Core Web Vitals for AI search: why slow sites get skipped

The three metrics in plain English

• ·LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): how long until the biggest thing on screen shows up. Aim for under 2.5 seconds.
• ·CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): how much stuff jumps around as the page loads. Aim for under 0.1.
• ·INP (Interaction to Next Paint): how fast your page responds when someone clicks. Aim for under 200ms.

Measure first

1. 01Run your URL through pagespeed.web.dev. It uses real Chrome user data when available.
2. 02Note the three Core Web Vitals scores at the top.
3. 03Scroll down and read the Opportunities section. Tackle whatever the tool says will save the most time.

Fix LCP

1. 01Find your largest element. Usually it's a hero image. Pagespeed will tell you.
2. 02Compress it. WebP or AVIF, served from a CDN, sized to display dimensions.
3. 03Preload it: <link rel="preload" as="image" href="/hero.webp">
4. 04If your LCP is text, make sure your fonts don't block render. Use font-display: swap.

Fix CLS

1. 01Add width and height attributes to every image and video.
2. 02Reserve space for ads and embeds with a min-height container.
3. 03Don't insert content above existing content after load. Banners and cookie prompts are the usual culprits.

Fix INP

1. 01Audit your third-party scripts. Each one adds main-thread work.
2. 02Remove anything you don't actively use (old analytics, dead chat widgets, A/B test scripts).
3. 03Defer non-critical JavaScript with async or defer attributes.
4. 04If you're on WordPress, a caching plugin plus a CDN solves 80% of this.