"Recently I've gotten three calls inbound that people found us online. Two from chat, one from Claude."
That's Patrick J. Buckhoff, CCIM, who leads RE/MAX Commercial Advisors Group in Houston. In 2026 we restructured the brokerage's site content for AI answer engines, and afterward he reported those calls. Buyers are asking AI assistants who to call. The firms that get named have content a model can repeat with confidence.
To get quoted by AI, write sentences a model can lift whole and repeat safely: a specific claim, a named source, a number, a date, under a clear question heading. Models skip the vague, the unattributed, and anything they can't read. Everything below is a version of that one idea.
How do you get quoted by AI?
Give the model a sentence it can repeat without risk. That means a specific, checkable claim in plain words, attached to a named source or a named firm, with a number and a date where one exists, placed directly under a question someone would actually ask. Publish it as plain text on an open page. Vague, unattributed, or locked-away content gives a model nothing safe to say.
Why some sentences travel everywhere
Look at three stats you'll find cited across B2B marketing writing, including ours.
The 6sense 2024 Buyer Experience Report found that B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their purchasing process before engaging sellers, and 81% already have a preferred vendor at first contact (Demand Gen Report).
Gartner predicted in February 2024 that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 because of AI chatbots and virtual agents (Gartner).
The 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found 75% of decision-makers said thought leadership pushed them to research a firm they hadn't considered (Edelman).
Why do those three travel so well? They share four ingredients.
- A named source. 6sense. Gartner. Edelman and LinkedIn. You know who said it.
- A specific number. 70%. 25%. 75%. Precise enough to check.
- A date. 2024. February 2024. 2025. You know how fresh it is.
- One clean sentence. Each finding fits in a single line with no setup required.
The research says the same thing. The Princeton and IIT Delhi GEO study (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024) found that GEO methods "can boost visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses." Adding quotations, statistics, and source citations were among the top-performing methods. Keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing on the study's main visibility measure (arXiv).
That maps straight onto the CITE Framework we use for generative engine optimization. C is for Claim: the specific, checkable sentence. E is for Evidence: the named source, the date, the byline. Those two letters do most of the work in every pattern below.
Seven patterns LLMs quote
Each one comes with a before and after from the kind of firm we work with every day.
1. The definitional sentence
When someone asks "what is X," a model wants one sentence that answers it. Firms that define their own category get quoted when that category comes up.
Before: "At Summit Ridge, executive search is about so much more than filling seats."
After: "Retained executive search is a hiring engagement where a search firm is paid to run a defined search for one senior role, usually a VP or C-suite hire, from market mapping through offer."
2. The specific number with a named source
This is the 6sense, Gartner, Edelman pattern. Number, source, date, link.
Before: "Most buyers do their homework before calling a vendor."
After: "B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their purchasing process before engaging sellers, according to the 6sense 2024 Buyer Experience Report."
3. The named framework
A named method is a noun a model can hold onto. "A five-step exit readiness process" disappears. "The Ready-to-Sell Review" can be referenced, defined, and attributed to you.
Before: "We take a holistic approach to preparing owners for a sale."
After: "Our Ready-to-Sell Review scores a company on four things buyers check first: customer concentration, owner dependence, clean financials, and recurring revenue."
4. The comparison table
Buyers ask comparison questions constantly. A small, honest table answers them in a structure models parse easily.
Before: A three-paragraph essay on how retained and contingency search differ.
After:
| Retained search | Contingency search | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Senior, confidential, or hard-to-fill roles | High-volume and mid-level roles |
| Exclusivity | One firm runs the search | Several firms may compete |
| Paid when | In stages across the search | Only when a candidate is hired |
5. The direct answer under a question heading
Put the question your buyer asks in an H2. Answer it in the first sentence under it. Then explain.
Before: A heading that says "Our Philosophy," followed by four paragraphs before the point appears.
After: "## How long does a sell-side M&A process take?" followed by "Most sell-side processes for founder-led companies take six to nine months from engagement to close."
6. The dated, bylined expert opinion
Models lean on provenance. A named partner with real credentials, a date on the post, and a clear stance is easier to trust than a page signed "Team."
Before: "Experts agree that valuations are shifting."
After: "In our October 2026 review of active mandates, buyers in specialty manufacturing are spending more time on customer concentration than on margin, writes Dana Whitfield, managing partner." (An invented partner, for illustration.)
7. The named-client result
The single strongest pattern for a service firm. A full client name, a specific outcome, a timeframe.
Before: "Our clients see incredible growth."
After: "Travel Again Advisory, a travel-industry M&A advisory firm, saw a 1,011% increase in organic search visits year over year after we rebuilt its site for Google and for AI answer engines."
Seven patterns LLMs skip
The flip side. Each of these makes a page harder to quote, and most firms have at least three.
1. Throat-clearing intros
Two paragraphs of warm-up before the first fact. A model scanning for an answer finds none near the top and moves on.
Before: "Choosing the right advisor is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make, and we understand how overwhelming it can feel."
After: Start with the answer. "Owners usually interview three sell-side advisors and choose based on sector experience and who will run the deal day to day."
