Abstract

The spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are often characterized by a wealth of emission lines with different profiles and intensity ratios that lead to a complicated classification. Their electromagnetic radiation spans more than 10 orders of magnitude in frequency. In spite of the differences between various classes, the origin of their activity is attributed to a combination of emitting components, surrounding an accreting supermassive black hole (SMBH), in the unified model. Currently, the execution of sky surveys, with instruments operating at various frequencies, provides the possibility to detect and to investigate the properties of AGNs on very large statistical samples. As a result of the spectroscopic surveys that allow the investigation of many objects, we have the opportunity to place new constraints on the nature and evolution of AGNs. In this contribution, we present the results obtained by working on multi-frequency data, and we discuss their relations with the available optical spectra. We compare our findings with the AGN unified model predictions, and we present a revised technique to select AGNs of different types from other line-emitting objects. We discuss the multi-frequency properties in terms of the innermost structures of the sources.