GLOSSARY
Citation rate
Citation Rate
One sentence of definition, and how it differs from the concepts it gets confused with. The definition is written to be quoted as it stands.
DEFINITION
Citation rate is the proportion of measured questions in which the brand, or a web page belonging to it, was cited as a source in the AI answer. A citation rate published without its denominator (questions × engines) cannot be verified.
Easily confused with
The same 40% does not mean the same thing
4 of 10 questions and 80 of 200 are both 40% with entirely different reliability. One becomes 30% or 50% if a single question changes; the other barely moves. The smaller the denominator, the weaker the number's meaning.
Who chose the questions matters as much as the denominator
When the side doing the measuring picks the questions, only favourable ones may be in there. Check whether you can see the full question set, and whether you can add to or change the questions.
In practice
- When you receive a citation rate, ask for five things — the query set, the engines, the measurement date, the sample size, and whether it is measured or illustrative.
- The denominator for Navirang's own measurement is 40 questions × 7 answer engines = 280 cells, and we do not change it mid-measurement.
Related terms
Where this leads
- How far can you trust the performance figures an AEO agency quotes? Figures like citation rate and improvement only mean something with the measurement conditions attached. Five things to check, and six questions to put to an agency verbatim.
- Measurement methodology The protocol fixing observation unit, metric, denominator and limits
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