This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
How AI systems cite websites — and what that means for your pages
An answer system adopts a section when it can find it, pull it out, and attribute who's responsible for it. Every signal checked here feeds into one of these three questions — structure for finding, self-containedness for extracting, markup for attributing.
- The order of implementation is almost always the same: first bring the answer to the front, then structure into recognisable sections, then markup. Anyone who starts with markup ends up marking up text that's still going to change.
- Almost all of this also improves classic findability: clear structures, direct answers, consistent markup. GEO and SEO aren't opposites — they overlap to a large extent.
- What can NOT be influenced is the system's decision to cite at all. This check measures the preconditions, not the outcome — nobody can seriously guarantee a mention in an AI answer.
