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.

What content licensing signals does the audit check?

The audit looks for machine-readable licensing metadata: CreativeWork license properties in JSON-LD, meta tags indicating reuse policy, copyright notices, ai.txt declarations, and TDM Reservation Protocol headers. Clear licensing tells AI systems whether they can quote or reference your content in their answers.

What are conditional audit criteria?

Conditional criteria are checks that only apply to certain site types. Product/Offer schema applies only to e-commerce. Hreflang only to multilingual sites. ai.txt/TDM policy only to sites with substantial original content. Speakable schema was previously conditional but is now an active scored criterion in the 48-criteria framework. The remaining conditional criteria supplement the 34 universal audit criteria.

What is query-answer alignment and how do I improve it?

Query-Answer Alignment measures how well your content's headings and phrasing match the natural language questions users ask AI engines. Generic headings like "Overview" or "Features" don't match any real queries. Rewrite them as questions users actually ask: "How Much Does Live Chat Cost?" or "How Do I Set Up AI Support?" Use your visibility report's MISS queries as a roadmap.

How does direct answer density work?

Direct Answer Density (5% weight) measures how consistently your content leads with the answer right after each heading. AI doesn't read full articles - it scans headings and grabs the first 1-2 sentences. If those sentences contain filler ("In today's fast-paced world..."), AI moves on. Lead every section with a concrete fact or answer, then elaborate. This applies to all headings, not just questions.

elanzawellness.com - AEO Audit Report | 53/100

elanzawellness.com

Moderate AI visibility with 24 of 48 criteria passing. Biggest gap: content licensing & ai permissions.

Healthcare & Patient Advocacy Healthcare Technology

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.

Weak 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%3/10+4.5

FAQ Sections10%2/10+2.0

Original Data10%6/10+6.0

Content Freshness7%2/10+1.4

Direct Answer Paragraphs7%4/10+2.8

Fact & Data Density5%10/10+5.0

Definition Patterns4%9/10+3.6

Query-Answer Alignment8%0/10+0.0

Content Cannibalization5%10/10+5.0

Subtotal71%+30.3

Structure5 criteria

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

Clean, Crawlable HTML10%9/10+9.0

Semantic HTML55%8/10+4.0

Table & List Extractability7%9/10+6.3

Schema Coverage3%4/10+1.2

Subtotal40%+34.0

Discovery5 criteria

llms.txt10%10/10+10.0

robots.txt for AI5%5/10+2.5

Internal Linking10%4/10+4.0

Sitemap Completeness5%10/10+5.0

RSS/Atom Feed3%3/10+0.9

Subtotal33%+22.4

Trust Signals6 criteria

Entity Authority10%8/10+8.0

Content Licensing4%0/10+0.0

Author & Expert Schema4%4/10+1.6

Canonical URL4%10/10+4.0

Content Velocity3%2/10+0.6

Visible Date Signals4%0/10+0.0

Subtotal29%+14.2

Overall Score100%53/100

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 →

↑6 since v9

Citation Avg

Answer Readiness

~40% weight

7/10

Content Structure

~25% weight

5/10

Trust & Authority

~15% weight

5/10

Technical Foundation

~10% weight

5/10

AI Discovery

~10% weight

6/10

Verdict

Below-average AEO readiness at 53/100 - multiple areas need attention. Key strengths include llms.txt File, Sitemap Completeness, and Fact & Data Density. Priority gaps: Content Licensing & AI Permissions, Speakable Schema, and Query-Answer Alignment.

Top priorities

Content Licensing & AI PermissionsDiscovery+10 pts

Speakable SchemaTechnical+10 pts

Query-Answer AlignmentStructure+10 pts

#2498of 13300

#270of 1359 in Healthcare & Patient Advocacy

Ahead of you

dlslab.com53

scfymca.org53

View full rankings →

How to Improve

Current

53/100

Projected

79/100

37Total Fixes

9Quick Wins

~83hEst. Effort

Quick Wins

Configure robots.txt for AI crawlersAdd direct answer paragraphsAdd ai.txt and content licensingAdd visible date signalsMake pages solve the user task fasterExplain how content was tested or reviewedReduce extraction frictionImprove server response efficiencyReduce render-blocking resources

Fix

Impact

Effort

Reduce document weight

Trim oversized HTML, excessive DOM nodes, and large inline payloads that slow AI crawlers.

critical

medium

Reduce document weight

critical|medium

Configure robots.txt for AI crawlers

Update robots.txt to explicitly allow AI crawlers and include sitemap directive.

