scite is built on a database of over 1.2 billion citation statements extracted from hundreds of millions of scientific articles using natural language processing and machine learning models. Each citation is classified into one of three categories — supporting, contrasting, or mentioning — using custom-trained deep learning classifiers. The platform exposes a RESTful API that allows developers and institutions to query citation data, retrieve Smart Citation metadata, and integrate citation intelligence into their own tools and workflows. scite also offers an AI Assistant (powered by large language models, including OpenAI) that synthesizes literature-grounded answers with inline citations, enabling retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) over scientific corpora.