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Selection Rate measures the gap between being found and being chosen. It answers: when an AI engine retrieves your domain as a candidate source, how often does it end up in the final response?

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How it’s calculated

Selection Rate = Your domain citations ÷ Your domain search appearances × 100
  • Search appearances — how many times your domain appeared in the AI engine’s retrieval pool (the sources it considered)
  • Citations — how many times it was actually included in the final response

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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.
RateSignal
HighYour content is retrieved and selected — a strong signal of content quality and alignment
LowYour content is retrieved but skipped — alignment or content depth is likely the issue
Share of Search 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.