Chunking
The splitting of a page into smaller passages before a machine indexes it. Each passage is judged on its own, so a fact that only makes sense with the rest of the page around it often loses.
Updated August 21, 2026
Chunking is why long, meandering pages underperform their content. If the answer to a question is spread across three paragraphs, an introduction and a table, no single chunk contains it. The fix is not shorter pages, it is self-contained sections: a heading that states the question, and an answer directly beneath it that stands up when read alone.
Related terms
- Answer extraction. The step where the system lifts a specific fact from your page into its answer, like a price, a definition, a step or a yes or no. Content written as clear, self-contained statements extracts cleanly. Vague copy does not.
- RAG (retrieval-augmented generation). The standard way answer engines work: fetch relevant documents first, then write an answer from them. It is the reason your page content, not the model's training, decides whether you are quoted today.
- Sourceability. How usable your content is as a source. It asks whether there are concrete facts and figures, attributed claims, and information laid out in extractable structures like tables and lists.