Is page speed actually a factor for AI search or is that just traditional SEO thinking?

We analyzed speed metrics across 100,000+ pages. Here’s what the data shows:

Speed correlation with AI citations:

3x difference between fastest and slowest sites.

But here’s the nuance: Correlation doesn’t prove causation.

Possible explanations:

1. AI bots timeout on slow pages
2. Fast sites = better maintained = better content
3. Speed is a quality proxy signal
4. Well-funded sites are both fast and have good content

What we can confidently say:

• Very slow sites get fewer citations
• Speed threshold matters more than marginal gains
• Content quality still trumps speed

How AI crawlers actually behave with slow pages:

What we see in logs:

1. Initial request - Bot requests page
2. Wait for response - Timeout if too slow
3. Parse HTML - Only what’s returned
4. Move on - Crawl budget applied

Timeout patterns: Different bots have different patience:

• GPTBot: Fairly patient (~5-10s)
• PerplexityBot: Less patient (~3-5s)
• Varies by implementation

What happens with slow pages:

• Sometimes partial content received
• Sometimes timeout before response
• Retry logic varies

Real impact: A page that takes 5s might be crawled 30% less often than one taking 0.5s.

Less crawling = Less chance of being in training data = Less likely to be cited.

Speed affects crawl success, which affects AI visibility indirectly.

Speed vs. content quality analysis:

Our experiment: Compared pairs of pages on same topics:

• Fast page with thin content
• Slower page with excellent content

Results: The slower page with better content got more citations in every case.

The hierarchy:

1. Content quality (most important)
2. Authority signals
3. Content structure
4. Technical factors including speed

What this means: Speed is necessary but not sufficient.

A fast page with poor content won’t outrank a slightly slower page with excellent content.

But: A slow page with great content loses to a fast page with equally great content.

Practical advice: Meet speed thresholds. Then focus entirely on content.

Interesting data point from CDN perspective:

AI bot behavior we observe:

• GPTBot and PerplexityBot make millions of requests daily
• They don’t retry failed requests as aggressively as Googlebot
• They prefer cached/fast responses

What helps:

• CDN for edge caching
• Prerendering for dynamic content
• Static content where possible

What we’ve seen: Sites using our edge caching have higher AI bot success rates (95%+) vs sites serving from origin only (80-85%).

The implication: AI bots want fast, successful responses. CDN + caching helps ensure they get content reliably.

Technical infrastructure matters for AI crawl success.

Interesting counterintuitive finding:

From the research: Pages with the FASTEST Interaction to Next Paint (INP < 0.4s) actually had FEWER citations (1.6 avg) than moderate INP (0.8-1.0s, 4.5 avg).

Possible explanation: Extremely simple/static pages may lack the depth AI looks for.

Fast simple page = less content = fewer citations Moderate page = more features but more content = more citations

The lesson: Don’t sacrifice content depth for speed. A slightly slower comprehensive page beats a lightning-fast thin page.

Balance is key.

Practical speed optimization for AI visibility:

Priority 1: Server response time

• TTFB under 500ms
• This affects crawl success
• CDN and caching help

Priority 2: Content delivery

• Main content loads quickly
• Critical content above the fold
• Don’t lazy-load essential text

Priority 3: Avoid blockers

• No render-blocking resources
• Minimal third-party scripts
• Efficient CSS delivery

What NOT to worry about:

• Perfect Lighthouse scores
• INP optimization (for AI specifically)
• Millisecond improvements

The formula: Fast enough to be crawled reliably + Great content = AI visibility

How to measure if speed is affecting your AI visibility:

Track these together:

1. Your page speed metrics
2. AI crawler success rate (from logs)
3. AI citation frequency

Look for patterns:

• Do faster pages get more citations?
• Are slow pages being crawled less?
• What’s your crawl success rate?

Server log analysis: Check for AI bot requests and response codes:

• 200 = Success
• 408/504 = Timeout (speed issue)
• 500+ = Server errors

High timeout rate = speed is hurting you.

Action threshold: If > 5% of AI bot requests timeout, speed optimization should be priority.

If < 1% timeout, speed is fine - focus on content.

Great data here. My takeaways:

Speed matters, but not infinitely:

• Clear correlation exists
• Threshold effects are real
• After baseline met, diminishing returns

Practical targets:

• TTFB: < 500ms
• FCP: < 1s
• Don’t sacrifice content for speed

Priority order for AI:

1. Content quality
2. Authority signals
3. Structure
4. Speed (meet threshold)

What we’re implementing:

1. Audit for timeout issues in bot logs
2. Ensure all content pages meet speed thresholds
3. CDN/caching for reliable delivery
4. Then focus efforts on content quality

Key insight: Speed is a baseline requirement, not a competitive advantage. Meet the threshold, then focus on what actually differentiates: content quality.

Thanks everyone!