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Citation rate is the percentage of AI-generated responses that include a direct hyperlink to a brand’s domain as a cited source. It is a stricter test than mention rate — a brand can be named in a response without being linked, but a citation requires the AI to surface a clickable URL pointing to the brand’s own website.

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Why it matters

Citation rate measures whether the AI considers your domain an authoritative source, not just whether it knows your brand name. A 30% mention rate with 0% citation rate means the AI discusses your brand but sources its information from third-party sites — review aggregators, news articles, competitor comparison pages. Closing this gap is a primary AEO/GEO optimization objective.

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How Cited uses it

Cited tracks citation rate per platform, with Perplexity providing the most reliable data because it includes explicit source citations on every response. Citation rate benchmarks are not yet published in the Cited Index due to limited cross-platform data availability. See Citation rate for the full explanation and timeline for benchmark publication.