Selection Rate Optimization
Optimising the probability that a model selects your source from its candidate set, as distinct from optimising to be retrieved at all. Coined by the DEJAN team, 2026.
What it actually means
SRO takes the selection rate seriously as a target. If retrieval and selection are separate stages, then optimising the second is a separate discipline with its own levers.
The levers are not the ones SEO trained people to pull. Quotability, internal consistency, corroboration and unambiguous attribution are what raise selection; keyword coverage and link volume are what raise retrieval.
Why it is the sharpest framing in this A to Z
It replaces a vague objective with a specific one. Improve visibility is not actionable; raise the probability of being selected given retrieval is a hypothesis you can test.
It also implies a diagnostic order. Measure retrieval first, because selection work on a source that is never retrieved is wasted, and most audits do not make that distinction.