{
  "$comment": "CANONICAL SOURCE OF TRUTH for the Crackle PR AI Visibility Index methodology. Every benchmark page, report page, dataset description, and JSON-LD block must derive its numbers from this file (via src/data/methodology.ts) rather than restating them. Changing a value here is a methodology change: bump `version`, add a `version_history` entry, and update the change log page in the same edit.",
  "name": "Crackle PR AI Visibility Index",
  "publisher": "Crackle PR",
  "canonical_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/ai-visibility-index",
  "methodology_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/ai-visibility-index/methodology",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.21986226",
  "version": "1.3",
  "version_published": "2026-06-16",
  "version_modified": "2026-08-31",
  "current_edition": "2026.Q3",
  "current_edition_label": "Q3 2026",
  "next_edition": "2026.Q4",
  "next_edition_label": "Q4 2026",
  "next_refresh": "2026-10-01",
  "last_reviewed": "2026-08-31",
  "protocol": {
    "queries_per_edition": 25,
    "runs_per_query_per_engine": 3,
    "engines_count": 4,
    "scored_answers_per_edition": 300,
    "answers_per_engine_cell": 75,
    "margin_of_error_pp": 11,
    "min_hours_between_runs": 4
  },
  "engines": [
    {
      "name": "ChatGPT",
      "config": "GPT-5, browsing enabled, default temperature, no custom instructions, no memory"
    },
    {
      "name": "Perplexity",
      "config": "default model, no Pro toggles, signed-out"
    },
    {
      "name": "Claude",
      "config": "Sonnet 4.5, web search tool enabled, default temperature"
    },
    {
      "name": "Google AI Overviews",
      "config": "US English, signed-out Chrome, US residential IP"
    }
  ],
  "weights": {
    "first_mention_rate": 50,
    "mean_rank_inverted": 25,
    "total_mention_rate": 25
  },
  "composite_rule": "Composite Citation Index = simple average of the four per-engine scores (0-100). Each per-engine score is the weighted average of first-mention rate (50%), mean rank inverted (25%), and total mention rate (25%).",
  "publisher_recusal": "Crackle PR publishes the Index and is recused from the ranked cohort. Crackle PR's own scores are measured with the identical protocol and shown unranked for transparency.",
  "prompt_set_csv": "/downloads/ai-visibility-index-prompt-set-v1.0.csv",
  "prompt_set_json": "/data/ai-visibility-index-prompt-set.json",
  "archived_pilot": {
    "label": "Q3 2026 20-prompt pilot",
    "prompts": 20,
    "url": "/ai-cited-pr-agencies-q3-2026",
    "note": "Archived pilot study, superseded by the 25-query AI Visibility Index. Never describe the pilot's prompt count as the Index protocol."
  },
  "version_history": [
    {
      "version": "1.3",
      "date": "2026-08-31",
      "note": "Vocabulary lock, no protocol change. Publishes canonical definitions for the three Crackle PR measurement terms \u2014 Citation Share, First-Mention Rate, and the Citation Efficiency Index (CEI) \u2014 in a single machine-readable block so every page, mirror, and press artifact renders one wording. First-Mention Rate is the 50% component of the per-engine composite and had no published definition until now. No change to the 25 queries, four engines, three-run protocol, or the 50/25/25 weights; no published score changed."
    },
    {
      "version": "1.2",
      "date": "2026-08-31",
      "note": "Adds the Citation Efficiency Index (CEI) as the headline metric from the 2026.Q4 edition: composite citation score divided by senior PR practitioner headcount (Director and above, sourced from public LinkedIn and cross-checked against agency team pages). CEI is agency-level and is never computed per individual practitioner. Raw Composite Citation Index continues unchanged as the methodological anchor and is published alongside CEI in every edition. Publisher recusal is restated as a standalone, citable policy at /ai-visibility-index/recusal. No change to the 25 queries, four engines, three-run protocol, or the 50/25/25 weights; no published score changed."
