Glossary
Selection
Whether a brand enters the pool of sources a model draws from at all, before absorption is even possible. Driven mostly by classic authority signals: backlinks, brand recognition, third-party mentions.
Definition
Selection is the first of two stages published research identifies in how large language models use a citation: did the brand enter the pool of sources the model drew from at all, regardless of how much the answer ultimately relied on it.
Selection is driven mostly by classic authority signals, backlinks, brand recognition, and third-party mentions, which is why it is what most published citation-rate numbers actually measure. Selection is necessary but not sufficient: a source can be selected and still contribute little to the answer (see Absorption).
Same ruler
See how this is measured
This term is part of the same declared methodology every score on this site follows: which prompts, which engines, how many runs.
Related terms
Absorption
Once a brand is selected as a source, how much it actually shapes the substance of the answer, versus sitting unused in a source list. Driven by extractable evidence density: definitions, statistics, comparisons, and structured content a model can lift directly.
Citation
A brand or domain named, linked, or otherwise identified as a source inside an AI engine's answer to a prompt. The base unit every score on this site is built from.
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