How it’s calculated
Of the responses where an engine retrieved your domain as a candidate source, Selection Rate is the share that ended up actually citing it:- Sources — the responses where your domain appeared in the engine’s retrieval pool (the pages it considered)
- Citations — of those, the responses where your domain was actually cited in the answer
What it tells you
A low Selection Rate means AI engines are finding your content but choosing competitor content instead. The most common cause is a low Alignment Score — your content is present but not structured well enough for the engine to cite confidently.| Rate | Signal |
|---|---|
| High | Your content is retrieved and selected — a strong signal of content quality and alignment |
| Low | Your content is retrieved but skipped — alignment or content depth is likely the issue |
How it differs from Citation Share
Citation Share measures your citation share across all citations. Selection Rate is scoped to your own retrieval appearances — it isolates the question of why you’re not being cited when you do show up.Selection Rate is a secondary metric. Use it alongside Alignment Score to diagnose why citations are lower than expected.