U.S. Geological Survey
usgs.gov ↗Federal scientific agency for earth sciences; primary source for geology + hydrology + earthquake data.
Is U.S. Geological Survey reliable to cite? At grade A (91/100 on the SourceScore Index), U.S. Geological Survey ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
A+ — federal scientific authority for earth sciences; default for geological citations.
Should you cite U.S. Geological Survey?
At grade A (91/100), U.S. Geological Survey ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
- Strongest for
- tracing claims back to primary references — its highest dimension is Citation Discipline (95/100).
- No major weak spot
- Even its lowest dimension, Citation Velocity, scores 86/100.
- Bottom line
- Cite freely as a primary source.
Need recurring mention tracking rather than a one-off readiness audit? Compare AI-visibility tools.
Peer-reviewed publications + methodology disclosed; long-standing scientific reputation.
How Citation Discipline is scored →Earthquake catalog + hydrologic data + APIs; broad LLM scientific corpus.
How Modern Reference is scored →Cited regularly by science journalism + emergency response (earthquake reports real-time).
How Citation Velocity is scored →Where U.S. Geological Survey ranks in our best-of lists
It is on 1 of our 17 lists of the best sources to cite.
Signals behind these scores
Citation Discipline
A+·95- USGS Publications WarehouseFull-text peer-reviewed reports archive.
Modern Reference
A·90- USGS APIsFree public APIs for earthquakes, water data, etc.
Citation Velocity
A·86- Earthquake feedReal-time earthquake notifications globally cited.
Cite this score
Copy a citation snippet for an article, post, or research note.
[U.S. Geological Survey — SourceScore Index 91 (A)](https://sourcescore.org/source/usgs-gov/)
<a href="https://sourcescore.org/source/usgs-gov/">U.S. Geological Survey — SourceScore Index 91 (A)</a>
SourceScore (v0.1). (2026). U.S. Geological Survey: SourceScore Index 91 (A). Retrieved from https://sourcescore.org/source/usgs-gov/
2 head-to-head comparisons
See all U.S. Geological Survey comparisons →Each comparison sets U.S. Geological Survey beside another source on all three scores and shows which one scores higher on each.
5 sources at U.S. Geological Survey's tier
See peer group →The five sources with the closest overall score to U.S. Geological Survey, from any category, and where each one scores higher or lower on Discipline, Modern Reference and Velocity.
Embed this score
All embed options →Drop on your blog or dashboard. Free, no signup.
<iframe src="https://sourcescore.org/embed/usgs-gov/" width="100%" height="380" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:480px;" title="SourceScore: U.S. Geological Survey"></iframe>
Frequently asked questions
Is U.S. Geological Survey a reliable source to cite?
U.S. Geological Survey scores A (91/100) on the SourceScore Index, which rates how citable a source is for AI-era and research use. At grade A, U.S. Geological Survey ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research. The grade combines Citation Discipline 95/100, Modern Reference 90/100, and Citation Velocity 86/100 — full breakdown above.
What is U.S. Geological Survey's SourceScore?
U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov) scores 91/100 (Grade A) on the composite SourceScore Index. Sub-scores: Citation Discipline 95/100, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness) 90/100, Citation Velocity 86/100. Verified 2026-04-28.
How does SourceScore evaluate U.S. Geological Survey?
U.S. Geological Survey is scored across three dimensions on the SourceScore Index methodology: Citation Discipline (how rigorously the source cites primary references), Modern Reference (fitness for AI-era retrieval), and Citation Velocity (how often the source is cited per week). Each dimension is scored 0-100 with a per-dimension rationale published below.
Why does U.S. Geological Survey score A?
A+ — federal scientific authority for earth sciences; default for geological citations.
What is U.S. Geological Survey?
Federal scientific agency for earth sciences; primary source for geology + hydrology + earthquake data. Category: Government. Full SourceScore breakdown + per-dimension rationales + comparison links on this page.