{"id":49,"slug":"rule-lead-with-answer-40-60-words","title":"RULE: Lead paragraphs with the direct answer. Aim for 40–60 words. Make every paragraph self-contained.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["geo","extractability","agency-methodology"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Every section of Candid client content leads with a direct, self-contained answer in **40-60 words**, named entities and statistics where possible, before any setup or context. Each paragraph stands alone — a reader landing on it from a fragment URL or a chunked retriever understands it without prior context.\n\n**Why:** The Princeton GEO paper (see [[princeton-geo-paper-aggarwal-2024]]) measured what AI engines actually extract:\n\n- Quotation Addition: +41% on PAWC ([[geo-quotation-addition-41pct]])\n- Statistics Addition: +31% ([[geo-statistics-addition-31pct]])\n- Cite Sources: +28% ([[geo-cite-sources-28pct]])\n- Keyword stuffing: **-8 to -10%** ([[geo-keyword-stuffing-negative]])\n\nThe 40-60 word target aligns with featured-snippet research showing 45-word paragraphs appear most frequently on SERPs. See [[extractability-paragraph-shape-40-60-words]] for the full synthesis.\n\n**How to apply:**\n- \"The best X is Y\" beats \"Y might be a good option for X.\"\n- Avoid \"above\" / \"below\" — chunkers strip surrounding context.\n- Use proper nouns. Not \"several companies\" — name them.\n- Carry a statistic or a verbatim quote in any paragraph where one exists.\n- Each `<h2>` / `<h3>` is followed by a paragraph that fully answers the heading's implied question.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"extractability-paragraph-shape-40-60-words","title":"Extractability: a quotable paragraph leads with the answer, is 40-60 words, lives under semantic HTML, and names entities concretely","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"geo-quotation-addition-41pct","title":"GEO finding: Quotation Addition is the top-performing tactic at +41% on Position-Adjusted Word Count","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"geo-statistics-addition-31pct","title":"GEO finding: Statistics Addition is the #2 tactic at +31%","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"nng-navigation-labels-information-scent","title":"NN/g: use labels with strong information scent; avoid vague verbs and conversational tone in nav (Apr 16 2023)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T18:57:39.671Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T18:57:39.671Z"}