Definition
Bounce rate is the share of visitors who land on a page and leave without a second interaction, no further click, no scroll worth counting, no path deeper into the site. A high rate can mean the page failed the visitor, or it can mean the page answered the question so completely that nothing more was needed. The number alone does not tell which.Why It Matters for AI Search
Bounce rate sits inside the engagement picture a search system reads from behavior, and its ambiguity is the point. A page that resolves a query in one screen and sends the reader away satisfied looks, by the raw number, the same as a page that drove them off. Retrieval systems that weigh behavior have to read the metric alongside dwell time and intent to know which happened. Understanding bounce rate as a question rather than a verdict is what keeps it from steering content in the wrong direction.Related Terms
Engagement signal
Narrower term
Dwell time
See also
Relevance signal
See also
User intent
See also