Hey!

AI tools don’t browse the web the way people do.

They scan, evaluate, and summarize — fast.

A recent analysis of 129,000 domains and 216,000+ pages looked at what influences whether pages get cited by ChatGPT. One technical signal stood out immediately: page speed.

Pages that loaded quickly (FCP under 0.4 seconds) averaged 6.7 AI citations.

Slower pages (FCP over 1.13 seconds) averaged 2.1.

That’s not a small lift. It’s a fundamental difference in whether AI sees your content as usable.

Here’s why that matters now:

Around 50% of consumers already rely on AI-powered tools during purchase research. For many of them, AI is the first filter — long before they ever reach a search results page.

If your pages load slowly, AI may still index them — but it’s far less likely to:

• Pull your content into summaries
• Recommend your site during research
• Surface your brand early in the decision process

This is where technical SEO starts doing quiet but critical work. Speed isn’t just about rankings anymore. It’s about being eligible for AI-driven discovery at all.

If you’re thinking ahead to how search is evolving, page speed is one of the clearest places to start.

Best,
The SEOJet Team