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Content Depth

11% of the total score, decided by the 3 published rules listed below.

3 rules · 11% of the score

Why this dimension exists

Generative engines select sources that answer a question thoroughly. Thin pages are rarely retrievable regardless of how well they are marked up.

Why it carries 11%

High, because depth is a precondition for retrieval rather than a bonus on top of it.

The rules it is scored by

Each rule is a single question the scanner asks about a page. Passing one adds its share of this dimension; failing it takes that share away. Every rule links to what it looks for and what evidence passes it.

What this dimension cannot tell you

A single-URL scan reads one page. It cannot see the rest of the site, it cannot see how a model behaves over time, and it cannot see whether the page is actually cited for the queries that matter. Those are the parts of the picture a score of this kind is blind to, and they are listed in full on the methodology page rather than implied here.

Questions about Content Depth

What does the Content Depth dimension measure?

Generative engines select sources that answer a question thoroughly. Thin pages are rarely retrievable regardless of how well they are marked up.

Why is Content Depth worth 11% of the score?

High, because depth is a precondition for retrieval rather than a bonus on top of it.

What does failing Content Depth look like?

The rules above describe it precisely. Each states the condition it tests, and a scan reports which of them a page does not meet.

How do I improve Content Depth?

Start with the rules worth the most, because that is where the points are. Every rule links to a page explaining what it checks and what evidence satisfies it, and a scan reports which ones a specific page currently fails.

Evidence and sources

Adding source citations produced the largest measured visibility gain for low-ranking sites, at +115%, ahead of the addition of expert quotations at +41% and statistics at +30-40%, across the strategies tested on generative engines. — Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024

The weighting behind this dimension follows that measurement. A failure here is reported as a rule rather than a score, so it can be checked against the page instead of taken on trust.

Primary sources