Answer engines don’t reward drama. They reward clarity. This is your field guide to writing concise, speakable copy that machines can lift—and people can use.

The 15-second version

Write to one person. Lead with the answer. Name entities, audiences, and capabilities. Keep sentences short and speakable. Shape pages so a 40–60-word block can be quoted without surgery. That’s how you earn AI citations, qualified clicks, and fewer support tickets.

Why conversational writing moves the needle in AEO

People no longer search in fragments; they ask questions. Answer engines—LLMs, voice assistants, and “AI overviews”—are trained to surface copy that sounds like a direct reply from a helpful human. When your page mirrors the way a customer speaks, models can:

1) match intent semantically (not just by keyword), 2) lift a clean, quotable passage, and 3) read it back without awkward edits. The result: more mentions in AI answers and more visitors who arrive already primed to act.

How models judge your page (and decide to cite it)

Large language models look for concrete, low-ambiguity facts. They “trust” pages that state who it’s for, what it does, how it works, and where the boundaries are. Superlatives (“world-class,” “revolutionary”) don’t map cleanly to real-world entities; specific nouns, capabilities, constraints, and units do.

Here’s the transformation you’re after:

Before: “Our platform empowers finance leaders with next-generation insights.”

After: “Prophix is FP&A (financial planning and analysis) software for mid-market companies. It automates budget consolidation, connects to common ERP systems, and uses AI forecasting to project cash flow.”

Why it wins: category + audience + jobs + capabilities—all in clean, speakable lines a model can quote verbatim.

The anatomy of a quotable answer

Think of each section on your page as a tiny radio script. The opening 40–60 words should stand on their own if a voice assistant reads them out loud. Use this pattern:

[Entity] is a [category] for [audience] that [does X], including [two to three concrete capabilities]. Add one constraint or metric if it deepens trust.

Example:

Acme Ledger is bookkeeping software for solo accountants. It imports bank feeds, flags mismatches automatically, and exports tax-ready reports. Typical setup takes under an hour.

Make it speakable: the one-breath rule

Read every sentence aloud. If you run out of air or trip on a clause, tighten it. Prefer everyday verbs (“use,” “build,” “help”) over corporate euphemisms (“leverage,” “empower,” “enable”). When pronouns can confuse, repeat the noun. Replace filler like “in order to,” “very,” and “really” with nothing.

Voice-first tune-ups that consistently help:

• One action per step in procedures.
• Units written out where they’ll be spoken (“percent,” “minutes,” “gigabytes”).
• Acronyms expanded on first mention and kept consistent after.

Structure pages for extraction, not just for browsing

Answer engines love predictable layouts. Use question-shaped H2s that mirror how a buyer asks, then place a micro-answer immediately beneath each one. After the micro-answer, unpack details, examples, or edge cases. Think inverted pyramid: the point first, context second.

A simple blueprint that scales:

H1: Name the problem and promise the answer.
Intro block: 60–90 words that define the topic and who it’s for.
H2 (question): “How does [product] help with [job]?” → 40–60-word answer → details.
H2 (question): “What are the limits?” → short answer → specifics and guardrails.
H2 (question): “What results should I expect?” → short answer → metrics and proof.

Before-and-after: five quick rewrites worth copying

SaaS hero

Before: “Transformative insights for modern teams.”

After: “A reporting add-on for Shopify Plus stores. Pulls product, order, and cohort data into ready-made dashboards. Exports to CSV and Google Sheets.”

E-commerce description

Before: “Elevate your hydration.”

After: “A 1-liter (34 oz) stainless-steel bottle that keeps drinks cold for 24 hours. Leakproof lid. Fits most car cup holders.”

B2B services

Before: “We deliver transformative digital solutions.”

After: “We build B2B Shopify stores for manufacturers. Typical launch is 10–12 weeks and includes ERP sync and dealer pricing.”

DevTools

Before: “Revolutionary developer velocity platform.”

After: “A hosted CI service for TypeScript monorepos. Caches dependencies, runs tests in parallel, and posts results to GitHub in under three minutes.”

Regulated care

Before: “Our therapy restores vitality.”

After: “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps change thought patterns that drive anxiety. Sessions are 50 minutes, weekly. Not for emergencies.”

Formatting and markup that help machines help you

Write headings as questions and use descriptive link text (“compare pricing,” “implementation steps”). Keep paragraphs short for screen readers. Where relevant, add FAQPage or HowTo schema and validate before shipping. Write captions that explain what’s visible. Prefer text like “percent” in lines likely to be quoted.

For a neutral north star on clarity, see Google’s helpful content guidelines.

A practical workflow: from messy draft to AEO-ready page

1) Start with real questions. Pull them from Search Console queries, internal search logs, sales calls, and support tickets. Build your outline with those questions as H2s.

2) Write the micro-answers first. Hit the 40–60-word target up front. Name the entity, audience, job, and two to three capabilities. Add one constraint or number where useful.

3) Edit in three passes. Clarity pass (cut 20–30 percent and trade jargon for plain words). Speakability pass (read aloud; apply the one-breath rule). Structure pass (every H2 has a self-contained answer block).

4) Ship with guardrails. Add schema where it fits. Expand acronyms on first mention. Include alt text with meaning. Publish, then test with a voice assistant and an LLM—literally out loud.

Proving impact: the metrics that actually matter

Traffic is vanity if it doesn’t convert. Track how often your passages are cited in AI answers, how frequently those mentions become qualified leads, and how quickly visitors reach the first answer block.

Two metrics tie visibility to revenue:

Citation-to-lead rate: mentions that become qualified inquiries.
Time to first answer: median seconds until users reach the first 40–60-word block.

Pair these with outcomes your team cares about—pipeline created, demo requests, support deflection—and you’ll know whether conversational rewrites are paying their way.

Common pitfalls (and cleaner alternatives)

Keyword stuffing → Replace with entities, jobs to be done, and capabilities.

Vague promises → State limits, ranges, and units. Precision builds trust.

Bloated sentences → Split into two. If it can’t be read in one breath, it won’t be quoted cleanly.

Ambiguous pronouns → Repeat the noun. Clarity beats variety.

Your micro-kit: copy-and-use templates

Definition sentence: [Product/Service] is a [category] for [audience] that [primary job], including [2–3 core capabilities]. [Optional constraint or metric].

Answer block: Q: [User question as H2/H3]
A: [40–60 words you can read aloud verbatim.] Then add details, examples, or caveats as needed.

Bottom line

Write the way buyers ask. Put the answer first. Name the specifics—entities, audiences, capabilities, and numbers—and shape your page so a voice can read it without edits. That’s conversational AEO. If you want hands-on help, we build and test these pages every week for service providers, software teams, and venture-backed startups. Let’s make your brand the one AI recommends.