Add Citations in Agent Responses

To build trust in Agentforce Service Agent responses, include citations to source information. Citations appear in static text messages as a citationContent field in the outbound message event payload. To support this optional feature, parse the citationContent field and render inline markers and a sources list in your UI. For example, include inline markers like [1], [2] and a Sources section at the end of the message. There’s no capability registration required to turn on the feature.

Citations appear in static text messages as an optional citationContent field. This field contains:

Citation references: Links to source articles with optional display labels and optional Salesforce record IDs
Inline metadata: Character offset positions indicating where citation markers should appear in the message text

Structure of Outbound Message Event with Citations

When a message includes citations, the staticContent object contains a citationContent field.

1{
2  "staticContent": {
3    "formatType": "Text",
4    "text": "To replace your iPhone battery, you can follow step-by-step instructions available on various platforms. Here are some options: 1. DIY Replacement: You can replace the battery yourself using DIY kits. Detailed instructions and comparisons of costs, savings, and time for different models can be found here. 2. Professional Repair Shop: You can take your iPhone to a reputable repair shop.",
5    "citationContent": {
6      "citations": [
7        {
8          "citedReference": {
9            "citedReferenceType": "Link",
10            "link": {
11              "url": "https://www.example.com/Wiki/iPhone_Battery_Replacement"
12             },
13             "recordId": null,
14             "label": "https://www.example.com/Wiki/iPhone_Battery_Replacement"
15           },
16         "citedDetails": {
17           "citedDetailsType": "InlineMetadata",
18           "inlineMetadata": [
19             {
20               "claim": {
21                  "claimStartOffset": 0,
22                  "claimEndOffset": 309
23                },
24              "citedLocationOffset": 309
25             }
26           ]
27         }
28       },
29       {
30         "citedReference": {
31           "citedReferenceType": "Link",
32           "link": {
33              "url": "https://www.example.com/News/11220/3-ways-replace-iphone-battery"
34            },
35           "recordId": null,
36           "label": "https://www.example.com/News/11220/3-ways-replace-iphone-battery"
37         },
38         "citedDetails": {
39           "citedDetailsType": "InlineMetadata",
40           "inlineMetadata": [
41              {
42                "claim": {
43                  "claimStartOffset": 309,
44                  "claimEndOffset": 391
45                },
46              "citedLocationOffset": 391
47             }
48           ]
49         }
50       }
51     ]
52   }
53 }
54}

Handle Citation Offsets

All offsets are zero-indexed character positions in the staticContent.text field.

citedLocationOffset specifies where to insert a citation marker (e.g., [1])
claimStartOffset / claimEndOffset define which portion of the text the citation supports.

Citation Schema Reference

The citation schema uses a discriminator pattern with the following fields.

Field	Type	Description
`CitationContent`	Object	Contains an array of citation objects.
`citations`	Array	Array of citation objects
`citation`	Object	Represents a single citation reference and its metadata.
`citedReference`	Object	The source being cited (currently supports `Link` type).
`citedDetails`	Object	Metadata about where the citation applies in the message text.
`LinkCitedReference`	Object	Citation reference pointing to a URL.
`citedReferenceType`	String	Must be `"Link"`.
`link`	Object	Link object containing a `url` field.
`label`	String	Display label for the citation (e.g., “example” for example.com).
`recordId`	String	Salesforce record ID if citation links to a Salesforce object.
`InlineMetadataCitedDetails`	Object	Specifies where citations should appear in the message text.
`citedDetailsType`	String	Must be `"InlineMetadata"`.
`inlineMetadata`	Array	Array of metadata objects (minimum 1).
`citedLocationOffset`	Integer	Zero-indexed character position where citation marker should be inserted.
`claim`	Object	Defines the text span this citation supports with `claimStartOffset` and `claimEndOffset` (both integers).