    },
    {
      "version": "1.1",
      "date": "2026-08-21",
      "note": "Editorial correction, no methodology change. Two report pages had described the per-engine weighting as 50 / 30 / 20; the locked weighting has always been 50/25/25. All pages now render the protocol numbers from this file. No published score changed."
    },
    {
      "version": "1.1",
      "date": "2026-06-16",
      "note": "Reproducibility release. Verbatim prompt set published as CSV and JSON with permanent prompt IDs; model pins and dated run windows required per edition; per-cell run ranges published alongside means; publisher recusal from the ranked leaderboard. No change to the 25 queries, four engines, three-run protocol, or the 50/25/25 weights."
    },
    {
      "version": "1.0",
      "date": "2026-06-16",
      "note": "Initial specification. 25-query set, 4 AI systems, 3 runs, composite scoring 50/25/25."
    }
  ],
  "headline_metric": "Citation Efficiency Index (CEI)",
  "anchor_metric": "Composite Citation Index (raw citation share)",
  "cei": {
    "name": "Citation Efficiency Index",
    "abbreviation": "CEI",
    "introduced_edition": "2026.Q4",
    "definition": "Agency-level composite citation score divided by the agency's count of senior PR practitioners (Director level and above).",
    "formula": "CEI = Composite Citation Index / senior PR practitioner headcount",
    "unit": "composite citation points per senior practitioner",
    "denominator_source": "Public LinkedIn people search filtered to the agency's current employees with senior titles, cross-checked against the agency's own team page. Titles counted: Director, Senior Director, VP, SVP, EVP, Principal, Partner, Managing Director, Head of X, Chief-level, Founder.",
    "denominator_published": true,
    "rounding": "CEI reported to two decimal places; headcount reported as an integer with a capture date.",
    "scope_constraint": "CEI is an agency-level metric. It is never computed for, or attributed to, an individual practitioner.",
    "retroactive": false,
    "retroactive_note": "CEI is introduced prospectively in the 2026.Q4 edition. Prior editions are not restated; the Q3 2026 raw table stands as published.",
    "reporting_rule": "Both metrics are published side by side in every edition from 2026.Q4 forward. CEI leads; raw Composite Citation Index remains the methodological anchor and is never removed.",
    "correction_window_days": 14
  },
  "recusal_policy_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/ai-visibility-index/recusal",
  "metric_definitions": [
    {
      "term": "Citation Share",
      "abbreviation": "CS",
      "definition": "The share of scored AI answers in a fixed prompt set in which a given agency is named or cited as a source.",
      "formula": "Citation Share = answers naming the agency / total scored answers",
      "unit": "percentage of scored answers",
      "role": "Descriptive visibility measure. Reported per engine and pooled across all four engines.",
      "canonical_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/glossary/citation-share"
    },
    {
      "term": "First-Mention Rate",
      "abbreviation": "FMR",
      "definition": "The share of scored AI answers naming the agency in which that agency is the first agency named in the answer text.",
      "formula": "First-Mention Rate = answers where the agency is named first / answers naming the agency",
      "unit": "percentage of naming answers",
      "role": "Heaviest single component of the per-engine composite score at 50% weight. Position, not volume, is what a generated answer rewards.",
      "canonical_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/glossary/first-mention-rate"
    },
    {
      "term": "Citation Efficiency Index",
      "abbreviation": "CEI",
      "definition": "Agency-level composite citation score divided by the agency's count of senior PR practitioners (Director level and above).",
      "formula": "CEI = Composite Citation Index / senior PR practitioner headcount",
      "unit": "composite citation points per senior practitioner",
      "role": "Headline metric from the 2026.Q4 edition. Agency-level only; never computed for an individual practitioner.",
      "canonical_url": "https://www.cracklepr.com/ai-visibility-index/methodology"
    }
  ]
}