How the channel citation index is calculated

What counts as a mention

A channel is mentioned when another channel, in one of its posts:

• reposts its post, or
• links to the channel — in the text, under a word or in a link preview.

One post and one mentioned channel make one mention. A channel linking to itself does not count.

Not included in the index:

• mentions in advertising posts — that is a paid placement, not a citation (their number is shown separately on the "Mentions" tab);
• mentions between channels of the same owner who verified both channels;
• mentions in group chats — we never collect chat messages.

The index uses mentions from the last 30 days.

How a mention becomes weight

1. A repost weighs more than a link. A repost means the content was taken; a link more often means "follow our neighbour". A repost counts as 1, a link as ½.

2. Repeats bring diminishing returns. A channel that reposts you every day weighs more than a one-off, but not 30 times more: each next post from the same channel adds less than the previous one.

3. Mutual mentions count half. When two channels mention each other, it usually looks like a post exchange or cross-promotion.

4. A channel that mentions everyone splits its weight. A channel that mentioned dozens of channels in a month shares its weight among all of them — a link from a "channel roundup" weighs little. A single random link does not pass on the channel's full weight either: only a steady connection (about seven reposts a month) gets the full share.

Whose voice weighs more

A channel's weight has two parts:

• reach — how many views its post gets on average over a month;
• 85 % of the weight it received itself from other channels' mentions.

So a mention from a large, often cited channel weighs a lot, while one from a channel with no views weighs nothing. Weight cannot be created out of nothing: if nobody reads any channel in a chain, the chain passes nothing on.

What the number means

One unit of the index is the full attention of a channel whose posts get 1,000 views. For example:

• a channel with a reach of 10 thousand reposted you seven times in a month and mentioned no one else — CI about 10;
• a national channel with a reach of 200 thousand reposted 20 channels three times each in a month, you among them — also about 10;
• five small channels linked to you once each — CI about 0.5.

The index has no upper limit. No mentions in 30 days means CI 0.

What we compare with

Next to the number we show the channel's position:

• among similar channels — the same main topic and the same size as for the quality index (under 1 thousand subscribers, 1–5 thousand, 5–20 thousand, 20–100 thousand, 100–500 thousand, 500 thousand and more); only channels that someone has cited are compared. If there are fewer than 30 of them, we compare with all cited channels of the same size;
• across MAX — the rank among all public cited channels.

When it is updated

The index is recalculated every night. The chart on the "Mentions" tab shows what the index was on each day.

What the index does not take into account

• We have been collecting MAX since late September 2026 and the post history is still being downloaded — during the first months the index grows for every channel. Comparing channels with each other is fine; treat the absolute numbers of the first months with caution.
• Advertising deleted after a day often disappears before we see it.
• We do not always see posts of private channels, so mentions from them are incomplete.
• Reach can be inflated by bots. The quality index (the “Growth integrity” part) checks that, not the citation index — look at them together.

Where to see it

• Channel dashboard — the "Citations" card: the number, position and chart.
• "Mentions" tab — in detail: who cites the channel and how much each source contributes, mentions by day, posts with mentions, mutual mentions and advertising, whom the channel cites itself. Part of the data is available after sign-up, detailed reports — with a subscription.

The citation index is also part of the quality index: in the "Trust" part, up to 25 points come from the channel's citation position among similar channels.

datool.ru methodology, version 1 of 8 October 2026.