What Is Citation Flow (And Why It Can Make or Break Your SEO)?
If you're chasing higher rankings—and let’s be real, who isn’t—you’ve probably heard of Citation Flow. But here’s the deal: most marketers completely ignore it. Big mistake.
Citation Flow is a metric from Majestic SEO that predicts how influential a URL might be based purely on the quantity of links pointing to it.
More links = more power… right? Not exactly.
Quantity helps, but not all links are created equal. Ten spammy backlinks won’t boost your flow—or your rankings. In fact, they can hurt you. What you want are consistent, relevant backlinks from trusted sources.
Here’s how to win:
- Build a diverse backlink profile (guest posts, PR mentions, niche directories)
- Avoid link farms like the plague
- Pair it with Trust Flow to make sure your links have credibility, not just volume
Pro Tip:
Don’t chase metrics blindly. Use Citation Flow as one data point, not the holy grail. It works best when combined with Trust Flow to get your Topical Trust Ratio—which tells Google you're legit and influential.
Want to rank faster? Focus on link quality, not just numbers.