First-mention rate
First-mention rate is how often your brand is the first one named in AI answers that name any brand at all.
First-mention rate is how often your brand is the first one named in an AI answer. Out of the answers that name brands, it's the share that name you before anyone else.
Being named first matters because it's where attention goes. If an answer lists five coffee subscriptions, the first one sounds like the recommendation and the rest sound like alternatives.
How it's worked out
Count the answers where you're the first brand named. Divide by the answers you want to compare against. Tools differ on that last part: some divide by every answer, some by the answers that name any brand, and some by the answers that name you. Each gives a different number, so check which one you're reading.
For example, say Fernhill Coffee has 140 answers this week. 49 name Fernhill, and in 20 of those Fernhill is named first. That's 20 out of 49, or 41%, of the answers that name Fernhill. Out of all 140 answers, it's 14%.
How it relates to visibility and position
First-mention rate only tells you something next to how often you're named at all. Being first in 2 of the 3 answers that name you looks great as a rate, and means little if there are 140 answers.
It also hides what happens when you're not first. Coming second every time and coming last every time give the same first-mention rate of zero. An average position tells you more about that.
In AnswerOrbit
Position is where you're named in an answer, averaged over the answers that name you, so a position close to 1 means you're usually named first. Read it next to your visibility. When you open an answer in Answers, every brand it named is marked in the order they appear.