What is Citation Flow?
Citation Flow (CF) is a metric created by Majestic, scored from 0 to 100, that estimates how influential a page or domain is based on the number of links that point to it, regardless of their quality.
Why it matters
Citation Flow measures volume. A page with many links pointing to it has a high Citation Flow even if those links come from poor sources. That is why Majestic pairs it with Trust Flow, which looks at quality, and why the two are usually read together. Like Trust Flow, it is a third party estimate and not something Google uses.
How to read Citation Flow
On its own, Citation Flow says little about quality. The useful reading is the comparison with Trust Flow: values that are close suggest links of comparable quality and volume, while a Citation Flow far above Trust Flow suggests many links with little trust behind them. It is a prompt to look at the links themselves, not a verdict.
Citation Flow variants
Citation Flow
The main metric, scored from 0 to 100, based on the volume of links pointing to a page or domain.
Domain level and page level values
Majestic reports the metric for pages and for domains or subdomains, so check which one a number refers to.
The Trust Flow comparison
The relationship between Citation Flow and Trust Flow, which is the most informative way to use the two metrics.
Example
A site has a Citation Flow well above its Trust Flow. Looking at its links shows many from low quality directories. The imbalance flagged a profile built on volume, which the metric alone could not explain.
Citation Flow and Orbink
Orbink listings show metrics such as DR, DA and monthly organic traffic. Citation Flow is one of several third party figures sites quote, so use it as one input and check the site itself before you order.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Citation Flow is a Majestic metric and Google does not use it.
Citation Flow estimates influence from the volume of links. Trust Flow estimates the quality of those links by how close the linking sites are to trusted sources. They are meant to be read together.
Not by itself. A high value means many links point to the page, but it says nothing about their quality. Compare it with Trust Flow and look at the links.
Yes. Because it measures volume, large numbers of low quality links can raise it, which is why the comparison with Trust Flow matters.