Field notes

Field notes from shipping Next.js sites that rank.

Long form writing from active RankSmith engagements. No recycled tips, no AI summaries of other people’s posts. Every essay is written from something we shipped, something we measured, or something we learned the hard way.

7 minute readAEO

How to write an answer first H2 that ChatGPT will actually cite

The exact heading and first sentence structure we use on RankSmith sites, and why it gets lifted as a citation more often than a well optimised blog post.

17 April 2026Read

14 minute readNext.js

WordPress to Next.js, a migration checklist that preserves rankings

The forty step migration checklist RankSmith uses on every WordPress to Next.js move, including the 301 map, the schema port, and the live cutover window.

17 April 2026Read

6 minute readAIO

llms.txt in 2026, what we actually put in the file

A line by line walk through of the llms.txt we ship on every RankSmith build, and the annotation rules we follow so LLMs pick the right entry points.

17 April 2026Read

9 minute readPerformance

INP under 100 milliseconds on a Framer Motion heavy page

How RankSmith keeps Interaction to Next Paint under 100 milliseconds on pages that lean heavily on Framer Motion, without turning off the interactions.

17 April 2026Read

11 minute readAEO

How a Johannesburg business ranks in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews in 2026

A practical playbook for South African service businesses who want to be cited by AI engines, not just indexed by Google. Built from the RankSmith field test we run every month.

17 April 2026Read

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