Why this matters

The "ski ramp" is the single most important on-page pattern for AEO: 44.2% of LLM citations come from the first 30% of the page (large-sample citation analysis, ~1.2M citations, p-value 0.0).
78.4% of citations containing questions come from H2 headings — LLMs treat H2s as prompts. If your H2s aren't phrased as questions users would ask, you leave citation opportunity on the table.
AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. Any critical content that renders client-side is invisible to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. The on-page check must include "does this render in raw HTML?"
Traditional on-page factors (title tags, schema, internal linking) remain load-bearing for Google — roughly the same rules as the last decade, with the AEO layer added on top.

Process

Verify target keyword and intent alignment. Read the brief (from seo-content-strategy). Confirm the target keyword and intent match the SERP reality. If the SERP has shifted since the brief was written, adjust before optimizing.
Optimize title tag and meta description. Title is the single highest-leverage on-page element.
Structure header hierarchy. H1 is the topic. H2s are question-based subtopics. H3s are supporting detail. Apply the ski ramp.
Optimize body content. Front-load the answer. Definitive language. Entity density. Raw-HTML-visible content.
Implement internal links. Every page links to its pillar. Pillars link to all clusters. Clusters cross-link 2-3 related clusters.
Optimize images. Alt text, dimensions, modern formats, lazy loading.
Implement schema markup (JSON-LD). Validate with Rich Results Test before publish.
Run the pre-publish checklist. Confirm every ski ramp and technical element is in place.