diff --git a/api/src/stampy_chat/followups.py b/api/src/stampy_chat/followups.py
index 5afce48..cfc065c 100644
--- a/api/src/stampy_chat/followups.py
+++ b/api/src/stampy_chat/followups.py
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ def search_authored(query: str):
 
 
 def get_followups(query):
+    if not query.strip():
+        return []
+
     url = 'https://nlp.stampy.ai/api/search?query=' + quote(query)
     response = requests.get(url).json()
     return [Followup(entry['title'], entry['pageid'], entry['score']) for entry in response]
diff --git a/web/src/components/assistant.tsx b/web/src/components/assistant.tsx
index 8047d82..dc292f8 100644
--- a/web/src/components/assistant.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/assistant.tsx
@@ -1,49 +1,27 @@
-import { ProcessText, ShowCitation, ShowInTextCitation } from "./citations";
+import { useState } from "react";
+import { ShowCitation, CitationsBlock } from "./citations";
 import { GlossarySpan } from "./glossary";
-import type { Citation, AssistantEntry } from "../types";
-
-export const ShowAssistantEntry: React.FC<{entry: AssistantEntry}> = ({entry}) => {
-  const in_text_citation_regex = /\[([0-9]+)\]/g;
-
-  let [response, cite_map] = ProcessText(entry.content, entry.base_count);
-
-  // ----------------- create the ordered citation array -----------------
-
-  const citations = new Map<number, Citation>();
-  cite_map.forEach((value, key) => {
-    const index = key.charCodeAt(0) - 'a'.charCodeAt(0);
-    if (index >= entry.citations.length) {
-      console.log("invalid citation index: " + index);
-    } else {
-      citations.set(value, entry.citations[index]!);
-    }
-  });
+import type { Citation, AssistantEntry as AssistantType} from "../types";
 
+export const AssistantEntry: React.FC<{entry: AssistantType}> = ({entry}) => {
   return (
     <div className="mt-3 mb-8">
-      {  // split into paragraphs
-        response.split("\n").map(paragraph => ( <p> {
-          paragraph.split(in_text_citation_regex).map((text, i) => {
-            if (i % 2 === 0) {
-              return <GlossarySpan content={text.trim()} />;
-            }
-            i = parseInt(text) - 1;
-            if (!citations.has(i)) return `[${text}]`;
-            const citation = citations.get(i)!;
-            return (
-              <ShowInTextCitation citation={citation} i={i} />
-            );
-          })
-        } </p>))
-      }
-      <ul className="mt-5">
-        {  // show citations
-          Array.from(citations.entries()).map(([i, citation]) => (
-            <li key={i}>
-              <ShowCitation citation={citation} i={i} />
-            </li>
+        { entry.content.split("\n").map(paragraph => (
+            <CitationsBlock
+                text={paragraph}
+                citations={entry.citationsMap}
+                textRenderer={(t) => (<GlossarySpan content={t}/>)}
+            />
           ))
         }
+        <ul className="mt-5">
+        {  // show citations
+            Array.from(entry.citationsMap.values()).map(citation => (
+                <li key={citation.index}>
+                <ShowCitation citation={citation} />
+                </li>
+            ))
+        }
       </ul>
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/web/src/components/citations.tsx b/web/src/components/citations.tsx
index 2b08aa3..3aaaafa 100644
--- a/web/src/components/citations.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/citations.tsx
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ import type { Citation } from "../types";
 import { Colours, A } from "./html";
 
 
-// todo: memoize this if too slow.
-export const ProcessText: (text: string, base_count: number) => [string, Map<string, number>] = (text, base_count) => {
-
+export const formatCitations: (text: string) => string = (text) => {
   // ---------------------- normalize citation form ----------------------
   // the general plan here is just to add parsing cases until we can respond
   // well to almost everything the LLM emits. We won't ever reach five nines,
@@ -41,33 +39,29 @@ export const ProcessText: (text: string, base_count: number) => [string, Map<str
     /\[\s*([a-z]+)\s*\]/g,
     (_match: string, x: string) => `[${x}]`
   )
+  return response;
+}
 
