--- title: "Free AEO Checker | AI Search Readiness & GEO Audit" description: "Run a free AEO check on any URL. Audit AI search readiness, schema, crawl access, headings, entity clarity, and citation-friendly structure in seconds." url: "https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/" language: "en-US" datePublished: "2026-03-31T00:24:48+00:00" dateModified: "2026-09-23T20:22:34+00:00" author: "Maksut" image: "https://maksut.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Free-Aeo-Checker-Tool.webp" --- Free AI Search Readiness Audit # Free AEO Checker: Test Your AI Search Readiness Find technical issues that stop ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Bing from understanding your pages — schema, answer-first structure, crawlability, and trust signals. What does this tool do? Paste a public URL (or draft text) and get a weighted 0–100 AEO readiness score—schema, headings, crawlability, and trust signals that help answer engines extract and cite your page. It is a diagnostic heuristic, not a ranking or citation guarantee. Weighted from official platform documentation and peer-reviewed research, not AEO folklore: SEO foundations, search-crawler access, and the evidence signals a published study actually measured carry real weight. Training-only crawler rules never cost you points, and deprecated extras like FAQ or HowTo markup stay small bonuses. [Start free AEO check](#aeo-input) [See how the score works →](#aeo-signal-classes) Enter any public page URL — we'll fetch and analyse it. Plain copy from the page for readability scoring, or paste “View source” HTML to include JSON-LD / schema checks (same as URL mode). No spam. One email with your detailed AEO report. Unlocks deeper 9-dimension analysis, priority-ranked fixes, and PDF export. [Get Pro access →](https://maksut.net/aeo-pro/) 3 free checks left today [Get MiniSEO Pass →](https://maksut.net/miniseo-pass/#pass-pricing) [Get help fixing this →](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) [Discuss these findings →](https://maksut.net/contact/?svc=AI%20SEO&intent=tool-aeo_checker#contact-form) Free · No account needed · Most public pages finish in under a minute Fetching page… Fetching page Checking schema Analysing structure AI content analysis Your results AEO Readiness Score 0 /100 GOOD Pro ## Your AEO readiness score Heuristic estimate — not a ranking or live citation score. These metrics are derived from static page analysis. ### Signal breakdown Derived from this page analysis; these bars are not live rankings, traffic, or citation measurements. 0 Good Solid signals detected 0 Needs work Medium priority 0 Opportunities Optimize for more impact 0 Structured data Items detected — Load time Analysis duration ### Top recommendations ### About this score - Derived from static on-page analysis. - Not a live ranking, traffic, or citation metric. - E-E-A-T and content quality assessed heuristically. - Scores are out of 100 per category. ### Share your score Spread the free checker — posts include a UTM-tagged link so others can run their own audit. [Post on X](#) [Share on LinkedIn](#) Embed on your site Verified live scans only. Copy the HTML snippet — the badge image is signed and expires after 30 days. Detailed analysis ## Full AEO report Category scores, prioritized fixes, and next steps based on this page scan. ### Category breakdown Weighted on-page signals that make up your readiness score. ### Priority recommendations Highest-impact fixes first — sorted by weak categories and weight. ### Priority improvements ### Pro report export Download a branded PDF for clients or internal reviews. Agency / Tracker Agency: white-label PDF removes site branding and uses your client details on the cover. ### One-time AI citability probe Agency / Tracker: run one search-style question through Claude’s live web search and see whether this URL comes back among the sources. It samples one engine at one moment — it is not continuous brand or citation monitoring, and it does not query ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity. ### Weekly AEO score tracking Tracker plan detected. Track this URL (or another one) and get a weekly email with your score and what changed — set up yourself, no email coordination needed. ### Related free tools Close gaps this scan highlighted with the rest of the AEO toolkit. - [Content Gap Finder Missing topics and FAQs to rank for](https://maksut.net/content-gap-finder/) - [JSON-LD @graph Generator Build one connected schema graph with @id links](https://maksut.net/json-ld-graph-generator/) - [llms.txt Generator Tell AI crawlers what matters on your site](https://maksut.net/llms-txt-generator/) - [Google Business Profile & NAP Checker GBP consistency, NAP and LocalBusiness schema](https://maksut.net/local-seo-checker/) - [AEO Glossary Plain-language AEO, GEO, and AI search terms](https://maksut.net/aeo-glossary/) - [AEO Pro Deep 9-dimension analysis, PDF export, Tracker plans](https://maksut.net/aeo-pro/) - [MiniSEO Pass Unlimited AEO Pro checks and Content Gap credits](https://maksut.net/miniseo-pass/) From findings to fixes ### Which improvements matter for your business? This score is a diagnostic starting point, not evidence of rankings or AI citations. Share your page URL and the finding you want help with. I can scope a technical review and