An engine can fetch your page and still find nothing to lift from it. Eight structural checks that make content quotable.
Getting crawled is the first hurdle. The second is being useful once you are: an assistant composing an answer looks for passages it can lift and stand behind. Pages written as positioning copy give it very little to work with.
What are the eight answerability checks?
- 1Open with a direct answer. A short, self-contained capsule at the top that answers the page's question.
- 2Use tables for comparisons. Engines lift structured comparisons far more cleanly than paragraphs.
- 3Phrase headings as questions. Match the way buyers ask, so sections map to queries.
- 4State explicit figures. Prices, limits, sizes and timings, written as numbers.
- 5Date what you publish. A visible date signals the information is current.
- 6Link to outside sources. Claims that point to evidence are easier to trust and cite.
- 7Keep sections self-contained. Each section should make sense when quoted on its own.
- 8Name the author. A byline tells an engine who stands behind the page.
What does each check need to pass?
These are the thresholds the Vidrys answer-engine audit uses when it reads a page:
| Check | Passes when the page has |
|---|---|
| Direct answer | A first paragraph of 20 to 90 words before the first subheading (40 to 60 is the target) |
| Table | At least one table with 3 or more rows |
| Question headings | At least 2 headings phrased as questions |
| Explicit figures | At least one price or currency amount, such as ₹999 |
| Dates | At least one year or month-and-year |
| Outside sources | Links to at least 2 other websites |
| Self-contained sections | Sections of about 120 to 180 words, with few under 50 |
| Named author | A byline or a "Reviewed by" line that names a person |
Structure is the heaviest part of the audit: answer-shaped pages are worth 16 of its 100 points, checkable facts 10 and named authorship 4. The idea that engines favour pages shaped this way was measured in GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, a 2023 research paper, and Google describes how pages are chosen for AI Overviews in its guidance on AI features in Search.
Which pages should you fix first?
Not every page matters equally. A weak pricing, comparison or product page costs far more than a weak archive post, so fix the pages buyers are sent to first.
How does answerability fit with the rest of the audit?
| Question | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Retrievability | Can AI crawlers fetch and read the site at all? |
| Answerability | Is the content shaped so an engine can lift an answer out of it? |
| Authority | Does the wider web agree the brand exists and is worth citing? |
A page can pass one and fail the others. The GEO & AEO guide walks through all three.
Written by the Vidrys team. Published 13 Sept 2026.