-  // -------------- map citations from strings into numbers --------------
-
+export const findCitations: (text: string, citations: Citations[]) => Map<string, Citation> = (text, citations) => {
   // figure out what citations are in the response, and map them appropriately
-  const cite_map = new Map<string, number>();
-  let cite_count = 0;
+  const cite_map = new Map<string, Citation>();
 
   // scan a regex for [x] over the response. If x isn't in the map, add it.
   // (note: we're actually doing this twice - once on parsing, once on render.
   // if that looks like a problem, we could swap from strings to custom ropes).
   const regex = /\[([a-z]+)\]/g;
   let match;
-  let response_copy = ""
-  while ((match = regex.exec(response)) !== null) {
-    if (!cite_map.has(match[1]!)) {
-      cite_map.set(match[1]!, base_count + cite_count++);
+  while ((match = regex.exec(text)) !== null) {
+    const letter = match[1];
+    const citation = citations[letter.charCodeAt(0) - 'a'.charCodeAt(0)]
+    if (!cite_map.has(letter!)) {
+      cite_map.set(letter!, citation);
     }
-    // replace [x] with [i]
-    response_copy += response.slice(response_copy.length, match.index) + `[${cite_map.get(match[1]!)! + 1}]`;
   }
-
-  response = response_copy + response.slice(response_copy.length);
-
-  return [response, cite_map]
+  return cite_map
 }
 
-export const ShowCitation: React.FC<{citation: Citation, i: number}> = ({citation, i}) => {
+export const ShowCitation: React.FC<{citation: Citation}> = ({citation}) => {
 
   var c_str = citation.title;
 
@@ -79,25 +73,44 @@ export const ShowCitation: React.FC<{citation: Citation, i: number}> = ({citatio
   // if we don't have a url, link to a duckduckgo search for the title instead
   const url = citation.url && citation.url !== ""
         ? citation.url
-        : `https://duckduckgo.com/?q=${encodeURIComponent(citation.title)}`;
+        : `https://duckduckgo.com/?q=${encodeURIComponent(ndecitation.title)}`;
 
   return (
-    <A className={Colours[i % Colours.length] + " border-2 flex items-center rounded my-2 text-sm no-underline w-fit"}
+    <A className={Colours[(citation.index - 1) % Colours.length] + " border-2 flex items-center rounded my-2 text-sm no-underline w-fit"}
       href={url}>
-      <span className="mx-1"> [{i + 1}] </span>
+      <span className="mx-1"> [{citation.index}] </span>
       <p className="mx-1 my-0"> {c_str} </p>
     </A>
   );
 };
 
-export const ShowInTextCitation: React.FC<{citation: Citation, i: number}> = ({citation, i}) => {
-  const url = citation.url && citation.url !== ""
-        ? citation.url
-        : `https://duckduckgo.com/?q=${encodeURIComponent(citation.title)}`;
-  return (
-    <A className={Colours[i % Colours.length] + " border-2 rounded text-sm no-underline w-min px-0.5 pb-0.5 ml-1 mr-0.5"}
-      href={url}>
-      [{i + 1}]
-    </A>
-  );
+export const CitationRef: React.FC<{citation: Citation}> = ({citation}) => {
+    const url = citation.url && citation.url !== ""
+              ? citation.url
+              : `https://duckduckgo.com/?q=${encodeURIComponent(citation.title)}`;
+    return (
+        <A className={Colours[(citation.index - 1) % Colours.length] + " border-2 rounded text-sm no-underline w-min px-0.5 pb-0.5 ml-1 mr-0.5"}
+           href={url}>
+            [{citation.index}]
+        </A>
+    );
 };
+
+
+export const CitationsBlock: React.FC<{text: string, citations: Map<string, Citation>, textRenderer: (t: str) => any}> = ({text, citations, textRenderer}) => {
+    const regex = /\[([a-z]+)\]/g;
+    return (
+        <p> {
+            text.split(regex).map((part, i) => {
+                // When splitting, the even parts are basic text sections, while the odd ones are
+                // citations
+                if (i % 2 == 0) {
+                    return textRenderer(part)
+                } else {
+                    return (<CitationRef citation={citations.get(part)} />)
+                }
+            })
+        }
+        </p>
+    )
+}
diff --git a/web/src/components/entry.tsx b/web/src/components/entry.tsx
index 10e8eb3..d70afdc 100644
--- a/web/src/components/entry.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/entry.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import type {
   Entry as EntryType,
-  AssistantEntry,
+  AssistantEntry as AssistantEntryType,
   ErrorMessage,
   StampyMessage,
   UserEntry,
 } from "../types";
-import { ShowAssistantEntry } from "./assistant";
+import { AssistantEntry } from "./assistant";
 import { GlossarySpan } from "./glossary";
 import Image from "next/image";
 import logo from "../logo.svg";
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ export const Error = ({ entry }: { entry: ErrorMessage }) => {
   );
 };
 