2. "In today's fast-paced world"
And its cousins: "in an ever-changing market," "now more than ever." These phrases carry zero information, so there's nothing to lift.
Before: "In today's fast-paced world, businesses need accounting partners who can keep up."
After: "Our firm closes the books for construction companies by the tenth business day of each month."
3. Adjective soup
"Innovative, results-driven, client-centric, best-in-class." A model can't verify any of it, so it repeats none of it.
Before: "We are a premier, full-service, results-driven consultancy."
After: "We help regional healthcare groups with 5 to 20 clinics standardize intake and billing across locations."
4. Gated PDFs and text locked in images
Your best research sits behind a form, or your strongest stat is baked into a graphic. Crawlers can't fill out forms, and text inside images is unreliable at best.
Before: "Download our 2026 Compensation Report to see the findings."
After: Publish the headline finding as text on an open page, then offer the full report. "In our 2026 survey of 140 CFO placements, base salary rose for roles at PE-backed companies." (Hypothetical numbers, for illustration.)
5. Keyword-stuffed pages
The Princeton and IIT Delhi researchers found keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing on the study's main visibility measure. Repetition dilutes the sentences worth quoting.
Before: "Our Charlotte engineering consultancy is the Charlotte engineering consultancy Charlotte developers trust for Charlotte engineering."
After: "We're a 14-person civil engineering consultancy in Charlotte that handles site design and permitting for multifamily developers."
6. Unattributed "studies show"
If you can't name the study, a model has no reason to believe you, and no safe way to repeat you.
Before: "Studies show most buyers research online first."
After: "Responsive's October 2025 study of 350 B2B buyers found generative AI has overtaken traditional search for a quarter of them."
7. Undated evergreen mush
A page with no date, no author, and claims that could have been written in 2014 or 2026. Freshness and provenance are both missing.
Before: "Marketing is changing and firms need to adapt."
After: A visible publish date, a named author, and a dated position. An illustrative example from an invented M&A firm: "As of October 2026, we recommend a sell-side quality-of-earnings report before any company over 20 employees goes to market."
A worked example: one page, rewritten
Say you run a nine-person executive search firm in Denver that places CFOs and controllers at private-equity-backed companies. This firm is invented for illustration.
Your About page opens like this:
"Founded on a passion for people, Peak Line Partners is a boutique search firm delivering tailored talent solutions to discerning clients across a range of industries."
Ask ChatGPT or Claude to recommend a CFO search firm for a PE-backed company in Colorado and see whether that sentence could ever come back. It can't. There's no role, no client type, no place, no proof.
Here's the rewrite, using the patterns above:
"Peak Line Partners is a retained executive search firm in Denver that places CFOs and controllers at private-equity-backed companies in the Mountain West. Since 2015, the firm has completed 210 finance leadership searches, and 88% of placements were still in the role two years later." (Hypothetical numbers.)
Underneath it, a question heading ("How long does a CFO search take?") with a one-sentence answer. A partner bio with a byline, credentials, and a LinkedIn link. One named client result, with permission. A dated post on what PE sponsors are asking for in finance leaders this year.
Nothing fancy. Every sentence is now something a model could repeat about the firm without guessing.
How to tell if it's working
Don't judge by one answer. AI responses vary run to run, so a single ChatGPT screenshot proves very little. Run the same prompts many times and track how often your firm shows up. We cover the method in how to measure AI visibility.
And make sure the page itself is readable by machines: crawlable HTML, AI crawlers allowed, schema that matches the visible text. That side of the work is in how to make your website citable by AI.
Patterns like these are the everyday craft of generative engine optimization. Pick your three most important pages. Rewrite the first paragraph of each so a stranger, or a model, could quote it word for word.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get your content quoted by AI? Write sentences a model can lift whole: a specific claim, a named source, a number, and a date, sitting under a clear question heading. Put that text on the page in plain HTML, where crawlers can read it. Vague, unattributed, or locked-away content gives a model nothing safe to repeat.
What kind of content do LLMs cite most? Content with checkable specifics. Definitional sentences, statistics with a named source, named frameworks, comparison tables, direct answers under question headings, dated expert opinion with a byline, and named client results. The Princeton and IIT Delhi GEO study found that adding quotations, statistics, and source citations were among the top-performing methods.
Does keyword stuffing help with AI search? No. In the Princeton and IIT Delhi GEO study, keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing on the study's main visibility measure. Answer engines reward clear, specific, well-sourced writing, so repeating a phrase only dilutes the sentences worth quoting.
Can AI read gated PDFs and text inside images? Assume it can't. A PDF behind a form is invisible to a crawler, and text baked into an image is unreliable at best. If a finding matters, publish the key sentence and the number as plain text on an open page, and gate the full report if you want.
How long does it take for rewritten content to get quoted by AI? There is no fixed timeline, because AI answers vary from run to run. Rewrite your most important pages first, then track how often your firm appears across many prompts over several weeks. Frequency across repeated runs tells you more than any single answer.
If your site reads like the "before" column, we'll show you which three pages to fix first.