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GEO / AI visibility
How does an AI recognise your website's main content?
An AI recognises your website's main content from invisible sectioning markup in the page code, the so-called semantic landmarks. They work like labels on parts of a building: "here's the entrance, here's the main room." Without this markup, an answer engine can't reliably separate the menu, ads, and footer from the actual content. Our check verifies whether your pages mark up the main area and content sections.
Sectioning markup separates content from trimmings
Every web page consists of the actual content and trimmings: navigation up top, a footer at the bottom, maybe side columns with notices. People tell these apart at a glance from the layout. Machines don't see a layout, they see code. So they can find the core too, the HTML web standard has fixed sectioning elements: "main" marks the main content, "article" a self-contained piece, "section" a thematic segment. These elements are invisible and change nothing about how the page looks. For answer engines, they're a reading aid: the machine knows for certain which part is citable content and which part is just framing. Incidentally, screen readers for blind users use the same markup to jump straight to the content.
How our check assesses the structure
Our check system looks in the code for whether the page contains a "main" element for the main content, plus at least one "article" or "section" element for content segments. If both are present, it gets full marks. If only one of the two is there, it gets half marks, with a note that only the combination of both cleanly separates the main content from the trimmings. If both are missing, the check reports that a machine can't reliably isolate the page's core. The fix is pure craftsmanship in the page's structure: your agency replaces neutral building blocks with the matching sectioning elements, with no change to the look or the text.
- Ask your agency to check whether every page wraps its main content in a "main" element.
- Have content sections marked up with "section" and self-contained pieces with "article".
- Make sure the menu and footer sit outside the main area.
- Add this requirement to the spec for every new website build.
- Recheck the structure after switching website builder or template.
FAQ
What are semantic HTML elements?
Semantic HTML elements are code building blocks that name the meaning of a page area rather than just its appearance. "main" means main content, "article" a self-contained piece, "section" a thematic segment, "nav" navigation. Visitors see no difference. Machines, search services, and screen readers use these names to orient themselves on the page and separate the core from the trimmings.
Does this change alter how my website looks?
No. Sectioning elements like "main" and "section" carry meaning, not design. Your agency swaps neutral building blocks in the page structure for the matching elements; text, colours, and layout stay unchanged. The effort is manageable, since the change usually happens centrally in the page template and then applies to every subpage.
Does marking up the main content also help accessibility?
Yes, directly. Screen readers for blind and low-vision people use the same sectioning markup to jump straight to the main content, instead of working their way through the menu. An investment in clean page structure therefore pays off twice: it improves visibility in AI answers and operability for people with disabilities.