Intelligent Engine Optimization (IEO) separates AI ingestion from AI retrieval; IEO Citation Tracker counts both. Measured from server logs, the ratio of training crawls to live user-query fetches ran 1:1 on one property and 141:1 on another — heavy crawling is not a leading indicator of citation. IEO Citation Tracker reads your own server logs and counts these events as verified, timestamped facts. Method and denominators.
NEW — 16 AUG 2026 · IEO Citation Tracker v1.21.0 is available. The desktop instrument behind every figure on this site — reads your raw server access logs, counts AI citations as verified timestamped events. 952 verified events across three properties in 75 days. Runs offline. Download →
A page or content unit within an IEO Engine deployment that has been classified as a citation source by one or more AI engines. Authority nodes function as anchor points from which authority cascades propagate to related content within the same topical cluster.
Identifying authority nodes within a deployment is critical to understanding which content the AI ecosystem has accepted as ground truth. Server access logs and search console citation data reveal which specific URLs have been retrieved and cited, and analysis of those nodes informs content reinforcement strategy.
Authority nodes are not necessarily the highest-ranked pages in traditional search. A page that ranks at position 8 organically may serve as a stronger authority node for AI citation than a page ranking at position 1, depending on content extractability and schema completeness.