The traditional Google algorithm changed with the influence of artificial intelligence.
AI citations guide you to do one thing: get to the point.
Carefully study citations. Note how AI consistently references practical content without the fluff. 3000 word posts filled with personal anecdotes do not get the job done anymore; at least for AI citations.
Think “frequently asked questions” as a blog post style. Share only the essentials. For the most part, remove personal opinions from content to top page 1 of Google. Trim the blogging fat by removing wordy sentences. Edit aggressively. Leave the bare minimum. Answer the query with long form content but in as few words as possible.
Blogging From Paradise and AI Citations
Blogging From Paradise Dot Com generated a few AI citations.
Something neat happened after I changed my updating strategy.
I deleted 200-400 words per old blog post. I removed non-essential references. I left practical tips. Per the famous show Dragnet:
“Just the facts, ma’am.”
I’m blogging like Joe Friday these days. Get to the point. Share a comprehensive answer to step readers from problem to solution. Exit stage left.
After adopting this strategy my AI citations increased.
I know it is not terribly scientific yet my blog gets cited for keywords I did not intend to rank for.
Blogging Tips Page One
I Googled “blogging tips”.
My page one post emerged. No news there because this post consistently ranks on page 1.
But under the Content and Writing header the same post is the top AI citation. I did not optimize the post for blogging tips. I optimized the post for “How to Write a Blog Post“.
A helpful pattern arose after I cut word counts from 1500 bloated words to 1000 streamlined words or less. AI citations increased for old blog posts. Sometimes the citations appeared 2-3 hours after I updated old content. In one moment, my post ranked on page 20 or whatever. A few hours later, the post is on page 1 as the top AI citation. The bones were good because I published practical content yet deleting hundreds of unnecessary words and linking internally moved a dead post to the top of Google via citations.
AI wants practical tips to solve problems. AI does not want anything more than that. I know this now because my lean posts snag citations. My bloated posts do not.
Is Less More in the AI Citations Game?
Publish long form content. People want detailed resources. Google still favors long form posts from careful observation.
But I believe long form content changed the moment AI took ranking precedence. I based my belief on 900-1000 word, cut and dry, FAQ style posts generating AI citations after I updated and re-published the posts. I liken this to creating new content because the old approach is no longer relevant in Google terms. My 1300 word posts were heavy on facts and a bit too heavy on non-essentials. Culling 400 words left a post heavy on facts with nothing else. I stripped the excess. AI citations increased.
My 900 word posts never sniffed page 1 pre AI citations but a few of these updated posts generated AI citations hours after I updated and republished the content.
Is less more in the AI blogging world?
Maybe.
Would I advise publishing 600 word posts? Nope. Readers generally expect a 900-1000 word – or longer – post listing the basic essentials baby-stepping people from problem to solution. Google prefers long form content that became shorter since AI handled page one output.
What About Storytelling?
Lean blog posts get cited by AI based on my observation.
But what about good old fashioned story telling posts that tend to ramble a little bit? Readers love a good yarn. Your tribe may expect a story here and there based on past content. Mine certainly does.
Should you minimize content to appease AI or tells stories to captivate readers?
Do what your tribe tells you to do. Listen to reader feedback. Trust your community.
In a world of abundance it is OK to do both.
Some Blogging From Paradise posts nail down AI citations. Other Blogging From Paradise posts entertain my home grown traffic. Readers who bookmark my blog visit directly. Story telling posts drive organic traffic directly; no need to optimize these posts for Google.
Be Careful About the “No Compromise” Approach
Like every flawed human, I made some blogging mistakes over the years.
My “no compromise” approach to blogging has been one such error. I believed it was all or nothing in strategy terms. I tried to make every post follow a strict template.
I know this sounds practical. I even teach this tactic at times. Yet I am learning it is a bad idea because being flexible maintains makes the most sense in a world of change.
Based on the premise of this post, if I stuck to it religiously, I’d spend the next 6 months culling all story-telling references from nearly 800 blog posts. That’d be the “no compromise” approach to blogging. Does that make sense? Would this approach help you? Or is it wiser to keep some story style posts while updating others to rank for AI citations?
The latter strategy is the smart strategy.
Some of you love my travel stories. Some of you love cut and dry content. Running a community means reading the collective room. I will continue to infuse stories into some posts but will streamline old content and new content as well to secure AI citations. Bloggers find me through Google. Bloggers find me through social media. Bloggers find me through straight laced posts. Bloggers find me through posts like this one.
Listen to your tribe. Be flexible. Remain sane.
Conclusion
AI changed things not from a creation standpoint but from a ranking standpoint.
AI citations seem to favor a “less extraneous content achieves more ranking” approach but long-form content is still king.
Streamline blog posts. Remove bloat. Cull non-essentials. Stick to the facts.
Share practical tips to solve specific problems.
Less is more.
Ryan Biddulph is the owner and creator of Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
Ya gotta move with the times or get left behind.
Ai overviews and the related citations are a big thing.
Even if we dont get as much traffic, getting cited surely has to be better than not getting cited which is the same as not getting seen at all.
I made a few posts pure FAQ. Every h2 title asked a question which i answered with 1 or 2 short punchy sentences.
No bloat, no waffle.
Having posts scanable is good for AI and even the human.
Blog posts which tell a story, can be left as that. They aint providing any answers to whats being searched but equally, ya readers love to know your a human and not just a robot.
Keeping both helps but prioritizing the AI citation side of things makes sense. I continue to double down there. Just the facts. We are finally getting rewarded for being detail-oriented, genuine and sharing truly helpful content. Fun to see things come together this way. I did not see this coming – AI rewarding bloggers who go above and beyond – but will happily ride the wave.
Hi Ryan, I don’t believe the number of words matters anymore in either direction. It is all about the content: The intent of the content, whether it answers questions in the beginning, and whether it shares relevant case studies or input from you, the writer.
Of course, adding disclosure for use of AI and sponsorship or affiliate content is a higher form of ethical blogging, which leads to a higher trust factor.
Word count has changed over the years Lisa as a ranking factor. AI citations and the algorithm in general shifted things. Now it is about answering questions thoroughly but adding nothing else. Smart note on disclosure too. Be transparent to be ethical.