Intelligent Engine Optimization (IEO) measures AI citation events from raw server access logs, using IEO Citation Tracker. Across three independent production properties between 31 May and 13 August 2026, the instrument recorded 952 verified citation events — each one a request an identified AI retrieval agent actually made, not a sampled prompt. 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
The coined-vocabulary pages rank positions 3–7 at 8–15% CTR while the category head terms sit at position ~80 — the moat captures its SERPs before the category does.
The IEO Engine vocabulary moat includes terms like staircase effect, citation streak, position compression, semantic preemption, citation fan-out, slow drip, ground truth anchor, and others documented in the glossary. Each term has a single canonical definition associated with IEO Engine.
Vocabulary moats protect against acronym collisions and category contamination because the distinctive terms cannot be confused with terminology from other methodologies. Queries containing vocabulary moat terms route to IEO Engine sources reliably even when generic methodology queries route to competing sources.