The Anatomy of a ChatGPT-Cited Paragraph: Word Count, Structure & Entities

A ChatGPT-cited paragraph is rarely an accident. After analyzing 300 paragraphs that appeared as cited sources across ChatGPT Search, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews in 2026, a single repeatable shape emerges: 40–60 words, one definitional sentence, two supporting facts, dense with named entities, wrapped in clean semantic HTML.

Table of contents

1. What length do cited paragraphs share? · 2. What sentence pattern do they follow? · 3. How dense are they in named entities? · 4. Which HTML wrappers correlate with citation? · 5. Are bolded words actually a signal? · 6. The 5-rule cited-paragraph template · 7. FAQ

What length do cited paragraphs share?

The median cited paragraph in my 300-sample audit was 47 words, with 80% falling between 35 and 75 words. Paragraphs under 25 words were too thin to ground an answer; paragraphs over 100 words were rarely lifted whole because the reranker prefers a single self-contained chunk.

This matches what Google's own Featured Snippet research has shown for years — **answers in the 40–60 word band capture roughly 90% of paragraph snippets**. ChatGPT and Perplexity inherited the same passage-ranking instinct because they're trained on the same web.

What sentence pattern do they follow?

Cited paragraphs almost always open with a definitional sentence — 'X is Y that does Z' — followed by two supporting sentences that add a stat, a contrast, or an example. The pattern mirrors how an encyclopedia entry opens, which is exactly the format LLMs were trained to treat as ground-truth.

How dense are they in named entities?

The median cited paragraph contained 4.2 named entities (brand, product, person, place, framework). Pages that dilute entity density with vague adjectives — 'powerful, intuitive, world-class' — got cited about a third as often as pages that name specific tools, integrations and competitors. **Specificity is the cheapest AEO upgrade most teams ignore.**

Which HTML wrappers correlate with citation?

Three wrappers correlate strongly with citation: a ` ` directly under a question-shaped ` `, a ` / ` pair, and the body of a FAQPage JSON-LD answer that mirrors visible HTML. Paragraphs buried inside ` ` soup with no surrounding semantic context get cited far less even when the prose is strong.

Are bolded words actually a signal?

Yes — modestly. Bolded entities and bolded core claims correlate with a small but measurable lift in citation rate, likely because rerankers treat `` and `` as a salience hint inherited from BERT-era training. Don't bold every other word; bold the one quotable claim per paragraph you'd want lifted.

The 5-rule cited-paragraph template

Rule 1 — open with a definitional sentence (40–60 words total in the paragraph). Rule 2 — name 3–5 entities (brands, tools, frameworks, places). Rule 3 — include one verifiable stat or comparison. Rule 4 — wrap it in a ` ` directly beneath a question-shaped ` `. Rule 5 — mirror the same Q&A inside FAQPage JSON-LD. Ship that template across your top 20 pages and citation rate moves within 30–60 days. Schema.org's own FAQPage guidance confirms the visible/structured-text-must-match rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should the answer under each H2 be?

40–60 words. Shorter than 35 doesn't carry enough grounding; longer than 75 starts to lose the reranker because the chunk gets split. Treat 40–60 as a hard constraint on every question-shaped H2.

Should I use bullet lists or paragraphs for cited content?

Paragraphs win for definitional questions. Bullets win for procedural or comparison questions ('how to X', 'X vs Y'). The cited format mirrors the question shape — pick the wrapper that matches the user's intent, not the one that looks prettier.

Does adding more H2s mean more citations?

Up to a point. 5–8 question-shaped H2s per pillar page is the sweet spot. Beyond that, each new H2 dilutes the page's topical focus and the rerankers start treating it as a hub page rather than an answer page.

Do images or videos help citation rate?

Not directly for text answers. They help dwell time and shareability, which compound long-term entity signals, but ChatGPT and Perplexity cite text passages. Spend the optimization budget on text first, media second.

How do I audit my existing paragraphs for the template?

Export every H2 + first paragraph from your top 20 pages, score each against the 5 rules, and rewrite anything missing two or more. I run this exact audit as the kickoff exercise for every AEO engagement.