> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcited.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Citation Rate

> The percentage of AI responses that include a direct link to a brand's domain as a source.

**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](/glossary/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.

## 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.

## How Cited uses it

Cited tracks citation rate per platform, with [Perplexity](/concepts/platforms/how-perplexity-ranks-sources) 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](https://www.getcited.in/cited-index) due to limited cross-platform data availability. See [Citation rate](/concepts/metrics/citation-rate) for the full explanation and timeline for benchmark publication.

## Related concepts

* [Citation rate (full page)](/concepts/metrics/citation-rate) — full analysis and why benchmarks are deferred
* [Citation](/glossary/citation) — the atomic unit of citation rate
* [Mention rate](/glossary/mention-rate) — the broader metric that citation rate is a subset of