X Analytics vs the public numbers: why your engagement rate does not match
Published By Filippo Pelloia
X Analytics and a public analyzer count different things. X Analytics counts every interaction with a post, including clicks on its links, its media, the username and the post itself, and only the account owner can see it. From outside, only likes, reposts, replies, quotes and views are visible, so a rate built on them is lower, but it can be worked out for any account.
You check your account with a tool, open X Analytics, and the two engagement rates disagree. Nothing is broken. They are two fractions with the same name.
Two definitions of the same word
X defines an engagement as the "total number of times someone interacted with a post", and lists what that covers: "clicks anywhere on the post, including reposts, replies, follows, likes, links, embedded media, username, profile photo, or post expansion". Its engagement rate is "the number of engagements divided by the number of impressions".
Most of that list is clicks, and clicks are not public. Under a post, anyone can read six counts: views, replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. A rate worked out from the outside can only use those.
What each side counts
| Interaction | X Analytics | Public numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Likes, reposts, replies | Counted | Counted |
| Clicks on a link | Counted | Not visible |
| Clicks on a photo or a video | Counted | Not visible |
| Clicks on the username or profile photo | Counted | Not visible |
| Opening the post to read it | Counted | Not visible |
| Follows that start from the post | Counted | Not visible |
A public rate also counts quotes, which X shows under every post. And the two differ in who can read them: X Analytics is shown to the account owner only, the public numbers to anyone.
Why the public rate is lower
Because the top of the fraction is smaller. Take a post seen 5,000 times, with 70 likes, 15 reposts, 10 replies and 5 quotes. That is 100 public reactions, and a rate of 2%.
Now suppose 150 more people clicked something: the link, the photo, the profile, the post itself. The owner's dashboard counts 250 engagements. Over the same 5,000, that is 5%. Same post, same day, and both figures are correct.
The more there is to click in a post (a link, a picture, a video), the more room there is between the two figures.
When to use which
- Your own account, and decisions about your own posts: X Analytics. It knows about clicks, and clicks are often the point of a post.
- Another account: the public numbers. They are all there is.
- Comparing accounts, yours included: the public numbers for every one of them. A comparison only works when each side is measured by the same rule.
- Never: your X Analytics rate next to someone else's public rate. You would be comparing a wide count with a narrow one.
What neither can tell you
From the outside there is no way to see who liked a post: likes on X have been private since June 2024, visible only to the person who liked and to the post's author. And no public count says how the number of followers moved over time, because X shows only today's figure.
Common questions
Can I see another account's X Analytics?
No. X Analytics is shown only to the owner of an account. For any other account, what you can read are the counts under each post: views, likes, reposts, replies, quotes and bookmarks.
Is a rate counted from public numbers wrong?
No, it is narrower. It leaves out clicks, which nobody outside the account can see, so it comes out lower. Its advantage is that the same rule can be applied to every account.
Which rate should I report to a client or a sponsor?
Say which one it is. For your own account, X Analytics is the fuller figure. If the number will be compared with other accounts, use the public rate for all of them, because it is the only one you can work out for everybody.
The X Account Analyzer counts the public side for any account, and says how each number was worked out. It is free and needs no login.