AI engines match user questions to page headings when deciding which content to cite. A user asking “How does GEO work?” will match directly to an H2 heading “How Does GEO Work?” but may miss a heading like “The GEO Process.” Converting headings to question format aligns your content structure with how users prompt AI. (We explore this further in How AI Search is Changing Consumer Behavior in 2026.)
Why Question Headings Work
AI engines use headings as a content index. When processing a page, they map headings to potential queries: This relates closely to what we cover in How to Run a GEO Competitor Analysis.
Statement heading: “Benefits of GEO”
- AI must infer which questions this section answers
- Mapping is indirect and less reliable
Question heading: “What Are the Benefits of GEO?”
- AI directly matches this to user questions
- Mapping is exact and reliable
Conversion Table
| Statement heading | Question heading |
|---|---|
| Benefits of GEO | What Are the Benefits of GEO? |
| GEO Best Practices | What Are GEO Best Practices? |
| Getting Started | How Do I Get Started with GEO? |
| Pricing | How Much Does GEO Cost? |
| Common Mistakes | What Are the Most Common GEO Mistakes? |
| Tools | Which Tools Do I Need for GEO? |
| Case Studies | Does GEO Actually Work? |
| Integration Guide | How Do I Integrate GEO with My Site? |
| Requirements | What Do I Need Before Starting GEO? |
| Comparison | How Does GEO Compare to SEO? |
Types of Question Headings
”What” Questions
Best for definitions and explanations:
- What is Generative Engine Optimization?
- What Does an AI Citation Look Like?
- What Schema Markup Does AI Use?
”How” Questions
Best for processes and tutorials:
- How Does ChatGPT Choose Sources?
- How Do I Optimize My robots.txt for AI?
- How Long Does GEO Take to Work?
”Why” Questions
Best for reasoning and motivation:
- Why Does JavaScript Block AI Crawlers?
- Why Do FAQ Sections Increase AI Citations?
- Why Is SSR Important for GEO?
”Which/What” Comparison Questions
Best for selection and comparison:
- Which AI Engines Should I Optimize For?
- What Content Format Gets the Most Citations?
- Which Schema Types Matter Most for GEO?
Heading Hierarchy for GEO
Structure your page headings in a logical hierarchy: For more on this, see our guide to How to Write Answer Units — Paragraphs AI Can Quote.
H1: [What is GEO](/blog/what-is-geo)? (one per page — the page's core question)
H2: How is GEO Different from SEO?
H2: Why Does GEO Matter in 2026?
H2: How Do AI Engines Choose What to Cite?
H3: How Does ChatGPT Select Sources?
H3: How Does Perplexity Select Sources?
H3: How Does [Google AI Overview](/blog/google-ai-overviews-optimization) Select Sources?
H2: How Do I Get Started with GEO?
H2: FAQRules:
- One H1 per page (the main topic question)
- H2s for major subtopics (each a question users would ask)
- H3s for sub-questions within a subtopic
- Never skip levels (H1 → H3 without H2)
When NOT to Use Question Headings
Not every heading needs to be a question: Our Perplexity Market Share & Growth (2026) guide covers this in detail.
- Navigation headers — “FAQ”, “Table of Contents”, “Related Posts”
- Proper nouns — “About LastClarity”, “Our Team”
- Lists within sections — Sub-items in a comparison table
Use question format for 70-80% of content headings and statement format for structural/navigational headers. As we discuss in Why Every Page Needs an FAQ Section for GEO, this is a critical factor.
FAQ
Do question headings help traditional SEO too?
Yes. Google’s People Also Ask feature uses similar matching. Question headings can earn PAA placements alongside AI citations. If you want to go deeper, Website Migration SEO Checklist (2026) breaks this down step by step.
Should I change existing headings on published content?
Yes, where possible. Converting headings is one of the easiest content optimizations. It doesn’t require rewriting body content — just reformatting the headings themselves. (We explore this further in How to Build a GEO Content Strategy from Scratch.)
Can headings be too long?
Yes. Keep question headings under 10 words when possible. “What Are the Benefits?” is better than “What Are All the Various Benefits and Advantages of Implementing a Comprehensive GEO Strategy?”