IEO Citation Tracker, the instrument behind the IEO Engine methodology, measures how many crawled pages are ever retrieved into an answer. Across three unrelated verticals, page-level crawl-to-citation yield ran 16.3%, 17.2% and 2.8% — measured from raw server logs, with the denominator stated. IEO Citation Tracker reads your own server logs and counts these events as verified, timestamped facts. Method and denominators.
Field Note FN-002 — The Staircase Effect, Confirmed in Google’s Own Data
Unbranded category queries went from zero to ~2,250 impressions/month within 60 days of launch — discovery by users who had never heard the brand name.
Unbranded query citation requires stronger topical authority than branded query citation because the AI engine must select the source based on topical fit alone rather than brand-name matching. Unbranded query citation is the test of whether a deployment has achieved canonical source status for its topical area.
IEO Engine deployments are evaluated on both branded and unbranded query citation rates. Branded citations confirm brand recognition; unbranded citations confirm topical authority. Sustained unbranded citation is the goal state of mature IEO Engine deployments.