Help AI — and readers — find their way
Show them the way AI uses your structure as a map of your content. So help it navigate with clear headings, lists and tables.
Structure your way to AI citations
Structure is the fastest lever you have for earning AI citations. It directly dictates how AI systems pull specific chunks of information from your webpage.
AI tools don’t read your content the way humans do — they extract it. If your page makes extraction seamless, AI cites you. If it doesn’t, AI cites your competitors.
Here’s how to structure and format content AI will extract — and humans will skim and scan:
- Organize headings for AI search: Heading hierarchy — H1, H2, H3 — reveals depth and expertise.
- Write H2 subheads AI will cite: Phrase them as questions, not topics.
- Structure webpage sections for AI — and readers: Answer reader questions first — before any context, backstory or setup.
- Use tables to get more AI citations: Any time you need to compare or contrast, put it in a table.
- Write lists AI will extract: List lists. And make those lists substantial — not labels.
We’ll explore each of these techniques in more detail in future issues.
Structure is the new strategy.
AI doesn’t reward the best ideas. It rewards the most extractable ones.
When you trap your ideas inside dense paragraphs, AI engines can’t map the relationships between your points. But when you switch to a highly scannable layout, you’ll get more AI citations.
