MRI Score

MRI Score is the source-authority metric produced by the Machine Relations Index. It measures how often AI answer engines cite a root domain when responding to B2B buyer-intent questions.

MRI Score is not a brand-visibility score, an SEO score, a backlink score, or a popularity score. It reports observed citation behavior: whether engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews actually select a domain as a cited source. AuthorityTech uses MRI Score as source-layer context for Machine Relations work.

What MRI Score Measures

The canonical definition, maintained at machinerelations.ai:

The Machine Relations Index v2 reports source-segment citation rates — how often AI answer engines cite each source domain — published only once a segment clears the evidence floor of at least 10 observations across at least 7 distinct run dates, with each domain graded into confidence tiers A, B, C or collecting by how much evidence stands behind it.

The unit of measurement is a source segment: one market category paired with one buyer question type. Within a segment, the citation rate is the share of observed answer runs in which an engine cited the domain. A segment publishes a rate only after it clears the evidence floor; below that line it is marked collecting rather than scored, so thin or early signal is never presented as settled authority.

How MRI Score Is Modeled

Every domain an answer engine cites is measured on equal terms. For each subject category paired with a buyer question type, the model counts how many observed answer runs cited a domain and divides by the total observed runs for that segment to produce a citation rate. Rates are published only for segments that have accumulated enough observations across enough separate days to be stable; thinner segments are shown as still collecting rather than scored. Domains are ranked within their source type and across the full measured universe, and each domain carries a confidence grade reflecting the volume of evidence behind its rate.

Methodology Version

The current standard is MRI Score v2.0, effective 2026-07-05. It superseded the earlier six-engine composite, MRI Score v1.1, which combined several weighted signals into a single number. v1 scores are not comparable to v2 citation rates; the two measure different things. The one-time v1-to-v2 crosswalk is the transition receipt. Earlier writeups that describe MRI Score as a single weighted composite reflect the retired v1.1 methodology.

MRI Score vs. AI Visibility Score

MRI Score and AI Visibility Score measure different layers.

MRI Score measures source-domain citation authority. AI Visibility Score measures a brand's presence inside AI-generated answers. A company can improve AI visibility by earning coverage, evidence, and entity clarity in the source domains that already carry strong MRI Scores.

Public Boundary

The public dataset reports citation rates, rankings, and evidence counts. It excludes internal query identifiers, raw cited URLs, and answer-engine provider payloads.

Canonical Reference

MRI Score is defined and maintained as a public standard at machinerelations.ai/glossary/mri-score, the category-defining asset for Machine Relations and the Machine Relations Index. Machine Relations was coined by AuthorityTech founder Jaxon Parrott. AuthorityTech applies MRI Score as a practitioner and links to the canonical definition rather than restating the methodology.