-export const Assistant = ({ entry }: { entry: AssistantEntry }) => {
+export const Assistant = ({ entry }: { entry: AssistantEntryType }) => {
   return (
     <li>
-      <ShowAssistantEntry entry={entry} />
+      <AssistantEntry entry={entry} />
     </li>
   );
 };
diff --git a/web/src/hooks/useSearch.ts b/web/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
index 90a69e1..d614ae3 100644
--- a/web/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
+++ b/web/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import type {
   Followup,
   SearchResult,
 } from "../types";
+import { formatCitations, findCitations } from '../components/citations';
 
 const MAX_FOLLOWUPS = 4;
 const DATA_HEADER = "data: "
@@ -50,14 +51,13 @@ export async function* iterateData(res: Response) {
 
 export const extractAnswer = async (
   res: Response,
-  baseReferencesIndex: number,
   setCurrent: (e: CurrentSearch) => void
 ): Promise<SearchResult> => {
   var result: AssistantEntry = {
     role: "assistant",
     content: "",
     citations: [],
-    base_count: baseReferencesIndex,
+    citationsMap: Map<string, Citation>,
   };
   var followups: Followup[] = [];
   for await (var data of iterateData(res)) {
@@ -76,11 +76,12 @@ export const extractAnswer = async (
 
       case "streaming":
         // incrementally build up the response
+        const content = formatCitations((result?.content || "") + data.content);
         result = {
+          content,
           role: "assistant",
-          content: (result?.content || "") + data.content,
           citations: result?.citations || [],
-          base_count: result?.base_count || baseReferencesIndex,
+          citationsMap: findCitations(content, result?.citations || []),
         };
         setCurrent({ phase: "streaming", ...result });
         break;
@@ -120,7 +121,6 @@ export const queryLLM = async (
   query: string,
   mode: string,
   history: HistoryEntry[],
-  baseReferencesIndex: number,
   setCurrent: (e?: CurrentSearch) => void,
   sessionId: string
 ): Promise<SearchResult> => {
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export const queryLLM = async (
   }
 
   try {
-    return await extractAnswer(res, baseReferencesIndex, setCurrent);
+    return await extractAnswer(res, setCurrent);
   } catch (e) {
     return {
       result: { role: "error", content: e ? e.toString() : "unknown error" },
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ export const runSearch = async (
   query: string,
   query_source: "search" | "followups",
   mode: string,
-  baseReferencesIndex: number,
   entries: Entry[],
   setCurrent: (c: CurrentSearch) => void,
   sessionId: string
@@ -210,7 +209,6 @@ export const runSearch = async (
       query,
       mode,
       history,
-      baseReferencesIndex,
       setCurrent,
       sessionId
     );
diff --git a/web/src/pages/index.tsx b/web/src/pages/index.tsx
index 8e01623..c04545b 100644
--- a/web/src/pages/index.tsx
+++ b/web/src/pages/index.tsx
@@ -6,12 +6,19 @@ import Image from 'next/image';
 import Page from "../components/page"
 import { API_URL } from "../settings"
 import { queryLLM, getStampyContent, runSearch } from "../hooks/useSearch";
-import type { Citation, Entry, UserEntry, AssistantEntry, ErrorMessage, StampyMessage } from "../types";
+import type {
+    CurrentSearch,
+    Citation,
+    Entry,
+    UserEntry,
+    AssistantEntry as AssistantEntryType,
+    ErrorMessage,
+    StampyMessage
+} from "../types";
 import { SearchBox, Followup } from "../components/searchbox";
 import { GlossarySpan } from "../components/glossary";
 import { Controls, Mode } from "../components/controls";
-import { ShowAssistantEntry } from "../components/assistant";
-import { ProcessText } from "../components/citations";
+import { AssistantEntry } from "../components/assistant";
 import { Entry as EntryTag } from "../components/entry";
 
