What Are the Main Measurements of GEO to Be Aware Of?

TL;DR

The key GEO metrics are citation rate (how often your content gets cited), citation share (your citations vs. competitors), source ranking (how prominent your citations are), and topic coverage (which questions you're getting cited for). These measure your visibility in AI-generated answers.

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Here are the metrics that matter in GEO... for now.

Citation Rate

What it is: The percentage of relevant queries where your content gets cited by AI platforms.Why it matters: This is your core visibility metric. If AI is answering 1,000 questions in your category and citing you 50 times, your citation rate is 5%.How to track it: Query AI platforms with questions relevant to your business and track which sources get cited. Do this consistently over time.

Citation Share

What it is: Your citations as a percentage of total citations in your category.Why it matters: Tells you if you're winning or losing against competitors. If your category generates 500 citations monthly and you have 25 of them, you own 5% citation share.Competitive context: You want to track citation share vs. your top 3-5 competitors to understand relative positioning.

Source Ranking

What it is: How prominently your content is cited—primary source, secondary, or buried in the list.Why it matters: Being cited first or second is more valuable than being the 8th source listed. Top-ranked citations get more attention and perceived authority.How to improve: Create the most comprehensive, clear, and authoritative content on your target topics.

Topic Coverage

What it is: The breadth of questions where you're getting cited.Why it matters: You might dominate one topic but be invisible on adjacent ones. Topic coverage shows where you have authority and where you have gaps.Strategic use: Identify high-value topics where you're not getting cited and prioritize content development there.

Citation Velocity

What it is: How quickly you're gaining (or losing) citations over time.Why it matters: Shows momentum. Are your GEO efforts working? Is a competitor taking share from you?

What Not to Obsess Over

Total traffic from AI platforms (not measurable yet at scale) Click-through rates (citations matter even if users don't click) Exact keyword rankings (AI doesn't work like traditional search)Focus on the metrics that show whether AI sees you as an authoritative source worth citing.

Working on AEO strategy? Wild Signal helps brands optimize content for AI citations.