Rules

13 active rules in ruleset v3. Full evidence and checks require a subscription.

• Open every page with a direct answer to the implied buyer question in the first two sentences (BLUF).

  Answer engines and RAG systems weight early passages heavily for synthesis and citation.

• Use question-shaped H2/H3 headings that match how buyers ask (not clever labels only).

  Improves mapping from user prompts to retrievable sections in conversational search.

• Add a short Key Takeaways or TL;DR block near the top with dense, cite-worthy facts.

  Gives models a high-signal seed paragraph for summaries and citations.

• Name entities explicitly in every section (brand, product, category, geo, metric) — avoid orphan pronouns.

  Higher entity density correlates with clearer machine attribution and less hallucination risk.

• Include a real FAQ block (3–5 Q&As) with questions as headings and concise answers.

  FAQ-shaped content matches answer-engine output formats and schema opportunities.

• Surface last-updated or published dates in CMS metadata and refresh stale commercial pages on a schedule.

  Freshness strongly affects AI citations, especially for commercial intents.

• Ban ungrounded superlatives and statistics unless tied to a cited source field in CMS.

  Reduces slop and hallucination-friendly copy in generative drafts.

• Implement rich schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, HowTo) and maintain clear, sequential heading hierarchies (H1 > H2 > H3).

  Pages with rich schema are 13% more likely to earn AI citations, and sequential heading structures boost citation odds by 2.8x, making content easier for AI systems to parse and extract.

• Track AI Signal Rate (brand mention frequency in AI answers), Answer Accuracy Rate (factual correctness of AI representations), and AI-Influenced Conversion Rate as core KPIs alongside traditional SEO metrics.

  Traditional metrics like rankings and CTR do not capture visibility in AI-generated answers; 60%+ of Google searches now feature AI answers where zero-click interactions are common.

• Create answer-friendly content with direct, concise answers (40-60 words) and use concise lists to improve AI extractability.

  AI search favors structured, credible, and interpretable content. Leading with direct answers and using concise lists makes content easy for users and models to read, interpret, and reuse.

• Structure content with sequential headings (H2, H3) that mirror user questions and use lists for steps or comparisons.

  AI models reformulate user queries and scan for matching headings. Structured content is 3x more likely to be cited and easier for AI to parse and cite.

• Structure content with clear heading hierarchies (H1-H2-H3).

  A clear heading hierarchy increases AI citation odds by 2.8x and helps models easily interpret and trust content.

• Add FAQ and HowTo schema markup to service pages to appear in People Also Ask and AI Overviews.

  Structured data is the bridge between content and how AI interprets it. Schema markup following Google's guidelines helps AI understand page content and generates multiple entry points in search.