The short answer
- AI engines write one answer and cite a few sources. Being one of them is the new page one.
- They reward quotable facts, answer-first writing and third-party authority.
- Start by making sure AI crawlers can read your site at all.
What changed
For twenty years, search meant a list of links. Now a growing share of buyers ask an AI and read one synthesised answer. The answer cites a handful of sources. Everyone else is invisible.
How AI picks sources
Generative engines retrieve candidate pages, rerank them, synthesise an answer and cite what they used. Keyword stuffing doesn't help. Clear facts, numbers and direct answers do: research from Princeton found GEO techniques can lift visibility in AI answers by up to 40%.
“Being cited is the new page one.”
Four things to do this month
- Add numbers. Replace vague claims with figures and sources an engine can quote.
- Answer first. Open every key section with a sentence that answers the question on its own.
- Let the crawlers in. Check robots.txt and your CDN settings aren't blocking AI agents, and that content renders without JavaScript.
- Get mentioned elsewhere. Comparison articles, directories and forums shape what AI believes about you.
How to measure it
Track citation rate (how often you're named), visibility (how prominently) and source influence (which third-party pages drive it). Test the prompts your buyers actually use, monthly.
Marty BrownFounder, Secret AgencyGet a free AI visibility check
