Announced at the October 1990 NBAA convention, the Model 750 made its maiden flight on December 21, 1993, received its type certification on June 3, 1996, and was first delivered in July 1996.

Keeping the Citation III fuselage cross section, it has a new 37° swept wing with an area of 527 ft² (49 m2) for a fast Mach 0.935 MMO and a 36,600 lb (16.6 t) MTOW for a 3,460 nmi (6,408 km) range, a T-tail and two 7,034 lbf (31.29 kN) AE3007 turbofans.

Cessna had difficulties in shedding the popular image of the Citation as a slow airplane, even though their jets had eventually become as fast as the competition.

The development of the Citation X was first announced at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in New Orleans in October 1990, with the first prototype making its maiden flight on December 21, 1993.

First, failure of the airframe and engine to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements caused the planned certification date postponement to late November 1995.

Efforts to increase the maximum take-off weight of the Citation X by about 800 pounds again delayed the FAA certification schedule, this time to April 1996.

These changes were aimed at permitting a full-fuel payload of 1,400 pounds (seven passengers), but Cessna had difficulty achieving a balance between reducing Citation X cabin noise and minimizing the extra weight of sound-dampening materials.

In February 1997, the Citation X design team was awarded the National Aeronautic Association's Robert J. Collier Trophy.

The elliptical winglets that were available as an aftermarket option on the Citation X became standard, and a stretch of 38 centimetres (15 in) was incorporated to improve passenger comfort.

This feature, related to the high bypass ratio turbofan, reduces the noise from the engines and improves fuel efficiency.

Another obvious characteristic is the highly swept wing with a supercritical airfoil, used in order to increase the critical Mach number and therefore the top speed.

A significant amount of effort throughout the design process was directed towards reducing the Citation X's total drag.

The resulting design includes an area-ruled fuselage for efficient transonic flight and a highly swept supercritical wing.

The engine's fan has approximately a 5 to 1 bypass ratio for improved fuel efficiency and low acoustic signature.

Private owners included film director Sydney Pollack, attorney Fred Furth, Oracle's Larry Ellison, entrepreneur Steve Fossett, Formula One driver Nelson Piquet, 45th US president Donald Trump, and golfer Arnold Palmer.