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

# Knowledge Base Citations

> How Stella AI cites Knowledge Base sources — linking to the original external source when available, and to the in-app dataset view for uploaded files like PDFs and Word documents.

When Stella AI answers a question using your Knowledge Base, it adds **citations** so you can verify exactly where each fact came from. Citations appear as clickable 🔗 links inline in Stella's response. Click one to open the source the answer was drawn from.

This page explains where those links take you — and why a citation sometimes opens an external site and other times opens a page inside Statisfy.

<Note>
  Citations only appear when Stella draws on a dataset that has **Searchable in Stella** enabled. See [Knowledge Base Overview](/knowledge-base/overview) for how to make documents available to Stella.
</Note>

### Where a Citation Links

Each Knowledge Base citation resolves to the best available destination for that document. Stella picks the link in this order:

| Order | Document type                        | Citation opens                                                                 | Example                                                   |
| ----- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1     | **Imported from an external source** | The **original source URL** captured when the document was imported            | An Intercom Help Center article opens on your help center |
| 2     | **Uploaded file** (PDF, Word)        | The **in-app dataset view** in Statisfy, where you can find the cited document | `Knowledge Base → your dataset`                           |
| 3     | **Fallback** (no dataset available)  | The main **Knowledge Base** list                                               | `Knowledge Base`                                          |

The deciding factor is simple: **does Statisfy have a source URL for that document?**

### External Sources — Links to the Original

When a document is brought into your Knowledge Base from a **connected source** (for example, an [Intercom Help Center](/integrations/intercom_integration)), Statisfy stores the document's original web address at import time.

Citations for these documents link **straight to that original source**. This is the preferred behavior — the reader lands on the canonical page they already trust, with the full, up-to-date content and the source's own formatting.

<Tip>
  External-source citations are the most useful kind because they take the reader to the live original. Where possible, import help content through a connected source rather than uploading static copies.
</Tip>

### Uploaded Files (PDF, Word) — Links to the In-App View

When you **upload a file directly** to a dataset — a PDF or Word document — there is no external web address for Stella to link to. The file lives only inside Statisfy.

In this case, the citation links to the **dataset view inside Statisfy** (`Knowledge Base → the dataset that contains the document`). From there you can open the document the answer was based on.

<Note>
  A citation for an uploaded file points to the **dataset**, not to a specific page within the file. A dedicated in-app document viewer is on the roadmap; until then, the dataset view is the landing page from which you can locate the cited document.
</Note>

The currently supported upload formats are:

| Format | Extensions |
| ------ | ---------- |
| PDF    | `.pdf`     |
| Word   | `.docx`    |

See [Uploading Documents](/knowledge-base/uploading_documents) for the full upload workflow and size limits.

### How Citations Appear in Stella

* Citations render as inline 🔗 links within Stella's answer.
* Hovering a citation shows a tooltip with the **source name** and the **dataset** it belongs to.
* Stella shows up to **3 unique source links** per answer and removes duplicates, so if the same document supports several points, it is linked once.
* Citations work in both the in-app Stella chat and in Stella's Slack replies.

### Frequently Asked Questions

<Accordion title="Why did a citation open app.statisfy.com instead of my source?">
  That citation points to a **directly uploaded file** (PDF or Word), which has no external source URL — so Stella links to the in-app dataset view inside Statisfy instead. Documents imported from a connected source link to their original URL.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Why does a citation open the dataset and not the exact document?">
  For uploaded files, Stella currently links to the dataset that contains the cited document rather than to a single-document viewer (which isn't built yet). Open the dataset to find the cited file. Documents imported from an external source link directly to the original page.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Stella's answer mentions a document but there's no link">
  A few reasons a link may not appear:

  * The dataset isn't set to **Searchable in Stella** — enable it in the dataset settings.
  * The same source was already linked earlier in the answer (duplicates are removed).
  * The answer reached the 3-link limit, so additional citations for the same response aren't shown as links.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Can Stella cite PowerPoint (PPTX) files?">
  Not currently. The Knowledge Base supports **PDF** and **Word (`.docx`)** uploads, plus documents imported from connected sources. Convert a PowerPoint to PDF before uploading if you want Stella to use and cite it.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Does Stella only cite the Knowledge Base?">
  No. Stella also cites **activities** (meetings, emails, and other timeline items) and **documents** it references. This page covers Knowledge Base citations specifically; activity citations link to the relevant account activity, and document citations link to the document in Statisfy.
</Accordion>

### Need Help?

If a Knowledge Base citation links somewhere unexpected, please contact [support@statisfy.com](mailto:support@statisfy.com). Our team will assist you.