What does the free AEO audit include?
The free audit analyzes your website across 22 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 22 AEO criteria?
The 22 criteria are organized into 4 dimensions. CONTENT (7 criteria) - is your content worth citing? Q&A Content Format, FAQ Sections, Original Data, Content Freshness, Definition Patterns, Direct Answer Paragraphs, Fact Density. STRUCTURE (5) - can machines parse it? Schema.org Structured Data, Clean Crawlable HTML, Semantic HTML5, Sitemap Completeness, Schema Coverage. DISCOVERY (5) - can AI engines find you? llms.txt, robots.txt for AI Crawlers, Internal Linking, Sitemap Completeness, RSS Feed. TRUST SIGNALS (5) - can AI verify your credibility? Entity Authority, Content Licensing, Author Schema, Canonical URL, Content Velocity. Each is scored 0–10, weighted, and rolled up to a total out of 100.
How is the AEO readiness score calculated?
Each criterion is scored 0–10 based on presence, quality, and completeness. The scores are weighted — Schema.org and Q&A Format carry 15% each, while robots.txt and Semantic HTML carry 5% each. The weighted total produces a score out of 100. Below 40 means major gaps. 40–60 means partial implementation. 60–80 is solid. Above 80 is excellent.
How long does an AEO audit take?
The automated crawl and analysis finishes in 2–3 minutes. You get results immediately — overall score, individual criterion scores, detailed findings, and prioritized recommendations. No waiting, no email required.
Can I audit my competitor's website?
Yes. Enter any publicly accessible URL and get the same 10-point analysis. We use this constantly for benchmarking — it shows exactly where you can gain an advantage in AI visibility over competitors.
What is AEO Visibility Analysis?
Visibility Analysis goes beyond the technical audit to test how your domain actually appears in AI answers. We run real queries against ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude to measure citation rates, sentiment, and competitor mentions. This is your real-world AI visibility — not just readiness.
What is the difference between the audit and the visibility analysis?
The audit evaluates your website's technical readiness — whether you've got the right infrastructure in place. The visibility analysis tests real-world results by querying actual AI engines and measuring citations, sentiment, and competitor mentions. The audit tells you what to fix. The visibility analysis tells you how you're actually performing.
What is a multi-engine audit?
A multi-engine audit runs the same domain through multiple AI engines independently — say, ChatGPT (GPT-5.2) and Claude (Opus 4.6). Each engine scores differently because they weight different content signals. HelpSquad scored 47 on ChatGPT but only 42 on Claude. The side-by-side comparison reveals blind spots a single-engine audit misses.
How do I read the audit scorecard?
Each of the 22 criteria shows a score from 0–10 with a status indicator. Green (8–10) means strong. Yellow (5–7) means partial — room to improve. Red (0–4) means missing or broken. Click any criterion to see detailed findings and a link to the relevant Knowledge Base guide.
What are audit versions and how do they work?
Each time we re-audit a domain, a new version is created. You can view any previous version and compare two side by side to see exactly which criteria changed. This is how you measure the impact of your AEO work over time.
Can I request a re-audit of my website?
Yes. After making improvements based on audit recommendations, request a fresh audit to see your updated score. Each re-audit creates a new version you can compare against previous ones to quantify progress.
What is the Domain Intelligence Dashboard?
It's a central page for any audited domain showing everything we know: per-engine score gauges, verdicts, visibility scores, score trends across versions, scorecard comparison, top opportunities, and key metrics. One URL, one unified view — instead of jumping between individual audit and visibility pages.
What happens if my site scores below 20?
A score below 20 means most fundamental AEO infrastructure is missing - no llms.txt, no relevant schema, likely blocking AI crawlers, no FAQ content. The good news is the fastest gains come from this starting point. Adding llms.txt, basic Organization schema, and unblocking AI crawlers in robots.txt can double your score in a single day.