What content structure actually gets cited by AI? Show me before/after examples

Here’s a real before/after with explanation:

BEFORE (Narrative style):

In today's competitive business landscape, companies
are increasingly recognizing the importance of customer
relationship management. Many organizations struggle
with implementing effective CRM systems, and this often
leads to missed opportunities for customer engagement.
When we look at the data, we see that businesses that
adopt CRM solutions tend to see improvements in their
sales processes. The implementation of a good CRM can
help companies track leads, manage customer interactions,
and ultimately increase revenue, though results vary
depending on the specific situation and implementation
approach.

AFTER (AI-optimized):

## What is CRM and Why Does It Matter?

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software
that helps businesses manage customer interactions,
track leads, and increase sales revenue. Companies
using CRM see an average 27% increase in lead
conversion rates.

**Key CRM benefits:**
- Lead tracking and management
- Customer interaction history
- Sales pipeline visibility
- Automated follow-up reminders

The best CRM choice depends on your business size,
industry, and integration requirements.

What changed:

1. Question-based heading
2. Definition in first sentence
3. Specific statistic
4. Bullet list for key points
5. Short, extractable paragraphs
6. Each element stands alone

Citation likelihood: Before: ~5% After: ~45%

The “after” content has 4 different sections AI could extract.

Paragraph rules for AI optimization:

The 120-Word Rule: Paragraphs over 120 words are hard for AI to extract as clean citations. Keep paragraphs short.

The One-Idea Rule: Each paragraph = one main idea. If you’re covering two topics, make two paragraphs.

The Stand-Alone Rule: Each paragraph should make sense if pulled from context.

Before:

When you're implementing a new content strategy,
it's important to think about your audience first,
and then you should consider what types of content
they prefer, whether that's blog posts, videos, or
podcasts, and also think about the platforms where
they spend time, like LinkedIn for B2B or Instagram
for B2C, and don't forget to analyze what your
competitors are doing successfully because this can
give you insights into what works in your industry.

(107 words, 4+ ideas, unparseable)

After:

Start every content strategy by defining your target
audience. Understanding who you're creating content
for determines every decision that follows.

Choose content formats based on audience preferences.
B2B audiences typically prefer blog posts and LinkedIn
content. B2C audiences engage more with Instagram
and video content.

Analyze competitor content to identify what works in
your industry. Look for their most-shared pieces and
topics that generate discussion.

(67 words, 3 paragraphs, 3 clear ideas)

Each paragraph can now be cited independently.

Heading formulas that work:

Question Headings (Best for AI):

• “What is [Topic]?”
• “How does [Topic] work?”
• “Why is [Topic] important?”
• “When should you [Action]?”
• “How much does [Topic] cost?”

Definition Headings:

• “[Term]: Definition and Examples”
• “Understanding [Topic]”
• “[Topic] Explained”

Comparison Headings:

• “[Topic A] vs [Topic B]: Which is Better?”
• “[Topic] Compared: Top 5 Options”
• “How [Topic A] Differs from [Topic B]”

Action Headings:

• “How to [Achieve Goal]”
• “Steps to [Complete Task]”
• “[Number] Ways to [Outcome]”

Avoid:

• Generic: “Overview,” “Details,” “More Information”
• Clever: “The Secret Sauce,” “Game Changer”
• Vague: “What You Should Know,” “Key Insights”

Headings should answer: “What question does this section answer?”

Tables are citation gold. Transform text to tables:

Before (Narrative):

Salesforce is best for large enterprises and costs
$150-300/user. HubSpot is ideal for small to medium
businesses with a free tier and paid plans from
$45-120/user. Pipedrive focuses on sales teams and
costs $14-99/user.

After (Table):

Why tables work:

1. AI can extract the entire table
2. Each cell is a clean data point
3. Comparisons are clear and structured
4. Users can scan quickly

Table opportunities:

• Feature comparisons
• Pricing comparisons
• Pros and cons
• Step-by-step processes
• Requirements and specifications

Anywhere you’re comparing things = table opportunity.

FAQ sections are the easiest restructure with highest ROI.

The FAQ Formula:

Every piece of content can have 3-5 FAQs at the end.

Question format: Use actual questions your audience asks.

• “How much does [Topic] cost?”
• “Is [Topic] worth it?”
• “What’s the difference between [A] and [B]?”
• “How long does [Topic] take?”

Answer format:

• Direct answer in first sentence
• Brief elaboration (1-2 sentences)
• Specific data point if available

Example:

Q: How long does CRM implementation take?

A: CRM implementation typically takes 2-6 months for mid-size companies. Simple setups with minimal customization can launch in 2-4 weeks. Enterprise implementations with complex integrations may require 6-12 months.

