Glossary/Citation share
Citation share
Definition
Citation share is the proportion of the source links an AI engine cites in its answers that point to a given site, across a tracked set of queries.
Where share of answers counts how often a firm is named, citation share counts how often the firm's own pages are used as sources. Many engines show the links they drew on, and citation share measures a firm's slice of those links.
The two metrics can diverge. A firm can be named without being cited, when the model recalls it from training, or cited without being named prominently, when its pages support a broader answer. Watching both gives a fuller picture of visibility and of source authority.
Citation share is most useful for engines that expose their sources, such as Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, where the cited links are visible to the user.