AI search optimization

Classical SEO optimizes to be clicked. This optimizes to be quoted — often with no click at all. That changes what a good page looks like.

What gets cited

Self-contained passages. A retrieved chunk arrives without the surrounding page. Each section must make sense alone, with its subject named rather than pronominalized.
Direct answers near the question. Bury the answer under three paragraphs of context and the passage retrieved will be the context.
Specific, checkable facts — numbers, dates, named methods, stated conditions. Vague claims are neither retrievable nor quotable.
Attributable expertise. Named authors, stated credentials, dated content, and cited sources. Anonymous undated content is weakly weighted.
Structure that survives extraction — real headings, real lists, real tables. Layout implied by styling disappears.