◆ Methodology

How ORION Score Measures
AI Search Visibility

Citability Readiness is a comparative structural index from 0 to 100. It is not a calibrated probability of citation, and we will not call it one until it clears the validation gate below on held-out data.

Alongside it we report Observed Visibility: what ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity actually did when asked your customers' questions. That part is measured, not modelled.

ORION v6.0.0 · Research Release

Citability Readiness is a comparative structural index from 0–100. It is not a calibrated probability of citation.

Download the Paper (PDF) ORION Methodology v6.0 · by Calvin Ng By · calvinngwl.com
◈ The Formula

A Weighted Composite Score

Each webpage is evaluated across five distinct pillars. Each pillar scores 0–100 independently, then feeds into a weighted formula that produces your final ORION Score.

ORION Score Calculation
ORION = O₁ × 0.20 + R × 0.15 + I × 0.30 + O₂ × 0.25 + N × 0.10

When live LLM data is available, Observed Visibility (O₂) weight increases to 0.35, becoming the strongest signal. The formula dynamically adjusts to reflect real-world AI citation data.

◆ The Five Pillars

What Determines Your Score

Each pillar captures a different dimension of AI visibility. Together they give a complete picture of how AI systems perceive your content.

01
Originality (O₁)
Weight: 20%

Measures how unique and original your content is compared to existing sources across the web.

Content uniqueness — differentiation from competitors
Original research, data, or proprietary insights
Unique perspective or novel analysis
First-mover content signals
02
Retrievability (R)
Weight: 15%

Evaluates how easily AI systems can find, crawl, and access your content.

Search engine indexing — crawlability and discoverability
Schema markup (FAQPage, Organization, Article)
Heading hierarchy — proper H1-H6 structure
Page speed & technical health
03
Information Extractability (I)
Weight: 30%

Measures how well AI systems can parse and extract useful information from your content.

Answer readiness — directly answers questions
Factual density — specific numbers, dates, claims
Structured content — clear formatting and organization
Topical depth — comprehensive coverage
04
Observed Visibility (O₂)
Weight: 25%

Direct measurement of how often AI platforms actually cite your content in real queries.

Citation frequency across AI platforms
Mention quality & context
Recommendation patterns
Multi-platform coverage (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude)
05
Notability (N)
Weight: 10%

Measures brand authority and recognition across the web, indicating trust and credibility.

Brand entity recognition across the web
Third-party mentions & references
Review presence & sentiment
Domain authority & backlink quality
■ Score Interpretation

What Your Score Means

These bands describe structural readiness. They are deliberately not translated into a citation frequency: the index is not calibrated, so any such promise would be unearned.

0–19Very low structural readiness
20–39Low structural readiness
40–59Moderate structural readiness
60–79High structural readiness
80–100Very high structural readiness

These bands describe structural readiness. They are deliberately not translated into a citation frequency, the index is not calibrated, so any such promise would be unearned.

↔ Comparison

ORION Score vs Domain Authority

They measure fundamentally different things. A site can have high DA but low ORION Score (and vice versa) because AI systems evaluate authority differently than Google's link-based algorithm.

🎯

ORION Score

Measures actual AI citation likelihood. How often do ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude reference your content when answering relevant queries?

AI-First Metric
VS
📈

Domain Authority

Predicts Google ranking potential based on backlink profile. A link-based metric designed for traditional search engine optimization.

Link-Based Metric
❓ FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How often is ORION Score updated?
ORION Score updates in near real-time as AI systems are queried and retrained. Unlike Domain Authority which updates periodically, ORION Score reflects current AI citation patterns and adapts as models evolve.
Is ORION Score free to check?
Yes. WhatsMyGeoScore provides free ORION Score checks including full scans, AI visibility analysis, and improvement recommendations at no cost. No credit card required.
Can I improve my ORION Score?
Absolutely. The most impactful strategies include adding FAQ sections with schema markup, improving content factual density with specific data points, building brand entity recognition through PR and mentions, and creating comprehensive topic coverage that AI systems can confidently cite.
Who developed the ORION Score methodology?
The ORION Score methodology was developed by Calvin Ng, founder of WhatsMyGeoScore (Orion). It was designed to fill a critical gap in the SEO industry: measuring AI search visibility, the same way Domain Authority measures traditional search potential. The methodology is continuously refined using data from real AI citation patterns.
■ The Engines We Measure

Four answer engines, not three

ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity
■ The Honesty Gate

What has to be true before we call this calibrated

The Honesty Gate

Until every one of these clears on held-out data, ORION does not call itself calibrated and does not call a score a probability. It is currently a research release, and every score says so.

≥ 200
distinct domains
≥ 2,000
page × query × engine observations
≥ 5
verticals
90 days
temporal holdout
PR-AUC ≥ 0.5
precision-recall
ROC-AUC ≥ 0.7
discrimination
Brier ≤ 0.04
calibration error

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