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.

space11.ai - AEO Audit Report | 35/100

space11.ai

Weak AI visibility with 18 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%0/10+0.0

Original Data10%1/10+1.0

Content Freshness7%0/10+0.0

Direct Answer Paragraphs7%3/10+2.1

Fact & Data Density5%8/10+4.0

Definition Patterns4%0/10+0.0

Query-Answer Alignment8%5/10+4.0

Content Cannibalization5%5/10+2.5

Subtotal71%+13.6

Structure5 criteria

Schema.org JSON-LD15%5/10+7.5

Clean, Crawlable HTML10%5/10+5.0

Semantic HTML55%4/10+2.0

Table & List Extractability7%3/10+2.1

Schema Coverage3%3/10+0.9

Subtotal40%+17.5

Discovery5 criteria

llms.txt10%4/10+4.0

robots.txt for AI5%5/10+2.5

Internal Linking10%2/10+2.0

Sitemap Completeness5%5/10+2.5

RSS/Atom Feed3%0/10+0.0

Subtotal33%+11.0

Trust Signals6 criteria

Entity Authority10%3/10+3.0

Content Licensing4%0/10+0.0

Author & Expert Schema4%2/10+0.8

Canonical URL4%10/10+4.0

Content Velocity3%2/10+0.6

Visible Date Signals4%0/10+0.0

Subtotal29%+8.4

Overall Score100%35/100

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 →

↓3 since v5

Citation Avg

Coherence gate active - score capped at 60

Answer Readiness

~40% weight

4/10

Content Structure

~25% weight

4/10

Trust & Authority

~15% weight

2/10

Technical Foundation

~10% weight

3/10

AI Discovery

~10% weight

4/10

Verdict

Critical AEO gaps at 35/100 - space11.ai is largely invisible to AI engines. Key strengths include Canonical URL Strategy, Duplicate Content Blocks, and Cross-Page Duplicate Content. Priority gaps: Q&A Content Format, Comprehensive FAQ Section, and Content Freshness Signals. Topic coherence is moderate at 5/10, capping the score at 60. Tighter topical focus would lift this ceiling.

Top priorities

Q&A Content FormatStructure+10 pts

Comprehensive FAQ SectionStructure+10 pts

Content Freshness SignalsTrust+10 pts

#11084of 13300

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How to Improve

Current

35/100

Projected

74/100

42Total Fixes

17Quick Wins

~107hEst. Effort

Quick Wins

Create /llms.txt fileAdd JSON-LD structured dataFix HTML structure and meta tagsConfigure robots.txt for AI crawlersLink orphan pages into site navigationImplement semantic HTML5 elementsCreate complete sitemap.xmlAdd ai.txt and content licensingImprove query-answer alignmentAdd visible date signalsFocus blog content on core expertiseMake pages solve the user task fasterAdd first-hand experience signalsMake content creators clearly visibleExplain how content was tested or reviewedImprove server response efficiencyReduce document weight

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

Create /llms.txt file

Add a machine-readable llms.txt file at your domain root that describes your site, services, and key pages for AI engines.

high

trivial

Create /llms.txt file

high|trivial

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

Create complete sitemap.xml

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

high

low

Create complete sitemap.xml

high|low

Reduce document weight

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

high

low

Reduce document weight

high|low

Unlock Full Improvement Plan

Top Opportunities10

Unlock Opportunities

Fix It With AI44

Unlock AI Fix Prompts

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

Score Breakdown

Criteria

Status

Potential

Score

Q&A Content Format

critical+10 pts0/10

Comprehensive FAQ Section

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Freshness Signals

critical+10 pts0/10

RSS/Atom Feed

critical+10 pts0/10

Definition Patterns

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Licensing & AI Permissions

critical+10 pts0/10

Speakable Schema

critical+10 pts0/10

Visible Date Signal

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Depth

critical+10 pts0/10

Answer-First Placement

critical+10 pts0/10

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

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Site Pages

URLCitationSiteIn-linksCategoryIssuesWords

space11.ai/mk-11-home-2Space 11.AI » MK-11 Home

F29

content

347

space11.ai/mk-11-home-2F29

Space 11.AI » MK-11 Home

space11.aiSpace 11.AI » Home

F32

homepage

281

space11.aiF32

Space 11.AI » Home

space11.ai/space-11Space 11.AI » Space 11

F24

content

space11.ai/space-11F24

Space 11.AI » Space 11

space11.ai/contactSpace 11.AI » Contact

F24

contact

space11.ai/contactF24

Space 11.AI » Contact

space11.ai/webpage_8Space 11.AI » webpage_8

F24

content

space11.ai/webpage_8F24

Space 11.AI » webpage_8

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Changes since v5Last audited 9 days ago

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-3

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Improve Your Score

Guides for the criteria with the most room for improvement

Criteria0/10

Q&A Content Format: Write Like AI Reads

AI assistants are question-answering machines. When your content is already shaped as questions and answers, you're handing AI a pre-formatted citation. Sites that do this right get extracted -sites that don't get skipped.

Beginner·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

FAQ Sections: 87 Questions Turned Our Score Into 88

Our site runs 87 FAQ items across 9 categories with FAQPage schema on every one. That's not excessive -it's how we hit 88/100. Each Q&A pair is a citation opportunity AI can extract in seconds.

Intermediate·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Content Freshness Signals

No date on your page? AI engines treat it like a rumor -undated and deprioritized. Here's how we audit whether your timestamps are actually machine-readable.

Beginner·5 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

RSS Feed Presence & Quality

Sitemaps tell crawlers what exists. RSS feeds tell them what changed. If you don't have one, your new content waits days -or weeks -to be discovered.

Beginner·3 min readRead guide →