diff --git a/public/js/assistant/citations.js b/public/js/assistant/citations.js
index 8677e5b..2ab9948 100644
--- a/public/js/assistant/citations.js
+++ b/public/js/assistant/citations.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export function renderAssistantMarkdown(md, sources, options) {
     codeBlocks.push({ lang: (lang || '').toLowerCase(), code: code });
     return '\n@@CODEBLOCK_' + idx + '@@\n';
   });
-  text = stripOrphanMarkdownMarkers(normalizeMarkdownText(text));
+  text = stripOrphanMarkdownMarkers(normalizeMarkdownText(text.replace(/\\\[((?:\d+\s*,\s*)*\d+)\\\]/g, '[$1]')));
   text = renderLatexText(text, opts.katex);
   text = normalizeAdjacentCitationClusters(text, sources || []);
 
diff --git a/test/assistant-citations.test.js b/test/assistant-citations.test.js
index e6aedaf..7214aac 100644
--- a/test/assistant-citations.test.js
+++ b/test/assistant-citations.test.js
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ test('renders citation clusters as links to matching source cards', async () =>
   assert.match(html, /<a class="assistant-cite"[^>]*>src<\/a> <a class="assistant-cite"[^>]*>src<\/a>/);
 });
 
+test('renders escaped citation tokens as source links, not display math', async () => {
+  const { renderAssistantMarkdown } = await loadCitationModule();
+  const katex = { renderToString: function () { throw new Error('citation sent to KaTeX'); } };
+  const html = renderAssistantMarkdown('Acquired hypothyroidism is uncommon. \\[1, 2\\].', sources, { katex });
+  assert.match(html, /<a class="assistant-cite"[^>]*>src<\/a> <a class="assistant-cite"[^>]*>src<\/a>/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(html, /katex-display/);
+});
+
 test('can render citation labels as numbers for PDF export', async () => {
   const { renderAssistantMarkdown } = await loadCitationModule();
   const html = renderAssistantMarkdown('Give magnesium for severe exacerbation [1, 2].', sources, { citationLabel: 'number' });