When an AI assistant answers a question, it draws on pages that state the answer plainly. You can’t control whether a page is cited, but you can make it easy to quote.
Key points
- Put the direct answer near the top, then explain.
- One idea per section, under a heading that names it.
- An FAQ with real questions helps readers; its rich-result display in Google is now limited.
Answer first, then explain
Open each section with the sentence that answers its heading. Supporting detail, examples and caveats come after. A reader skimming — human or machine — gets the point immediately.
Headings that name the idea
“How long does a boiler service take?” is a better heading than “The process”. It matches how people ask, and it tells any reader what the section answers.
FAQ blocks, with honest expectations
A short FAQ with questions your customers really ask is useful on its own. Marking it up with FAQPage structured data makes it machine-readable; note that since 2023 Google shows FAQ rich results mainly for well-known government and health sites.
Sources
- Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results
Google Search Central Blog - Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
Google Search Central