TLDR Tech / Marketing
The Fan-Out Effect: What Happens Between a Query and a Citation
This analysis investigates how ChatGPT selects and cites web pages by mapping the complete retrieval process across thousands of queries and pages. Retrieval rank is the most significant indicator, with a 58% citation rate for position 1 dropping to 14% for position 10. Heading alignment is the leading on-page factor, as strong query matches are cited 41% of the time compared to 29% for weaker matches. Focused pages are more effective than exhaustive ones; 26-50% fanout coverage surpasses full coverage when relevance is consistent. Domain authority and backlinks show no positive, and even a slightly negative, impact, suggesting citations are driven more by retrieval position and content structure than traditional SEO authority.
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