The heading hierarchy of an article is one of the first things AI systems parse when evaluating content for extraction. Headings create a navigational structure that tells AI crawlers what each section covers — enabling them to find the section that answers a specific query without reading the entire document.
The One H1 Rule
Every page should have exactly one H1 — the article's main title. Multiple H1 tags create ambiguous authority signals for AI parsers. The H1 should clearly state the article's core question or topic, ideally phrased as a question that matches real search queries.
H2 Headings as Direct Questions
Each major section uses an H2 heading. For AEO, H2 headings should be phrased as the specific question that section answers: "How Does IndexNow Work?" rather than "IndexNow Protocol Overview." The question phrasing creates direct alignment with the query patterns AI systems receive — when a user asks "how does IndexNow work?" the AI can identify that the H2 section heading directly matches and extract the content below it with high confidence.
Bold Text for Answer Signals
Using bold text for the key term or key number in a paragraph helps AI systems identify the most extractable claim. "The minimum viable topic cluster for AI authority recognition is 15 to 20 articles" with bold on the quantity signals that this is the specific answer, not context or supporting explanation. This technique is used throughout every article in the Omni AEO content system.