implementation before any paid work begins. [Discuss these findings →](https://maksut.net/contact/?svc=AI%20SEO&intent=tool-aeo_checker#contact-form) [Explore AI SEO services →](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) AI search audit · AEO & GEO on-page signals · Schema checker · Answer-engine content structure · Classic SEO foundations included · Free core check ## What this AEO Readiness Checker analyzes - ### Weighted AEO Readiness Score See how well answer engines can extract and cite your page—schema, structure, and clarity in one score. - ### Technical SEO Audit On-page technical SEO audit for Google, Bing, and Yandex—canonicals, robots, HTTPS, and crawl basics. - ### AI Search Optimization AI SEO signals: schema checker results, entity clarity, AI crawlability, and citation-friendly structure. - ### Content Insights Get actionable tips to improve headings, FAQs, and clarity. - ### Export Report Pro Download a detailed PDF report with Pro access. Simple process ## How to use this checker 1. ### [Enter URL](#aeo-input) Paste your page URL to start the analysis. 2. ### [We Analyze](#aeo-howto-step-2) Our AEO checker runs a website AI audit—technical SEO, schema checker signals, and AI crawlability. 3. ### [Get Your Score](#aeo-results) Receive your AEO score and detailed category breakdown. 4. ### [Prioritize improvements](#aeo-score-guide) Use the findings to prioritize clearer content, schema, entity, and crawlability improvements. Last updated: September 23, 2026 - August 2026: Signal weights rebuilt around first-party platform documentation and published research. Search-facing AI crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot) are now separated from training-only crawlers; evidence density (statistics, quotations, citations) is scored on its own; FAQ, HowTo, Speakable, and llms.txt demoted to optional bonuses after Google’s 2026 clarifications and rich-result deprecations. - July 2026: Heading/FAQ cleanup, single @graph schema, speakable scope, and answer-first hero summary. - April 2026: Pro citability probes, llms.txt / ai.txt origin checks, and clearer paste-vs-live scoring. - Ongoing: monthly weight calibration from anonymised live-URL samples. ## Understanding your AEO readiness score A weighted 0–100 AI readiness score — how confidently answer engines can fetch, parse, and reuse your page. When you run this free AEO checker, you receive a weighted 0–100 score. Think of it as an AI readiness score: how confidently AI search engines can fetch, parse, and reuse your page—not a guaranteed ranking or citation promise. The AEO readiness score blends technical crawl signals, content structure, schema validity, and trust cues into one number so you can prioritize fixes. Category breakdowns in the full report show whether schema, content, technical crawl, or authorship needs work first. Pro unlocks deeper citation and entity analysis. 90–100 ### Excellent AEO readiness Strong machine-readable structure, trustworthy authorship, and citation-friendly content. Maintain as AI templates and retrieval rules evolve. 70–89 ### Good foundation, optimization opportunities Solid answer-engine hygiene. Refine entity clarity, FAQ coverage, internal links, and freshness to compete in competitive AI search queries. 50–69 ### Limited AI understanding Readable for humans but weak or inconsistent signals for AI systems. Prioritize schema, heading hierarchy, and clear answer-first paragraphs. Below 50 ### Major improvements needed Structural, crawl, or trust gaps create high risk of being skipped or misinterpreted by AI summaries and answer engines. Treat the bands as a triage map: excellent pages need maintenance as AI templates change; mid-range pages usually win the most from FAQ schema and answer-first intros; fragile pages need crawl and structure fixes before content polish. ## What this score does not measure This is a readiness audit, not a live visibility monitor. It scores your page's own schema, structure, and crawlability — the same signals answer engines use when deciding whether to fetch and cite a page. It does not query ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity live to check whether your brand is currently being mentioned or recommended; that is a separate, ongoing monitoring job, not something a one-off URL scan can answer. Pro adds optional citability probes that ask real AI-search-style questions for a snapshot of that separate signal. ## How we weight signals — and why most AEO checkers get this wrong Most "AI SEO" scores treat every signal as a ranking factor. Most are not. This checker sorts every signal into one of five classes based on what the evidence actually supports — Google's July 2026 guidance on what generative AI features on Search really use, each AI vendor's own crawler documentation, and the one peer-reviewed study that measured which content changes move generative-answer visibility. You can see exactly which class each finding belongs to in your report. | Signal class | Weight here | What it covers | Why that weight | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Proven SEO foundation | Heaviest weight | Indexable, crawlable, snippet-eligible pages; helpful non-commodity content; clear headings; good page experience. | Google states its generative AI features are "rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems," and that a page "must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet" to appear in them. This is the only category with documented, first-party impact — so it carries the most weight. | | Independently researched signals | Real weight — study-backed | Verifiable statistics, credible quotations, outbound citations to primary sources. | The Princeton "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" study (Aggarwal et al., ACM SIGKDD 2024) benchmarked around 10,000 queries and found adding statistics, quotations, and cited sources produced the largest measured gains in generative-answer visibility — while keyword stuffing produced negligible or negative effects. This is the rare AI-search signal with a published, reproducible experiment behind it, so it is scored on its own rather than folded into vague "content quality". | | Search-facing AI crawlers | Blocking penalty | robots.txt access for OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot. | These are the crawlers each vendor documents as powering live search answers and citations. Blocking one removes your page from that engine's answers — a real, verifiable consequence, so it costs points. | | Training-only crawlers | Informational — no penalty | robots.txt rules for GPTBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot. | Each vendor documents these as governing model-training data use, not current search visibility. Blocking them is a legitimate business choice with no documented effect on whether you get cited today — so this checker reports it and moves on, instead of scaring you into "fixing" it. | | Optional / experimental signals | Small bonus at most | llms.txt, Speakable markup, FAQPage / HowTo JSON-LD. | Google states plainly: "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add," and that it ignores llms.txt entirely. FAQ and HowTo rich results are both deprecated. These can still help other systems parse your page, so they earn a small bonus — never a penalty, and never the headline fix. | One consequence worth stating plainly: no tool — including this one — can see inside Google's ranking or any vendor's AI systems. Google itself warns to "be wary of third-party tools that promise ranking success or claim to use 'internal' Google metrics." This score is a readiness heuristic built from public documentation and your page's own HTML. Treat any tool that claims more than that with suspicion. ## How does the AEO checker work? Rule-based analysis plus optional AI commentary — the same signal groups that produce your score. This AI search audit tool combines rule-based analysis with optional AI commentary. Below is our analysis framework—the same signal groups that produce your score. ### Our analysis framework #### Can AI bots reach your page? - Crawlability — robots meta, canonical, HTTPS, fetch eligibility - Indexability — no accidental noindex, consistent URL signals - Page speed & mobile readiness proxies - Technical SEO audit basics that affect classic and AI retrieval #### Can AI tell what your page is about? - Answer-first structure — lead paragraphs that answer the query directly - Heading hierarchy — one H1, logical H2/H3 outline - Semantic coverage — depth, readability, and topic completeness - Entity clarity — who, what, where without ambiguous pronouns #### Is your structured data accurate? - Article, Organization, and industry graphs (Product, LocalBusiness, Medical) where they fit - Valid, connected graphs — not entity-only stubs - Optional: FAQPage / HowTo JSON-LD — both rich results are deprecated, so these are small bonuses - Optional: Speakable markup — Google documents it as beta, US English news content only #### Can AI easily quote your content? - Evidence density — statistics, quotations, outbound citations (the study-backed signals) - Search-crawler access — OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot (blocking one costs points) - Training-only crawlers (GPTBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot) — reported, never penalised - Citation potential — trust, authorship, freshness, hreflang, alt text, brand-entity consistency ## Sample: what a stronger AEO page looks like Illustrative scores from a live URL check pattern — not a promise for your site. Real totals depend on schema, answer structure, entities, and crawlability. Before 48 After focused fixes 81 +33 pts (sample) - Before: thin lead paragraph, no FAQPage, weak entity links. - After: answer-first lead, FAQ schema with real Q&A, clearer Organization/Person markup. - Next: publish, re-check the live URL, then monitor weekly if the page matters commercially. Sample only. Scores are diagnostic heuristics, not rankings or AI citation guarantees. ## What strategies improve brand visibility in AI search engines? After your AI search audit, work through these fixes in order of impact. Each item maps to categories in the full report. Four foundational moves **Ship extractable schema** FAQPage, Article, and Organization in one connected @graph — [build it free](https://maksut.net/json-ld-graph-generator/). **Lead with the answer** Put a direct definition or answer in the first 40–60 words of money pages. **Name entities clearly** Repeat brand, product, and author names consistently in H1, intro, and schema. **Allow the right AI crawlers** robots.txt matters more than most sites realize: OAI-SearchBot (not GPTBot) drives ChatGPT Search citations, and Claude-SearchBot / Perplexity-User have their own separate rules. Prioritized action checklist 1. **Add FAQ schema to high-intent pages** Pair visible FAQs with valid FAQPage JSON-LD so AI systems can extract Q&A pairs reliably. Build a connected graph with the free JSON-LD @graph Generator. 