What is Citation Share?
Citation share is the proportion of tracked questions in which a given brand or domain is cited as a source by an AI engine, relative to the total number of questions tracked or to competitors cited on the same questions.
Also known as: share of voice, AI share of voice
It is the closest available equivalent to rank tracking for generative search. Because generated answers vary between runs, a single observation carries little information; the metric is only meaningful as a rate across a defined question set observed repeatedly.
Two failure modes make the number misleading. The first is a question set chosen to flatter — track only questions naming your brand and citation share approaches 100% while telling you nothing. The second is treating a failed measurement as a zero, which conflates "the engine did not cite you" with "the call failed", and produces the false impression of a collapse.
Compared against named competitors on the same question set on the same schedule, it becomes genuinely decision-useful: it identifies the specific questions where someone else owns the answer.
Why Citation Share matters
It converts a vague sense of AI visibility into a rate that can be tracked, compared against competitors, and moved deliberately.
Define the question set first
The metric is only comparable over time if the tracked questions stay fixed. Changing the set resets the baseline.
Track competitors on the same questions
Absolute citation share means little without knowing who is cited instead when you are not.
Never record a failed call as zero
"Not measured" and "not cited" are different observations. Merging them manufactures declines that did not happen.
Sample repeatedly
Answers are non-deterministic. Rates need multiple observations per question before a trend is real.