Manage citations, references and footnotes across your WordPress content

CiteKit helps content publishers track sources, add structured citations, and maintain credibility as their article archive grows.

30+ active installs WordPress 6.9.4 Updated Apr 22, 2026 Free on WordPress.org
Install CiteKit

Every month, thousands of bloggers link to research, statistics, and expert insights, but few have a system for tracking those references after publishing[1].

Google's Search Quality Raters evaluate E-E-A-T by looking for transparency, source attribution, and evidence of content integrity[2].

Most WordPress sites can't answer basic questions like which citations exist, where they appear, or whether the links are still valid[3].

CiteKit keeps every source you reference clear, consistent, and in one place. If trust and credibility matter to your content strategy, start with citations you can manage at scale[4].

Source References
  1. Orbit Media Studios. (2022). Annual Blogging Statistics and Trends. https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/blogging-statistics/ ↩︎
  2. Google. (2023). Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf ↩︎
  3. Semrush. (2023). What Is E-E-A-T and Why It Matters for SEO. https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-e-e-a-t/ ↩︎
  4. Yoast. (2023). What is E-E-A-T?. https://yoast.com/what-is-e-e-a-t/ ↩︎
Built for
Bloggers Journalists Researchers SEO Content Teams Academic Publishers News & Media Sites
Step-by-step walkthrough

How CiteKit works

1

Insert a citation with a shortcode

Type [cite] directly in your post content — classic or block editor — right after the text you're supporting. CiteKit assigns a unique stable ID automatically on save.

Assign your own memorable ID like who-2024 to make the same citation reusable across your entire site.

[cite]
[cite id="who-2024"]
[cite id="smith-climate-2023"]
In the editor
Global antibiotic resistance has reached a critical threshold [cite id="who-2024"]. A separate analysis by Smith et al. [cite id="smith-2023"] corroborates these findings.
2

Or insert from the block toolbar

In the block editor, place your cursor where you want a citation and click [1], or select text and click † to wrap it in a tooltip — no shortcodes needed.

Both markers appear inline immediately. The CiteBox panel updates for new citations and tooltip content is entered right in the editor.

Paragraph toolbar
:: † [1] B I ⋮
In an era of AI-generated content, E-E-A-T [t] is the standard Google's Search Quality Raters use to evaluate content. [1]
3

Fill in citation details with CiteBox

Every post with [cite] shortcodes gets a CiteBox panel in the editor sidebar. Fill in author, title, year, and URL without leaving the editor.

Fields save instantly via AJAX. Metadata is shared across all posts using the same citation ID.

CiteBox Panel
CiteBox
who-2024
smith-2023
a3f8c1d2…
b72e905a…
4

Auto-generate a bibliography

Drop [bibliography] at the end of your post and CiteKit renders a formatted reference list from all your [cite] shortcodes automatically.

In the block editor, add the Bibliography block instead — choose your citation style and heading in the block sidebar. Supports APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE.

[bibliography]
[bibliography style="mla" title="Article Sources"]
Bibliography block — in the editor
My Bibliography
APA 7th edition
My Bibliography
  1. World Health Organization. (2024). Global Antimicrobial Resistance Report.
  2. Smith, J. (2023). Climate and Health.
5

Manage everything in the Reference Library

The CiteKit Library gives you a bird's-eye view of every citation across your entire site. See which posts cite each reference and whether source URLs are still live.

The Link Health Checker marks each URL as Live, Broken, or Unchecked — find dead links before your readers do.

Library View
Global Antimicrobial ReportLive
Climate and Health, 2023Live
WHO Bulletin 2019Broken
Smith et al. Meta-AnalysisUnchecked
6

Add hover tooltips with [tooltip]

Wrap any text in [tooltip]…[/tooltip] to add an inline footnote, definition, or aside. The optional style attribute sets a custom superscript symbol — defaults to † if omitted.

Readers hover the superscript to reveal the popup. No visual clutter until they need it.

[tooltip]Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.[/tooltip]
[tooltip style="#"]Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, updated 2024[/tooltip]
Tooltips for contextual info
Search Quality Raters evaluate E-E-A-T†Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness when rating content quality. Sites that demonstrate these signals consistently rank higher in search results#Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, updated 2024.
Hover over the superscripts above to see the popups
Everything included

All plugin features

CiteBox Metabox

Edit author, title, year, and URL for every citation directly inside the post editor.

Central Reference Library

See every citation across your entire site in one place, with post counts and metadata.

Link Health Checker

Verify all source URLs are still reachable. Results are saved and displayed per-citation.

Auto Bibliography

One shortcode or block generates a complete, backlinked bibliography. No manual formatting needed.

6 Citation Styles

APA, MLA, Chicago (Author-Date & Notes-Bib), Harvard, and IEEE. Set a default or override per post.

Hover Tooltips

The [tooltip] shortcode adds clean hover notes with a custom superscript symbol. Works in both editors.

Paragraph Toolbar

Insert citations [1], tooltips †, and footnotes inline using toolbar buttons in any paragraph, heading, or list block.

Bibliography Block

Drop in the Bibliography block to render a formatted reference list. Choose style and heading in the block sidebar.

Footnotes Block

Render every inline footnote in your post as a numbered list at the end. Auto-updates as you add or remove footnotes.

Free tools

Generate citations and bibliographies online

No account needed. Use the generators standalone, or bring the output into CiteKit for your WordPress site.

Free tool

Citation Generator

Generate a single formatted citation from a URL, DOI, or by entering details manually. Pick your style and source type to get started.

Open Citation Generator

By citation style

APA 7th MLA 9th Chicago Harvard IEEE

By source type

Website YouTube Video Journal Article Book News Article
Free tool

Bibliography Generator

Add multiple sources and generate a complete formatted bibliography ready to copy, export, or drop into your post.

Open Bibliography Generator

By citation style

APA Reference List MLA Works Cited Chicago Bibliography Harvard Reference List IEEE References
Free tool

Reference Library

Save citations into named sets - privately in your browser and format any set as a bibliography.

Open your Reference Library

Highlights

Browser-only No account Up to 5 sets Format any set
Free tool

Citation Link Verifier

Paste up to 50 DOIs, ISBNs, YouTube IDs, or URLs and check whether each citation points to a real, reachable source.

Open the Citation Link Checker

Supported sources

DOI · CrossRef ISBN · OpenLibrary YouTube · oEmbed URL · live fetch

Manage citations directly inside WordPress

Stop managing citations manually. Manage every source in one place - reusable, searchable, editable, and automatically formatted across your WordPress site.

Install CiteKit Free