What is Citability?
Citability measures how easy it is for AI to extract and quote a specific paragraph from your page. Unlike metrics that score your entire page, citability analyzes each content block individually. Every paragraph gets its own score based on length (20-200 words), factual content, sentence structure, self-containedness, and whether it contains promotional or subjective language.
A block is "citable" when it scores 45 or higher out of 100. Your overall citability score reflects how many of your blocks pass this threshold, their average quality, and content variety. This directly impacts your GEO-Score ā because when ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews answer a question, they pick individual passages, not entire pages.
Why Citability Matters for AI Visibility
Traditional SEO optimizes pages. Generative Engine Optimization optimizes paragraphs. AI engines do not link to your homepage ā they extract specific blocks of text and present them as answers. If none of your paragraphs work as standalone citations, your content is invisible to AI search.
AI Evaluates at Block Level, Not Page Level
When ChatGPT or Perplexity answers a question, they select the single best paragraph from a page ā not the page itself. Research from Presence AI (February 2026) found that data-rich guides achieve a 67% citation rate while opinion pieces achieve only 18%. The deciding factor is whether individual blocks contain extractable, standalone answers.
Self-Contained Blocks Get 4.2x More Appearances
Content scoring above 8.5/10 on self-contained answer ability is 4.2x more likely to appear in AI Overviews (Wellows, 2026). A self-contained paragraph makes sense without surrounding context ā no "This means...", no "As mentioned above...", no pronouns without clear subjects. Each paragraph must stand alone as a complete answer.
Promotional Language Kills Citations
AI engines refuse to cite sales copy as informational answers. Thought leadership and opinion pieces achieve only an 18% citation rate compared to 67% for factual guides (Presence AI, 2026). Phrases like "buy now", "sign up today", or "we believe" signal promotional intent, and AI engines skip these blocks entirely ā even if the surrounding content is excellent.