Add FAQ schema: Wrap these in FAQ schema markup. AI systems can directly extract question-answer pairs.

Our results: Added FAQs to 50 blog posts. AI citation rate for those posts increased 45% in 6 weeks.

FAQs are the easiest, highest-impact restructure you can do.

When to use different list formats:

Bullet Lists - Use for:

• Features and benefits
• Key points to remember
• Unordered items
• Quick takeaways

Numbered Lists - Use for:

• Step-by-step processes
• Ranked items
• Sequential actions
• Priorities

Definition Lists - Use for:

• Term definitions
• Concept explanations
• Glossary items

Before (Paragraph):

The key factors to consider include price, which
should fit your budget, ease of use, which matters
for adoption, integrations with your existing tools,
customer support for when things go wrong, and
scalability for future growth.

After (Bullet List):

**Key CRM Selection Factors:**
- **Price:** Match to your budget and expected ROI
- **Ease of Use:** Affects adoption rates and training time
- **Integrations:** Must connect to existing tools
- **Customer Support:** 24/7 availability for enterprise
- **Scalability:** Supports growth without migration

Each bullet point is extractable on its own.

Explicit definitions get cited constantly.

The Pattern: “[Term] is [definition].”

AI systems love clear definitions because they directly answer “What is X?” queries.

Before (Implied definition):

When we talk about customer acquisition cost, we're
referring to how much money companies spend on
marketing and sales activities to bring in new
customers, which when divided by the number of
customers acquired gives you a metric that's useful
for understanding efficiency.

After (Explicit definition):

**Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)** is the total cost
of marketing and sales divided by the number of new
customers acquired. CAC = (Marketing Spend + Sales
Spend) / New Customers.

A healthy CAC for SaaS companies is typically
$200-400 for SMB customers and $1,000-5,000 for
enterprise customers.

Definition opportunities:

• Industry terms
• Acronyms
• Your product features
• Methodology names
• Process names

Every technical term = definition opportunity = citation opportunity.

Step-by-step restructuring workflow:

Step 1: Heading Audit (5 min)

• List all H2 and H3 headings
• Rewrite as questions where possible
• Ensure each heading signals clear topic

Step 2: First-Sentence Fix (10 min)

• Review first sentence of every section
• Rewrite to be complete, citable statements
• Add specific data where available

Step 3: Paragraph Splitting (10 min)

• Find paragraphs over 4 sentences
• Split into multiple paragraphs
• One idea per paragraph

Step 4: List Conversion (5 min)

• Find any list-like content in paragraphs
• Convert to actual bullet/numbered lists
• Add bold for key terms

Step 5: Table Opportunities (5 min)

• Any comparisons? → Table
• Any feature lists? → Table
• Any pricing info? → Table

Step 6: FAQ Addition (10 min)

• Add 3-5 FAQs at end
• Use real questions audience asks
• Answer directly with specifics

Step 7: Schema Implementation (5 min)

• Add FAQ schema
• Add Article schema
• Verify with testing tool

Total time: ~50 minutes per article

With practice, this becomes 30 minutes.

Quality checks for restructured content:

The Extraction Test: Can you pull any paragraph and have it make sense alone?

The Question Test: Does each heading clearly indicate what question the section answers?

The Scan Test: Can someone scanning for 30 seconds get the main points?

The Data Test: Does each major claim have a specific statistic or example?

The Definition Test: Is every technical term clearly defined?

Checklist:

• Answer in first sentence of each section
• Paragraphs under 4 sentences
• Question-based headings
• At least one table or comparison
• At least one numbered or bullet list
• FAQ section with 3-5 questions
• All technical terms defined
• Specific data points included
• Schema markup implemented

Use this checklist for every piece of restructured content.

Finally, specific actionable guidance. Our restructuring template:

Standard Restructure (per article):

1. Headings: Convert to question format
2. First sentences: Make citable, add data
3. Paragraphs: Split to max 4 sentences
4. Lists: Convert any list-like content
5. Tables: Add at least one comparison
6. Definitions: Explicitly define all terms
7. FAQs: Add 3-5 at end with schema

Time budget: 45 minutes per article

Prioritization:

• Week 1-2: Top 20 traffic pages
• Week 3-4: Product and feature pages
• Month 2: Blog posts by traffic
• Ongoing: New content follows template

Quality control:

• Extraction test
• Question test
• Scan test
• Checklist completion

Key takeaways:

1. First sentence is everything
2. One idea per paragraph
3. Tables > paragraphs for comparisons
4. FAQs are highest ROI
5. Explicit definitions get cited
6. Question headings signal intent

Thank you all - this is the practical playbook I needed.