underlying purpose of a customer's prompt — what they are trying to accomplish when asking an AI platform a question.

**Prompt intent** is the underlying purpose of a customer's prompt — what they are trying to accomplish when they ask an AI platform a question. Someone writing *"my skin gets oily by afternoon"* is describing a problem; someone writing *"boat vs noise earbuds"* is evaluating two named options. The same brand can be visible on one and absent from the other.

## Why it matters

Intent shapes which brands an AI treats as relevant. A prompt that names two products invites a head-to-head answer drawn from comparison content. A prompt that describes a symptom invites an answer drawn from explanatory content, and often never names a brand at all. Being strong on one tells you very little about the other, which is why intent is a breakdown rather than a footnote.

## How Cited uses it

Every tracked prompt is tagged with one of six [intent types](/glossary/intent-type) during [prompt generation](/methodology/prompt-generation) — problem-first, context-specific, budget-anchored, comparison, recommendation-seeking, or feature-curious. Every dashboard metric can be broken down by them, so you can see which kind of question you lose on.

## Related concepts

* [Intent type](/glossary/intent-type) — the six types, with definitions and examples
* [Intent taxonomy](/concepts/foundations/intent-taxonomy) — the full framework and how to read your own split
* [Prompt archetype](/glossary/prompt-archetype) — another name for the same six
* [Non-branded prompt](/glossary/non-branded-prompt) — prompts that name no brand at all