This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung
GEO / AI
Why should your web page's first paragraph answer the question right away?
The first paragraph should answer the page's most important question right away, since AI programs like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews prefer to cite exactly this paragraph. Such programs are called answer engines: they answer questions in complete sentences and name their sources while doing so. Whoever has the answer right at the top is more likely to be named. Our check therefore measures whether your page opens with a substantial paragraph.
What an answer engine is
An answer engine is a program that answers questions directly, instead of just showing a list of links. Well-known examples are ChatGPT and the AI overviews Google now shows above normal search results. If someone asks "How much does a website check cost?" there, the machine reads matching web pages, formulates an answer from them in complete sentences, and links the pages it cites from. For you as a business, that means: your website no longer just competes for a spot in a results list, but for being named as a source in the answer itself. That exact mention is what brings visitors and trust.
The first paragraph decides whether you get cited
Answer engines read a page much like someone in a hurry: top to bottom, with extra weight on the beginning. If the key statement only appears in the third section, behind a long greeting or a promotional passage, the machine finds no clear answer to cite. If it's in the first paragraph instead, the machine can pick it up almost word for word. A good pattern: the heading poses the question, the first paragraph gives the answer in two to three sentences, and the rest of the page provides the detail. This pattern also helps human readers, incidentally, who want to know quickly whether they're in the right place.
How we check this point
Our check system opens your page and looks in the main content for the first paragraph with meaningful text. If that paragraph reaches at least 120 characters, roughly two complete sentences, it gets full marks. At 60 to 119 characters it gets half marks, since a very brief opening gives the answer engine too little substance. If the check finds no substantial first paragraph at all, it counts that as a serious shortcoming. You'll see the result in the "GEO" area of your report, with the measured value and a recommendation.
- Read the first paragraph on your most important pages and ask yourself: does it answer the question a customer comes with?
- Write the key statement in two to three complete sentences right under the main heading.
- Move greeting phrases and promotional text further down, or cut them.
- Ask your agency to provide a meaningful opening paragraph on every subpage.
- Check after every text change whether the answer is still right at the top.
