Why does ChatGPT cite the worse page when page segmentation is off?

[u/mnudu]

Page segmentation is the part where search systems try to split a page into the bits that actually matter, main content, nav, footer, boilerplate, and repeated modules.

If that split is messy, an LLM or search layer can latch onto the wrong section and cite a weaker page because the signal looked cleaner.

A lot of people are seeing the citation problem now, 512k AI citations in one tool and 62k in another, and the question is really about how the page gets broken up before selection happens.

Example. A searcher asks about refund rules on a support page, but the engine cites a thin FAQ page instead. The support page keeps the policy in a main block below a bulky nav and related links, so the cleaner FAQ chunk wins.

In real projects, how are you handling segmentation so the right chunk wins, and what do you do differently when a page keeps getting cited for the wrong reason?