How is AEO different from SEO?

SEO optimizes for page rankings. AEO optimizes for AI citations - being the source AI systems reference when answering questions. SEO runs on keywords and backlinks. AEO runs on structured data, clean HTML, entity authority, and Q&A content format. They're complementary, but AEO addresses the growing share of searches that never reach traditional results.

Can AEO help with voice search and smart assistants?

Yes. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant increasingly pull AI-generated answers from web content. The same structured data, Q&A formatting, and entity authority that drive AEO also make your content the go-to source for voice search answers.

What does the free AEO audit include?

The free audit analyzes your website across 48 criteria that determine AI visibility, including llms.txt, Schema.org structured data, Q&A content format, clean crawlable HTML, entity authority, robots.txt AI policy, FAQ sections, original data, content freshness, fact density, canonical URLs, and more. You get a score out of 100 with specific findings and actionable recommendations.

What are the 48 AEO criteria?

The 48 criteria are organized into 5 pillars with fixed target shares: Answer Readiness 40%, Content Structure 25%, Trust & Authority 15%, Technical Foundation 10%, and AI Discovery 10%. Inside those pillars, criteria cover topic coherence, original data, depth, fact density, direct answers, Q&A structure, entity authority, freshness, visible dates, schema, semantic HTML, extraction friction, llms.txt, robots.txt, licensing, canonicals, sitemap coverage, and RSS. Each criterion is scored 0–10, converted into an effective weight after confidence and overlap controls, then rolled into the final score.

How is the AEO readiness score calculated?

Each criterion is scored 0–10 based on presence, quality, and completeness. AEORank then normalizes those criteria inside 5 fixed-weight pillars, applies a topic-coherence cap when coherence is below 6/10, and blends the site score with a weighted page-fleet score from sampled pages. Audits also return score confidence plus split headline scores for foundation and content fleet. Below 40 means major gaps. 40–60 means partial implementation. 60–80 is solid. Above 80 is excellent.

appgain.io - AEO Audit Report | 32/100

appgain.io

Weak AI visibility with 20 of 48 criteria passing. Biggest gap: q&a content format.

Scoring Methodology

How Your AEO Site Rank Is Calculated

A weighted average of 48 deterministic criteria. Each scored 0-10, each with a specific weight. No AI judgment calls - every point is traceable.

Minimal visibilityOut of 100 possible points

The Formula

Score = sum(criterion_score / 10 * weight * 100) / sum(weights)

Each criterion is scored 0-10 by deterministic checks, multiplied by its weight, and summed to produce a 0-100 overall score.

Your Score Breakdown

Content9 criteria

Q&A Content Format15%0/10+0.0

FAQ Sections10%3/10+3.0

Original Data10%0/10+0.0

Content Freshness7%0/10+0.0

Direct Answer Paragraphs7%0/10+0.0

Fact & Data Density5%2/10+1.0

Definition Patterns4%0/10+0.0

Query-Answer Alignment8%5/10+4.0

Content Cannibalization5%10/10+5.0

Subtotal71%+13.0

Structure5 criteria

Schema.org JSON-LD15%9/10+13.5

Clean, Crawlable HTML10%5/10+5.0

Semantic HTML55%2/10+1.0

Table & List Extractability7%0/10+0.0

Schema Coverage3%6/10+1.8

Subtotal40%+21.3

Discovery5 criteria

llms.txt10%10/10+10.0

robots.txt for AI5%10/10+5.0

Internal Linking10%0/10+0.0

Sitemap Completeness5%9/10+4.5

RSS/Atom Feed3%0/10+0.0

Subtotal33%+19.5

Trust Signals6 criteria

Entity Authority10%6/10+6.0

Content Licensing4%0/10+0.0

Author & Expert Schema4%0/10+0.0

Canonical URL4%10/10+4.0

Content Velocity3%10/10+3.0

Visible Date Signals4%0/10+0.0

Subtotal29%+13.0

Overall Score100%32/100

Score Ranges

86-100AI-first content architecture

71-85Strong AI visibility

56-70Moderate visibility

41-55Weak visibility

26-40Minimal visibility

0-25Not on the radar

Key Points

Topic Coherence carries the highest weight at 14%, followed by Original Data at 10%, across 48 total criteria.

No HTTPS means Clean HTML is capped at 3/10, costing approximately 3-4 overall points.

Every criterion uses deterministic checks. Same site, same audit, same score - every time.

Read full scoring methodology →

↓5 since v7

Citation Avg

Answer Readiness

~40% weight

4/10

Content Structure

~25% weight

2/10

Trust & Authority

~15% weight

2/10

Technical Foundation

~10% weight

4/10

AI Discovery

~10% weight

8/10

Verdict

Critical AEO gaps at 32/100 - appgain.io is largely invisible to AI engines. Key strengths include llms.txt File, robots.txt for AI Crawlers, and Canonical URL Strategy. Priority gaps: Q&A Content Format, Original Data & Expert Analysis, and Internal Linking Structure.

Top priorities

Q&A Content FormatStructure+10 pts

Original Data & Expert AnalysisAnswer+10 pts

Internal Linking StructureTrust+10 pts

#11639of 13300

View full rankings →

How to Improve

Current

32/100

Projected

73/100

36Total Fixes

6Quick Wins

~92hEst. Effort

Quick Wins

Fix HTML structure and meta tagsAdd ai.txt and content licensingImprove query-answer alignmentAdd visible date signalsMake pages solve the user task fasterReduce extraction friction

Fix

Impact

Effort

Fix HTML structure and meta tags

Ensure clean, well-structured HTML with proper meta tags, HTTPS, and parseable content for AI crawlers.

high

low

Fix HTML structure and meta tags

high|low

Reduce render-blocking resources

Minimize blocking scripts and stylesheets in <head> to improve content availability for AI crawlers.

low

Reduce render-blocking resources

low|low

Create complete sitemap.xml

Generate a comprehensive sitemap with lastmod dates for all important pages.

low

Create complete sitemap.xml

low|low

Add internationalization signals

Implement hreflang tags and lang attributes so AI engines serve the correct language version when answering queries.

low

Add internationalization signals

low|low

Improve server response efficiency

Optimize compression, cache headers, redirect chains, and HTML payload size for faster AI crawler access.

low

Improve server response efficiency

low|low

Unlock Full Improvement Plan

Top Opportunities10

Unlock Opportunities

Fix It With AI39

Unlock AI Fix Prompts

39 copy-paste prompts ready - sign in to access.

Score Breakdown

Criteria

Status

Potential

Score

Q&A Content Format

critical+10 pts0/10

Original Data & Expert Analysis

critical+10 pts0/10

Internal Linking Structure

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Freshness Signals

critical+10 pts0/10

RSS/Atom Feed

critical+10 pts0/10

Table & List Extractability

critical+10 pts0/10

Definition Patterns

critical+10 pts0/10

Direct Answer Paragraphs

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Licensing & AI Permissions

critical+10 pts0/10

Author & Expert Schema

critical+10 pts0/10

Unlock Full Audit Report

See all 48 criteria with detailed findings and actionable fix recommendations.

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