Key terms

The four that matter most

Four ideas come up constantly in the product, and the distinctions between them matter more than any single definition.

A mention is your brand named in an AI answer. A citation is your domain linked as a source for that answer. You can be mentioned without being cited, and cited without being mentioned. Retrieval is a third thing again: an engine pulling one of your pages into its context without linking it in the answer.

A prompt is a question we ask AI engines on your behalf. It is not a keyword, and it is not something a user typed. It is a question you chose to monitor because it is the kind of thing your buyers ask.

Where each one turns into a number

Each of these has a metric behind it, and the metrics do not share a denominator. Which one you are reading changes what the number is telling you.

Idea	Metric
Mention	Brand visibility
Citation	Citation rate
Retrieval	Domain coverage

Related

• What is GEO?: the concept behind the product
• Glossary: term-by-term reference
• Metrics defined: how these ideas become numbers