AEO Audit Checklist: 25 Things to Check on Your Website

This checklist turns "optimise for AI search" into 25 concrete checks. It is based on published Google guidance and general quality principles. Completing it improves clarity, trust and eligibility; it does not guarantee citations. You can also use the interactive version: the free AEO checklist.

A. Access and eligibility (5)

1. Key pages are indexed. Check URL Inspection in Search Console. A page not in the index cannot be retrieved.
2. No noindex or robots block on pages you want surfaced. A leftover staging directive is a classic mistake.
3. No nosnippet or very low max-snippet on pages you want quoted. Google says pages must be eligible to appear with a snippet to be linked in AI features.
4. Deliberate decisions on AI crawlers. Review robots.txt for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot and Google's tokens, using each vendor's current documentation.
5. Important content is in the delivered HTML. Do not rely solely on client-side rendering.

B. Answer-first content (7)

6. Headings are phrased as real questions. Use customers' wording.
7. Direct answer in the first one or two sentences. Then elaborate.
8. Specific answers. Numbers, names, conditions, exceptions.
9. Tables and lists where they clarify. Comparisons in tables, processes in numbered steps.
10. A genuine FAQ. Real follow-up questions: price, time, limits, next steps.
11. One topic and intent per page.
12. Key facts appear as text, not only in images or PDFs.

C. Trust and credibility (7)

13. Named authors with credentials on advice content.
14. Published and updated dates shown and kept current.
15. Sources cited for factual claims.
16. About and Contact pages identify who runs the business.
17. Privacy policy and terms present.
18. No invented statistics, testimonials or case studies.
19. Corrections are open and dated.

D. Structured data and consistency (3)

20. Organization or LocalBusiness data is present and accurate.
21. Article, BreadcrumbList and other types match visible content and validate.
22. Business facts are consistent across your site and profiles.

E. Measurement (3)

23. Search Console reviewed monthly: impressions, clicks, queries.
24. Fixed question spot checks in the AI products your customers use, with dates and cited sources recorded.
25. Brand mentions monitored, linked and unlinked.

How to run the audit

1. Pick your 10 most important pages.
2. Score each item yes/no per page.
3. Fix access problems first, then rewrite headings and openings, then add trust signals.
4. Re-run after changes and compare.

Bizsenti AutoSEO's AEO analysis automates several checks (structured data types, FAQ coverage, question headings, direct-answer patterns, authorship and trust signals) and tracks them over time; its technical SEO audit covers the access items.

Scoring yourself honestly

Common mistakes

• Treating schema as the goal.
• Rewriting everything at once instead of the top pages.
• Using AI to produce generic FAQs.
• Ignoring measurement.

Prioritising the failures

Applying the checklist to a service page

Take one real page. For each of the 25 items write pass, fail or not applicable, then note the fix and owner. Repeat for your top ten pages, and total by section to see where the site is weakest.

Making it routine

Add the checklist to your publishing process: no page goes live without passing sections B and C. Review sections A and D quarterly.

FAQs

Will a perfect score get me cited? No guarantee exists.

How often should I audit? Quarterly and after major changes.

Is llms.txt on the list? No. It is a community proposal, not a documented requirement.

Sources

• Google Search Central: AI features and your website
• Google Search Central: General structured data guidelines
• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content