← Back to Learn

Why Fast Websites Get Recommended

Speed isn't just for users — AI cares too

What is it?

Imagine you're hungry and walk into a restaurant. The host makes you wait 8 seconds before acknowledging you exist. You'd probably walk out, right?

That's exactly how AI crawlers feel about slow websites. When AI systems scan the web to gather information, they have milliseconds of patience - not seconds. A slow-loading website is like a restaurant that takes too long to seat you. AI will just move on to the next option.

Page speed refers to how quickly your website loads and becomes interactive. We're talking about TTFB (Time To First Byte) - basically how fast your server responds when someone requests your page.

Why it matters for your business

Here's a stat that should grab your attention: websites that load in under 400ms get cited by AI 3x more often than those that take over 2 seconds.

Why such a dramatic difference? AI systems are scraping thousands of pages to answer a single question. If your site is slow, it gets deprioritized or skipped entirely. AI literally doesn't have time to wait for your content to load.

Real example: A law firm in Chicago noticed their AI citation rate was terrible despite having great content. We checked their page speed: 3.2 seconds to load. They switched hosting providers and optimized images.

New load time: 380ms. Citation rate went from 8% to 34% in three weeks. Same content, faster delivery.

It's not just about AI, either. Google has been using page speed as a ranking factor for years. Fast sites rank higher in search, which means AI crawlers discover them more easily. It's a compound effect.

The technical details (for the curious)

When we talk about page speed for AI, we're really looking at a few key metrics:

TTFB (Time To First Byte)

How long it takes your server to start sending data. Ideal: under 200ms. Anything over 800ms is a problem.

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

How long until the main content appears on screen. Ideal: under 2.5 seconds. This matters because AI needs to see your actual content, not just a loading spinner.

TBT (Total Blocking Time)

How long your page is unresponsive while loading. AI crawlers need your page to be interactive to extract structured data. Ideal: under 200ms.

These metrics are part of Google's Core Web Vitals, which measure real-world page performance. AI systems use similar benchmarks when deciding whether to crawl your site deeply or just skim the surface.

Quick fixes you can try

  • Compress images: Large images are the #1 speed killer. Use WebP format and compress everything.
  • Enable caching: Let browsers save a copy of your site so repeat visits are instant.
  • Use a CDN: Content Delivery Networks serve your site from servers close to the visitor.
  • Minimize JavaScript: Too many scripts slow everything down. Remove what you don't need.

Useful links

See how your business performs on this metric.

Check Your Visibility