On-site optimisation for GEO: write pages AI will quote

On-site optimisation is the content you own. It is where the bulk of your GEO compounding happens, because every page you ship is a permanent asset AI tools can pull from. Done well, it turns your site into a library AI assistants reach for. Done badly, it's a stack of pages that rank but never get cited.

What is on-site optimisation for AI search?

On-site optimisation for GEO is the practice of writing and structuring content so AI systems can extract clear answers and attribute them to you. It is not keyword stuffing, not 3,000-word ranking padding, and not AI-generated filler. It is the discipline of saying useful things in a format machines can pull from cleanly.

How is this different from writing for Google?

Google ranks pages and sends the user to read them. AI tools read the pages themselves and paraphrase the answer. That single difference changes everything about how to structure content.

• Length matters less. A 600-word page with a sharp answer can beat a 3,000-word page that buries it.
• Headings matter more. Question-led H2s tell AI what each section answers.
• The first sentence after the H2 is gold. That's the sentence AI is most likely to lift.
• Named entities matter. Specific people, tools, companies and numbers anchor your content in the AI's knowledge graph.

What makes a page "citable"?

A citable page does four things at once:

1. Answers a real question your buyer would actually type or speak.
2. Gives the answer up front in 1-2 self-contained sentences.
3. Backs it up with evidence, examples or named sources.
4. Stays specific. Vague claims ("the best solution for modern teams") get skipped. Specific claims ("integrates natively with Segment, Snowflake and HubSpot") get quoted.

Which pages should I optimise first?

Prioritise in this order:

1. Your homepage and product page. These are the pages AI most often cites when summarising who you are.
2. Comparison and alternative pages (e.g. "you vs Competitor X"). AI assistants pull these heavily when buyers ask for recommendations.
3. Bottom-of-funnel question pages. Pricing, integrations, security - anything a buyer asks before purchase.
4. Top-of-funnel education content on your core category. This is where you earn category authority.

How long should pages be?

As long as the answer needs to be, and no longer. For AI extraction, density beats length. A tight 800-word guide with five clean question-led sections will out-cite a 2,500-word page that wanders.

Should I use AI to write my GEO content?

AI tools are useful for outlines, first drafts and editing. They are not useful as your final voice. AI systems can recognise and discount low-effort AI-generated content, and human readers certainly can. The pages that get cited are the ones with a clear point of view, specific examples, named people, and opinions a machine wouldn't generate on its own.

How do I know if a page is citable before I publish?

Run it through three quick checks:

1. The H2 test. Read just the H2s. Do they form a list of real questions a buyer would ask?
2. The first-sentence test. Copy the first sentence after each H2 into a doc. Can each stand alone as an answer?
3. The paraphrase test. Paste a section into ChatGPT and ask "summarise this in 30 words". If the summary is sharp and accurate, AI tools will be able to cite it. If it's vague, rewrite.

For the meta title, description and social tags that sit above the body copy - and how they influence both Google rankings and AI citations - see Meta titles and descriptions for GEO.