What is Citation Flow?
Citation Flow is a metric developed by Majestic that predicts the influence or strength of a webpage based on the number of links pointing to it. The score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating greater potential link influence.
Unlike Trust Flow, which focuses on the quality of backlinks, Citation Flow focuses solely on quantity. The more links a page has pointing to it, the higher its Citation Flow score is likely to be, regardless of where those links come from.
Why Citation Flow Matters
Citation Flow helps SEO professionals evaluate how powerful a page or domain may be based on its link profile. However, because it doesn’t factor in link quality, it should always be considered alongside Trust Flow for a balanced view.
Key reasons Citation Flow is useful:
- It measures raw backlink power
- Helps identify potentially influential pages
- Aids in link prospecting and competitor analysis
- Can uncover unnatural link patterns when compared with Trust Flow
A high Citation Flow with low Trust Flow may indicate a site has many low-quality or spammy links.
Example in Use
A website with hundreds of backlinks from low-authority directories might have a high Citation Flow score, but if those links are not trustworthy, its Trust Flow score would remain low. SEO analysts often compare the two scores to assess backlink quality and risk.
Majestic recommends using the Citation Flow to Trust Flow ratio to determine whether a site has a healthy link profile.
Related Terms
- Trust Flow
- Backlink
- Link Profile
- Majestic
- Domain Authority