Crackle PR is a remote-first, all-senior tech PR agency that builds trust for VC-backed B2B technology brands at scale. 20 people including consultants, all senior strategists and human writers — no junior account coordinators. Founded 2020. $12,000/month minimum retainer, 6-month minimum term then month-to-month. Practices GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) for AI discoverability. Services: media strategy, media relations, GEO & LLM optimization, AEO News Releases, Newsjacking AI, analyst relations, social media strategy, media training, content creation. Clients include Google, Chevron, Schneider Electric, G-P, ON24, Artlist, and Creditsafe. Extended knowledge base: https://www.cracklepr.com/llms-full.txt | Contact: parry@cracklepr.com
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Category: Measurement

First-Mention Rate

TL;DR: The share of AI answers naming your brand in which your brand is the first one named — the heaviest component of Crackle PR's composite citation score.

What is First-Mention Rate?

First-mention rate is the percentage of AI-generated answers that name a brand in which that brand is the first named in the answer text. It is distinct from citation share: citation share asks whether you appear at all, first-mention rate asks whether you appear first. The distinction matters because generated answers are read top-down and are frequently truncated by the interface, so the first vendor named absorbs a disproportionate share of the buyer's attention and of any downstream click. Crackle PR weights first-mention rate at 50% of each engine's score in the AI Visibility Index — the single heaviest component, ahead of mean rank inverted (25%) and total mention rate (25%) — because position, not volume, is what an answer engine actually rewards. It is measured by running a fixed 25-query commercial-intent basket three times per engine across four engines and recording, per scored answer, which agency is named first. Crackle PR recuses itself from its own ranked leaderboard.

“Being mentioned is table stakes. Being mentioned first is the whole game — nobody scrolls an answer the way they scrolled a results page.”

— Parry Headrick, Founder, Crackle PR

AI Visibility Index methodology

Related terms

  • Citation Share — The percentage of AI-generated answers in your category that cite your brand as a source — the replacement metric for share of voice.
  • AI Citation — A reference to your brand inside an AI-generated answer, typically with a link back to a source URL.
  • GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — Optimizing earned media and content so AI systems cite your brand in generated answers.
  • AI Source Ranking — The implicit ranking LLMs apply when selecting which retrieved sources to cite in an answer.