How the Magpire Index is calculated
The Magpire Index is a 0–100 composite score. Each audited firm is scored across five categories; the final Index is the weighted sum. All five categories draw on multi-engine AI citation data, not guesswork or manual reviews.
The five scoring categories
AI Presence
Weight: 30%What it measures: Whether the firm is cited by each of the four AI engines when asked buyer-intent questions relevant to their city and specialism. A firm cited by all four scores full marks; a firm cited by none scores zero.
Why it matters: This is the direct measure — if AI engines do not name the firm, the firm cannot receive AI-referred enquiries. The highest weight reflects that visibility is the primary goal.
Content
Weight: 25%What it measures: The depth, relevance, and freshness of the firm's public-facing content — website pages, blog posts, directory profiles, and any structured data the engines can surface.
Why it matters: AI engines favour firms with substantive, regularly updated content that answers the queries their users are typing. Thin or outdated content depresses citation frequency.
Technical
Weight: 20%What it measures: Site architecture, structured data (schema.org), page speed, mobile usability, and internal linking — the technical foundations that help both AI crawlers and conventional search engines parse a firm's online presence.
Why it matters: Even excellent content is invisible if crawlers cannot find or render it. Technical signals determine whether the other categories have a chance to score.
Visibility Signals
Weight: 15%What it measures: Directory listings (Google Business Profile, Yell, Yelp, Bing Places, etc.), NAP (name / address / phone) consistency across the web, backlink profile, and social media presence.
Why it matters: These signals correlate with how frequently AI engines encounter and trust a firm's information. Wide, consistent directory presence increases the likelihood of citation.
Authority
Weight: 10%What it measures: Schema.org entity quality (does the site claim ProfessionalService / Accountant types?), named-author content, third-party mentions, credibility markers such as accreditations and professional-body memberships.
Why it matters: AI engines weigh authority to avoid recommending low-credibility results. This category rewards firms that signal trustworthiness through their data and their digital footprint.
See your firm’s breakdown
A free Magpire Audit scores your firm on the same five categories — no credit card, one audit per firm.
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