 const MAX_FOLLOWUPS = 4;
@@ -24,7 +31,7 @@ type State = {
   citations: Citation[];
 } | {
   state: "streaming";
-  response: AssistantEntry;
+  response: AssistantEntryType;
 };
 
 type Mode = "rookie" | "concise" | "default";
@@ -43,7 +50,6 @@ function scroll30() {
 
 const Home: NextPage = () => {
   const [entries, setEntries] = useState<Entry[]>([]);
-  const [runningIndex, setRunningIndex] = useState(0);
   const [current, setCurrent] = useState<CurrentSearch>();
   const [sessionId, setSessionId] = useState()
 
@@ -70,6 +76,15 @@ const Home: NextPage = () => {
       }
   };
 
+  const updateCitations = (current: CurrentSearch) => {
+       const citations = Array.from(current.citationsMap.values());
+       if (citations.some(c => !c.index)) {
+           let index = 1;
+           citations.forEach((c) => {c.index = index++});
+           setCurrent(current)
+       }
+    }
+
   const search = async (
     query: string,
     query_source: "search" | "followups",
@@ -89,16 +104,12 @@ const Home: NextPage = () => {
           query,
           query_source,
           mode[0],
-          runningIndex,
           entries,
           updateCurrent,
           sessionId,
       );
       setCurrent(undefined);
 
-      if (query_source === "search") {
-          setRunningIndex(runningIndex + ProcessText(result.content, 0)[1].size);
-      }
       setEntries((prev) => [...prev, result]);
       enable(followups || []);
       scroll30();
@@ -116,12 +127,13 @@ const Home: NextPage = () => {
       last_entry = <p>Loading: Waiting for LLM...</p>;
       break;
     case "streaming":
-      last_entry = <ShowAssistantEntry entry={current} />;
+      updateCitations(current)
+      last_entry = <AssistantEntry entry={current} />;
       break;
     case "followups":
       last_entry = <>
-          <ShowAssistantEntry entry={current} />
-          <p>Checking for followups...</p>
+        <AssistantEntry entry={current} />
+        <p>Checking for followups...</p>
       </>;
       break;
   }
@@ -135,7 +147,7 @@ const Home: NextPage = () => {
 
       <ul>
         {entries.map((entry, i) => (
-           <EntryTag entry={entry} key={i} />
+          <EntryTag entry={entry} key={i} />
         ))}
         <SearchBox search={search} />
 
diff --git a/web/src/pages/semantic.tsx b/web/src/pages/semantic.tsx
index d405ed9..f87bdc0 100644
--- a/web/src/pages/semantic.tsx
+++ b/web/src/pages/semantic.tsx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const Semantic: NextPage = () => {
 
     if (!res.ok) {
       enable([]);
-      console.log("load failure: " + res.status);
+      console.error("load failure: " + res.status);
     }
 
     const data = await res.json();
diff --git a/web/src/types.ts b/web/src/types.ts
index 98ecaa6..5cafe64 100644
--- a/web/src/types.ts
+++ b/web/src/types.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export type Citation = {
     authors: string[];
     date: string;
     url: string;
+    index: number;
 }
 
 export type Followup = {