How chunking works
Retrieval systems rarely use a full page at once. They cut it into chunks, often by headings, paragraphs or a set length, create an embedding for each chunk and retrieve only the chunks that match a question. The model then answers from those few passages.
Writing content that chunks well
- 1Use clear, descriptive headings that say what the section answers.
- 2Make each section stand on its own: name the product or topic again instead of saying it or this.
- 3Put the answer in the first sentence or two of the section, then the detail.
- 4Keep lists, tables and facts next to the claim they support.
- 5Avoid hiding key content in tabs, images or scripts that may not be read.
What it means for brands
- AI may quote one paragraph of your page with no surrounding context, so every key paragraph should make sense alone.
- Long pages are fine if they are well sectioned; walls of text without headings are hard to chunk well.