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AEO Citation Desk Card

A one-page checklist for teams that want to show up when buyers ask AI tools for recommendations.

A free general resource, not a review of your business. Optional help is linked below.

NorthSignal · northsignal.studio · 2026

Before you write anything

  1. Pick 20 to 25 buyer prompts your category gets asked in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
  2. For each prompt, note: brand mentioned (yes/no) and URL cited (yes/no). Track them separately.
  3. List every source the engines already cite in your niche. Those domains are your distribution map.

Page furniture (every money page)

Put this stack on the page before you worry about word count:

  1. Opening capsule (40 to 60 words) in the first screen. Claim + who it is for + one proof type. Leave blank numbers as [NEEDS NUMBER] until you have a real figure.
  2. Direct answer first. First paragraph answers the H1 question. No throat-clearing.
  3. Self-contained passages. Each H2 should stand alone if an AI lifts only that block.
  4. Key takeaways (4 to 6 bullets) near the top.
  5. FAQ at the bottom, each answer 2 to 4 sentences, link out to deeper pages.

Three citation checks (score yourself)

CheckPass looks likeFail looks like
Opening capsuleFirst 30% of the page carries a stealable thesisSoft intro, hero fluff, no claim
Entity clarityCompany + author named; About page; consistent sameAs where you use schemaAnonymous "we"; no author; conflicting brand strings
FreshnessMeaningful update in the last 12 months; honest lastmodStale dates; cosmetic republish with no substance

Answer capsule template (fill and paste)

[Company] helps [who] [outcome].
We do this by [mechanism in plain words].
Best fit: [segment]. Proof: [case, metric, or named method, or [NEEDS NUMBER]].

Keep it under 60 words. Put it under the H1.

Engine hygiene (table stakes)

  • Search and training permissions are separate. OAI-SearchBot controls OpenAI search access; GPTBot controls training. Google-Extended does not control Google Search inclusion. Access does not guarantee a citation.
  • Semantic HTML and accessible markup beat decorative blocks.
  • Schema should match what the page actually is (Article, Organization, Person). Do not bolt on FAQ schema for pages that are not Q&A.
  • Measure mention vs citation with dates. A mention without a URL is still a win for brand demand.

This week's desk move

  1. Write one opening capsule for your homepage or top service page.
  2. Score that page on the three citation checks.
  3. Add three buyer prompts you have never tracked to your prompt list.

Done when the capsule is live and the three checks have a yes/no next to them.

AEO Citation Desk Card | NorthSignal