Which part of a page does AI quote?
When AI answers a question it lifts a short passage from the pages it found and rewrites it, so the part most likely to be lifted is a passage that reads on its own without context. No official documentation or public study has given a figure for how much a given way of writing raises the citation rate, and we will not invent one. The rules below are practice, based on that lifting process, and so inference; the only evidence is the real pages listed at the end.
Ahrefs analysed 15,000 prompts in 2025-08 and found only 12% of the URLs AI cited ranked in Google's top 10. Being cited is not only about ranking; whether the page holds a passage that can be used as an answer also matters.
What exactly changes between before and after?
The left column is an opening we wrote in the usual style (illustrative, not any real page); the right column is the opening of a real page on sites we operate, opened and checked one by one on 2026-11-05, each linked to the original.
| Before (illustrative) | After (the opening of a real page) | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| “Naming a sticker set is an art. A good title lets users remember your work at a glance, so let's talk about how to do it.” | “LINEスタンプのタイトルは、40まで（全角の文字は2と数えるので、日本語だけなら20文字）です。” — MochiStamp | The first sentence answers the question in the title and carries the number people most often get wrong (full-width characters count as 2). |
| “Many people want to know which of these two assistants is better. We ran some tests; the results are below.” | “Scores from tests dated Oct 27, 2026. Test runs: Dots 28, Muse 21.” — Pagent Dots vs Muse | The opening states the date of the data and the number of runs, so readers and AI know how fresh the numbers are and how many tests lie behind them. |
| “There are more and more AI assistants, and quite a few on Telegram. Choosing one is a headache.” | The title and subtitle are the question itself (Which AI assistant works best inside Telegram?), followed by “Updated Oct 27, 2026 · 10 assistants ranked”, and the ranking rule in one method sentence: only assistants tested on at least 5 tests are included. — Pagent Telegram | It says what the page compares, by what rule, and as of which day, and only then gives the table. |
The opening of the third page states scope and rules, but “who is first” has to be read from the table. The strongest way to write it would also put the answer in the opening sentence. That is something our own page can still improve, not something already done.
How do you write a page that can be quoted?
1. Answer the title's question in the first two or three sentences
Put the conclusion, a concrete number or a step first, with no “with the development of…” warm-up. Test: copy the opening on its own; can someone get the answer without reading the rest?
2. Write subheadings as questions users ask
“How many characters can a LINE sticker title have?” is closer to how users ask AI than “About character counts”. Under each subheading give the answer first, then expand.
3. Put specifications, comparisons and prices in tables
Each cell in a table is a fact that can be quoted on its own. Say in one sentence before the table what it is, and give the source after it.
4. Put sources and dates in the body
“LINE official specification, checked 2026-11”, “tested 2026-10-27, Dots 28 runs”. A date on the page tells the reader whether the data is still usable. When a price or specification changes, change the number and the date.
5. Answer one question per page
One page, one query. Cram five questions into a page and no part is complete enough to lift out and read.
6. Keep the Q&A markup consistent with the body
If you add FAQPage markup, its questions and answers must be visible on the page; see Is FAQ structured data still useful?.
7. Write the body straight into the HTML
AI crawlers do not always run scripts. If the body is rendered by front-end code, what they read may be an empty page.
Which ways of writing make a page harder to cite?
| How it is written | Question |
|---|---|
| Three paragraphs of warm-up before the topic | Lifted out, the first paragraph holds no answer |
| Numbers with no source or date | Readers cannot judge whether it is usable, and AI cannot attribute it |
| “Best” or “number one” with no testing | A judgment with no basis damages credibility as soon as it is checked |
| The same page copied dozens of times with a word changed | No page has anything of its own |
How do you know afterwards whether it worked?
Do not judge from one answer: the same question gets different answers each time. After a few weeks, ask the same set of questions several times each and count how often your page is cited and how often you appear in the answer. For the method see What signals does AI actually look at when recommending brands?; for pages that set several products side by side see How do you write an “X vs Y” comparison page that AI cites?.
FAQ
How do I write so that ChatGPT or Perplexity quotes me?
There is no guaranteed way. What you can do: answer directly at the start, use questions as subheadings, put the key data in tables, state sources and dates, and write the body into the HTML. These give the page a passage that can be lifted out and used on its own.
How is GEO writing different from SEO writing?
Both need the page aimed at one query. GEO cares more about whether a passage stands on its own, because AI lifts fragments; Ahrefs found in 2025-08 that only 12% of cited URLs are in Google's top 10, so ranking alone is not enough.
Must the opening contain a number?
Include one if you can, but it must be checkable. MochiStamp's title page states “40 characters, full-width counts as 2”, which is LINE's official specification; with no number, a clear step or conclusion will do.
Is there data showing citations went up after a rewrite?
No. We have not run a before-and-after count and found no public study. The table in this guide shows ways of writing, not their effect.
Should the page carry a date?
Yes. Prices, specifications and test results change, and a date tells readers and AI how fresh the data is. Change the date whenever you change a number.
Sources
- Ahrefs · Only 12% of AI Cited URLs Rank in Google’s Top 10 for the Original Prompt （published 2025-08-11, 15,000 prompts）
- MochiStamp · LINEスタンプのタイトルの例と付け方 （The operator’s own site, 2026-11-05, page marked as published 2026-11-05）
- Pagent · Dots vs Muse （The operator’s own site, 2026-11-05, test date 2026-10-27）
- Pagent · Best AI assistant on Telegram （The operator’s own site, 2026-11-05, updated 2026-10-27）
- kagentx evaluations: the data on the case study pages; each example gives its date.