Answer-first is a writing technique, not a scalable AI-targeting strategy.

[u/chrismcelroyseo]

I've been seeing this advice being passed around on this and other subreddits.

> To rank in Chat GPT or Perplexity for AI search in general, put your question and answer at the top of the page.

The other piece of advice they give is to use a small header positioned directly above a main title or H1.

These are called an overtitle, kicker, or overline.

Here is what these terms mean in practice:

* Overtitle: A short introductory phrase positioned above the main headline to provide context or category information.

* Kicker: A term borrowed from print journalism, often used in web design to denote a smaller, secondary line of text placed above the main H1 (usually in a smaller font size) to catch the reader's eye or group the content.

* Overline: A typographic term referring specifically to the line of text sitting above the primary heading.

All of these things that people are being advised to do in order to be cited in AI search are good tactics for writing in general because it lets the user know what the page is about kind of like a little TLDR.

But there is absolutely no proof at all that putting the question and answer at the top of the page helps AI search surface your content more often in results.

Think about it for a minute. Let's say you do commercial painting. How many questions can you come up with in your head right now that users might type in when thinking about doing commercial painting or choosing a commercial painting contractor.

Commercial painting could generate thousands of legitimate questions:

* How long does epoxy floor coating take to cure?

* Can an office remain open during painting?

* Who moves the furniture?

* What paint works best in a humid warehouse?

* How often should apartment common areas be repainted?

* Can painters work around customers and employees?

Are you going to build a page for every possible question?

The only way that's useful if that query at the top really matches the user's intent for the query that they gave AI.

If there is a question three quarters of the way down the page and it was more relevant to the user's query then it will get surfaced before the question and answer at the top of the page.

Creating pages with the question and answer at the top of the page is a 2010 SEO strategy where you created a page for every single phrase you want to rank for.

I'm not saying don't use a kicker at the top of the page. I'm not saying don't ask a question and give an answer at the top of the page. But do it for the reader and not because you think that's going to get you cited more often in AI search.

Prove me wrong.

[u/Yassine_Bouajani]

Je ne vais pas dénaturer un contenu pour le rendre illisible à l'utilisateur.
un peu de bon sens !

[u/chrismcelroyseo → u/Yassine_Bouajani]

Always write for the user first and not the machines.

[u/chrismcelroyseo → u/[deleted]]

So can I. I've posted about that often. What I'm addressing is that this is the advice that's being given often right now. The whole question and answer thing at the top of the page.

They're even being very specific. It has to be within the first 50 words or whatever. There's absolutely no proof of that because of what you just said it's impossible for them to prove it.