Citation Velocity

Citation Velocity measures the speed at which your brand's AI citations increase over a defined period. It is the growth-rate metric that distinguishes brands building durable AI authority from those riding a single press hit.

Why Citation Velocity Matters

A single Tier-1 placement might spike your citations for a week. Citation Velocity tracks whether that spike becomes a new baseline. The metric matters because AI authority compounds — each new citation reinforces the AI's confidence in recommending your brand, which generates more citations in subsequent responses. Brands sustaining positive citation velocity over 90 days see their AI Visibility Score increase at an accelerating rate.

The inverse is equally telling. Negative citation velocity — your citations declining over time — signals that competitors are actively displacing you in the AI's recommendation set. By the time you notice lost pipeline, the citation damage is months old.

How to Measure Citation Velocity

Citation Velocity is calculated as the period-over-period change in total citations across AI engines:

• Weekly velocity — Best for campaign-level tracking (did this placement move the needle?)
• Monthly velocity — The standard operating cadence for Machine Relations programs
• 90-day rolling velocity — The strategic metric, smooths out noise and reveals real trend

A positive monthly velocity of 10-15% is strong for established brands. Category leaders in early-stage markets can sustain 25-40% monthly velocity through aggressive earned media campaigns.

How to Sustain Positive Citation Velocity

Citation Velocity is driven by consistent earned media output, not one-time campaigns:

• Publication cadence — Tier-1 placements every 2-3 weeks maintain freshness signals that AI engines weight heavily
• Topic breadth — Covering multiple category queries expands your citation surface area
• Source diversification — Citations from 5+ independent publications create cross-corroboration that AI engines reward

The most common failure mode is a "launch and forget" approach — one burst of PR followed by silence. AI engines deprioritize stale signals. Sustained velocity requires sustained input.

Track velocity alongside Citation Share to understand whether your growth outpaces competitors or merely keeps pace. Use Citation Gap Analysis to identify the specific queries where velocity gains are available.