What answer engines retrieve
Retrieval matches substance, not brand. An answer engine finds a page because the page contains the words of the question and answers the question directly. For more, read Query fanouts. Thus, a smaller brand with one useful page can rank higher than a large brand with no such page.What answer engines trust
From the retrieved material, answer engines prefer sources that look like evidence:- Independent sources are better than self-published sources. When a brand describes itself, the evidence is weak. When a third party describes the brand, the evidence is stronger. This is the largest factor, and most teams do not use it sufficiently.
- Specific pages are better than general pages. A page that fully answers one question is better than a page that touches twenty questions.
- Consistent sources are better than contradictory sources. When sources do not agree about you, answer engines give an uncertain answer. Or, they select the claim with more support.
What answer engines quote
Answer engines quote passages. An answer engine can retrieve and trust a page, but the page can still give nothing to the answer. The cause is that no paragraph in the page is a full answer by itself. This failure is the most frequent failure, and it is the easiest to correct. Read Structuring content for LLMs.What this means for you
Do these actions in the order of their effect:- Make your content quotable for the questions where you already rank.
- Get independent mentions in the places where buyers already look.
- Cover the questions where you are absent. Select them by their commercial value.
- Keep your facts consistent in all the places where they occur.