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The title AI assistants cite is the one shaped like the question, 58% against 24%
Search optimisation teaches the numbered title, AI optimisation teaches the question title. Neither holds: among the pages an engine had in front of it, a number at the head of the title measures an odds ratio of 1.02 and a question mark 1.10. What decides is the match between the shape of the title and the shape of the question, and that match flips the sign: a superlative title is cited 24% of the time on a "how" question and 57% on a ranking question. Measured on 4,791 answers from six engines, 6 July to 2 September 2026.
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