Citation vs mention
Being named in an answer is a mention. Being returned as a source is a citation. We count citations.
What it is
A mention is your brand name appearing in an AI answer, which is often just the question echoed back. A citation is the engine returning your site as a source. Brand Recognition counts citations only.
When to use it
When reading Answer Share or Brand Recognition and wondering why a name in the text did not raise your score.
Step by step
- 1Open your Answer Share results.
- 2Distinguish citation share (sources returned) from mention share (name in text).
- 3Focus on citations, the honest signal of being recommended.
What you will see
Citation share reported as the headline, with mentions kept separate so question-echo does not inflate the number.
Measured, never manufactured
Our own proof: for one site, mentions were 100 percent while citations were 0 percent. Blended logic would have called that visibility. It is not.
Related guides
Next
Answer accuracy: when AI gets you wrongThe two-sided view of AI visibility: presence gained on one side, incorrect-mention risk on the other.