high

trivial

Configure robots.txt for AI crawlers

high|trivial

Reduce render-blocking resources

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

high

low

Reduce render-blocking resources

high|low

Add internationalization signals

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

critical

medium

Add internationalization signals

critical|medium

Improve server response efficiency

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

high

low

Improve server response efficiency

high|low

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Top Opportunities10

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Fix It With AI40

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Score Breakdown

Criteria

Status

Potential

Score

Content Licensing & AI Permissions

critical+10 pts0/10

Speakable Schema

critical+10 pts0/10

Query-Answer Alignment

critical+10 pts0/10

Visible Date Signal

critical+10 pts0/10

Image Context for AI

critical+9 pts1/10

Comprehensive FAQ Section

critical+8 pts2/10

Content Freshness Signals

critical+8 pts2/10

Content Publishing Velocity

critical+8 pts2/10

Methodology Transparency

critical+8 pts2/10

Entity Disambiguation

critical+8 pts2/10

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Site Pages

URLCitationSiteIn-linksCategoryIssuesWords

www.elanzawellness.com/how-to-pick-a-fertility-clinicGUIDE TO PICKING A FERTILITY CLINIC | ELANZA Wellness

F26

blog

4,056

www.elanzawellness.com/how-to-pick-a-fertility-clinicF26

GUIDE TO PICKING A FERTILITY CLINIC | ELANZA Wellness

www.elanzawellness.com/blog/categories/healthy-mindMental Health & Wellness

F29

blog

2,697

www.elanzawellness.com/blog/categories/healthy-mindF29

Mental Health & Wellness

www.elanzawellness.com/blog/categories/endometriosisEndometriosis

F29

blog

2,676

www.elanzawellness.com/blog/categories/endometriosisF29

Endometriosis

www.elanzawellness.com/blogBLOG | ELANZA Wellness

F29

blog

2,673

www.elanzawellness.com/blogF29

BLOG | ELANZA Wellness

www.elanzawellness.com/visionstatementAre You Heading for Happiness? | ELANZA Wellness

F37

content

1,767

www.elanzawellness.com/visionstatementF37

Are You Heading for Happiness? | ELANZA Wellness

www.elanzawellness.com/inside-fertility-interviews/tina-k...Tina Koopersmith

F29

blog

1,590

www.elanzawellness.com/inside-fertility-interviews/tina-k...F29

Tina Koopersmith

www.elanzawellness.com/inside-fertility-interviews/balsam...Balsam Al Hashimi

F31

content

1,544

www.elanzawellness.com/inside-fertility-interviews/balsam...F31

Balsam Al Hashimi

www.elanzawellness.com/mental-health-resources-fertilityMental Health Support and Resources | ELANZA Wellness

F32

blog

1,478

www.elanzawellness.com/mental-health-resources-fertilityF32

Mental Health Support and Resources | ELANZA Wellness

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Changes since v9Last audited 5 days ago

→

View full comparison →

Criterion

v10

Delta

Schema.org Structured Data

10/10

9/10

-1

Author & Expert Schema

7/10

4/10

-3

Schema Coverage & Depth

9/10

4/10

-5

Visible Date Signal

3/10

0/10

-3

Content Depth

7/10

9/10

Helpful Purpose Alignment

5/10

7/10

First-Hand Experience Signals

2/10

4/10

Creator Transparency

2/10

3/10

Methodology Transparency

4/10

2/10

-2

Citation-Ready Writing Quality

6/10

7/10

Answer-First Placement

0/10

7/10

Evidence Packaging

1/10

3/10

Entity Disambiguation

0/10

2/10

Extraction Friction Score

5/10

6/10

Entity Density

2/10

10/10

Sentence Atomicity

4/10

6/10

Add Content Freshness SignalsImprove Internal Linking ArchitectureIncrease Entity DensityAdd Answer-First Placement

Improve Your Score

Guides for the criteria with the most room for improvement

Criteria0/10

Content Licensing Signals

You want AI engines to cite your content. But have you actually told them they're allowed to? Most sites haven't -and AI systems default to conservative behavior.

Beginner·3 min readRead guide →

supplementary0/10

Speakable Schema Markup

Voice assistants need to pick which paragraph to read aloud from your page. Without Speakable markup, they guess -and they frequently guess wrong, reading your cookie notice.

Beginner·3 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Query-Answer Alignment: Does Your Content Match What People Actually Ask?

You wrote a 3,000-word guide on "customer support automation." But people ask AI "how do I reduce support ticket volume?" If your content doesn't match the actual queries, AI can't connect the dots.

Beginner·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Visible Date Signal: The Freshness Cue AI Checks Before Citing You

AI engines are biased toward recency. An article with no visible date is an article AI can't trust to be current. Visible Date Signal measures whether your pages show clear publication and update dates that both humans and machines can read.

Beginner·5 min readRead guide →

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Verdict

How to Improve

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Top Opportunities10

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Fix It With AI40

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Score Breakdown

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