Why am I seeing sources I do not recognise?
Updated
Short answer
Because the engines read what they trust, not what you would choose. Forums, review sites and aggregators appear constantly. An unfamiliar domain in your list is information rather than an error: it is where your category is being decided.
Why unfamiliar pages get cited
Engines that search the web while they answer often look beyond the obvious query, and they favour pages that answer a question directly and are easy to quote. Those are frequently small publishers, niche forums or aggregator pages rather than the sites your team usually watches.
What to do with one
- Check how often it is cited. A page cited once is not worth chasing; one cited repeatedly is.
- Read what it says about your category and whether it names you.
- If it is influential and leaves you out, treat it like any other outreach target.