Much like that eccentric uncle no one fully understands, the inner workings of how AI engines pick which sources to cite are still pretty mysterious. But early experiments are starting to reveal tactics that can help you get noticed. And as more consumers rely on AI search for recommendations on products and services, you really do want to show up there. (Unlike your eccentric uncle, whom you probably dodge at family gatherings.) Today, I’m sharing one such experiment that helped drive a 642% jump in citations from AI tools like ChatGPT. And for all you language lovers, it centers on semantics. But first, everyone’s favorite segment: The disclaimer!
The sum vs. the parts
Before we go further, it’s crucial to understand that this approach is just one element of a broader framework our Growth team affectionately calls the “everything bagel strategy.”
“Our experimentation hasn’t [shown that] this one tactic is the key to better AI visibility,” says Amanda Sellers, HubSpot’s head of EN blog strategy. “What we’ve found is that the sum of the parts is what’s good for AI visibility.”
If I tried to unpack all those parts at once, you’d be reading a book, not a newsletter — so treat this as part one.
A bit of the ‘why’ behind AI
“A human might be able to tell you what the sentence ‘Paris is cool’ means,” Sellers explains. “But an AI engine without [immediate] context wouldn’t know if we’re talking about Paris, France, or Paris Hilton.”
AI tools can sound strikingly human, but the way they…