• Lead with the answer. Put the bottom line up front in the page and in each section.
• Make every section stand alone, naming its subject explicitly.
• Use descriptive or question-style headings that match how people ask.
• Add original data, examples, expert quotes and sourced statistics.
• Show who wrote it and when it was last updated.

AI systems do not read a page the way a person does. They pull out passages that seem to answer a question and assemble a response from several sources. Writing for citation means making your best passages easy to find, easy to lift and hard to replace.

1. Bottom line up front (BLUF)

Start with the answer, then explain. The first one or two sentences under a heading should resolve the question that heading raises.

• Weak: "Many site owners wonder about canonical tags. In this section we will look at what they are."
• Strong: "A canonical tag tells search engines which URL is the preferred version of a page when duplicates exist."

The same pattern wins featured snippets, so it serves classic SEO too.

2. Self-contained passages

Retrieval systems cut pages into chunks. A chunk that begins "It also helps with this" is useless out of context.

• Name the subject in each section instead of leaning on pronouns.
• Keep one idea per paragraph.
• Keep paragraphs fairly short, a few sentences each.
• Avoid phrases like "as mentioned above".
• Define a term where you use it.

3. Headings that mirror questions

Use headings that say what the section answers. Question headings ("How long should a title tag be?") map neatly onto prompts. Descriptive statement headings work as well. Clever or vague headings do not.

4. Extractable formats

• Lists for steps, features and options.
• Tables for comparisons across several attributes, in real HTML and not as an image.
• Definitions in a consistent "X is Y" form.
• Summaries or key takeaways near the top.
• Question and answer sections for real follow-up questions.

Use these where the content suits them. A page made of nothing but bullet points loses the reasoning and context that make an explanation trustworthy.

5. Fact density

Generic prose gives a model nothing to cite. Specifics do.

• Numbers with units and dates: "up to 50,000 URLs per sitemap" beats "lots of URLs".
• Named entities: products, standards, people and places.
• Concrete examples and worked cases.
• Clear conditions: "if X, then do Y".

The early GEO research found that adding statistics, quotations and citations improved visibility in generative answers more than other changes tested.

6. Information gain

If your page says what twenty others say, any of them will do. Give models a reason to need yours:

• Original research, surveys and proprietary data.
• First-hand experience, test results and case studies.
• Expert opinion with a named, credentialed source.
• A clear point of view or a framework of your own.
• Details competitors leave out, such as prices, limitations and trade-offs.

7. Cite your sources

Link to the primary sources behind your claims. It lets readers verify them and places your content within a web of credible references. Attribute quotes to named people with their role.

8. Trust signals

• A visible author with a bio and relevant credentials.
• Published and last-updated dates, visible on the page and in structured data.
• Clear information about the organisation behind the site.
• Content kept current. Review key pages on a schedule and update the facts, not just the date.

9. Plain, precise language

• Prefer simple declarative sentences.
• Use the standard term for a thing, and use it consistently.
• Avoid hype. Superlatives without evidence are unlikely to be repeated by a model, and sound like advertising if they are.
• Be honest about limits and exceptions. Balanced statements are more citable than absolute ones.

10. Cover the fan-out

Think about the follow-up and side questions a prompt could spawn: cost, alternatives, comparisons, how-to steps, risks, suitability for particular audiences. Cover them in clearly headed sections or on linked pages.

Common mistakes

• Long introductions before any answer appears.
• Key facts hidden in images, PDFs, videos without transcripts or interactive widgets.
• Content that only appears after JavaScript runs.
• Walls of text with no structure.
• Publishing large volumes of thin AI-generated pages. They add no new information and put the whole site's reputation at risk.
• Updating the date without updating the content.

A quick self-check

• Could each section be quoted alone and still make sense?
• Does the first sentence under each heading answer it?
• Is there at least one fact, figure or example here that cannot be found everywhere else?
• Would a reader know who wrote this, when, and why they should trust it?

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