THE SHORT ANSWER
AI assistants cite pages that answer one question completely, early, with figures a model can reproduce and a stated method behind them. The practical requirements are a direct answer in the first two or three sentences, original numbers rather than restated industry claims, question-shaped headings, FAQ structured data, and a page that is readable without JavaScript.
The six requirements, in order of impact
Answer first. The direct answer belongs in the first two or three sentences. Retrieved passages are short, and an introduction that warms up for four paragraphs gets cut before the answer appears.
Original figures. A model has no reason to cite you for a number it can get from a hundred other pages. It has every reason to cite you for a number only you publish.
Stated method. Say where the number came from. Unsourced assertions are the first thing a careful engine drops.
Question-shaped headings. Headings that match how people ask make passage-level retrieval far more likely.
Structured data. FAQ and Organization markup make your content machine-parseable rather than merely readable.
No interaction barrier. If the number lives inside a widget, an image or a login, it does not exist to a retriever.
What does not work
Keyword density, which these systems do not weigh the way early search engines did. Volume of thin pages, which dilutes rather than accumulates. And restating what everyone already publishes, which gives no engine a reason to prefer your version.
The uncomfortable implication is that GEO rewards having something to say. There is no purely technical route to being cited.
How to measure whether it worked
Ask each engine your commercial questions on a fixed schedule, from a clean session, and log whether you were named and whether you were linked. Being named without a link still produces demand, because the reader searches your name afterwards, and that shows up as branded search volume.
Watch branded search volume as the leading indicator. It moves before referral traffic does.
Related answers
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get cited by an AI assistant?
Engines that retrieve live, such as Perplexity and Copilot, can cite a new page within days of it being indexed. Answers drawn from model knowledge rather than retrieval lag by much longer, since they depend on training cycles.
Do I need different content for each AI engine?
No. One well-structured, genuinely informative page serves all of them. What differs is the diagnostic step: how you check whether it worked.
Does structured data make an AI assistant cite me?
It does not guarantee it, but FAQ and Organization markup make your content unambiguous to parse, which measurably helps.
Is being mentioned without a link worth anything?
Yes. Readers search the name afterwards, so an unlinked mention shows up as branded search volume and direct traffic.
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