2. **Add verifiable statistics to your key claims** The single largest measured gain in the Princeton GEO study. Replace "significantly faster" with "38% faster"; date your figures and name their source so a model can quote them safely. 3. **Quote a credible source, and cite it outbound** Quotations and citations to primary sources both measured as strong gains in the same study. A blockquote with attribution plus a link to the original documentation is the highest-value paragraph you can add. 4. **Write answer-first introductions** Open with a direct answer in the first 40–60 words — the pattern featured snippets and AI Overviews prefer. 5. **Fix heading hierarchy** One H1, logical H2/H3 outline, no skipped levels — easier for models to chunk your page. 6. **Publish Organization + author schema** Reduce ambiguity about who stands behind the content — critical for YMYL and AI attribution. Use Person + Organization mode in the JSON-LD @graph Generator. 7. **Replace scattered schema with one @graph** Isolated JSON-LD scripts rarely link WebPage → author → Organization. Rebuild one connected @graph with stable @id nodes in the free generator, then re-check this page. 8. **Audit robots and canonical tags** Ensure AI crawlers and search bots can fetch the URL you want cited. 9. **Add speakable markup only if it genuinely fits** Niche, optional enhancement — Google documents Speakable as beta, scoped to English-language, US news-style content on Google Assistant. Most sites can skip it. 10. **Optionally add llms.txt for non-Google AI agents** Google has stated Search does not use llms.txt for ranking or AI Overviews. Some other AI agents may read it as an experimental site guide — treat it as a minor, optional signal, not a core fix. Generate one with the free llms.txt Generator. 11. **Build entity-rich “about” and author pages** GEO-style brand signals: link authors, organizations, and topical hubs consistently. 12. **Target ChatGPT & Perplexity citation patterns** Use comparison tables, definitions, and cited statistics — formats AI search engines reuse. 13. **Run monthly AI search audits** Re-check money URLs after template or content changes — scores drift as pages evolve. ## What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)? Optimizing content so AI answer engines can understand, extract, and present your information accurately. ### Definition Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring and improving digital content so search and AI answer systems can retrieve, understand, attribute, and present it accurately. It combines direct answers, clear entities, trustworthy evidence, crawlable pages, and machine-readable schema; it does not guarantee rankings, citations, or inclusion in generated answers. Classic SEO optimizes for ranked links in Google and Bing. AEO optimizes for *answers*—featured snippets, [Google AI Overviews](https://maksut.net/google-ai-overview-seo/), ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Gemini, voice assistants, and any interface that synthesizes sources instead of showing ten blue links. This free tool scores that readiness for any public URL in seconds—no account required. For the full methodology, read the [Complete AEO Guide](https://maksut.net/aeo-guide/). For brand-level citation strategy, see [Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)](https://maksut.net/geo-manifesto/). ## Why AI search optimization matters in 2026 Rankings alone are not enough when answers are synthesized above the classic SERP. Search behaviour is splitting. Users still type keywords into Google—but they also ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot for direct answers. Google AI Overviews appear above traditional results for a growing share of queries. If your pages are not structured for extraction, you may rank while remaining invisible to AI summaries. Each surface has nuances: [Google AI Overview optimization](https://maksut.net/google-ai-overview-seo/) leans on helpful content and schema; [ChatGPT search optimization](https://maksut.net/chatgpt-seo-guide/) favours clear, citable passages; [Perplexity optimization](https://maksut.net/perplexity-seo-guide/) rewards authoritative, well-linked sources. This AI search audit tool measures on-page readiness across those patterns—before you invest in paid AI search tracking. AEO does not replace SEO—it extends it. You still need crawlable, fast, trustworthy pages. AI search optimization adds answer-first writing, FAQ schema, entity clarity, and citation-friendly formatting. Run this checker monthly on money pages; pair it with content gap analysis and, when ready, live AI citation monitoring. Gemini, Copilot, and emerging regional engines follow similar patterns: retrieve eligible URLs, rank passages by relevance and trust, synthesize an answer. The brands that invest early in structured, citable content build compounding visibility—as AI search share grows, page-level AEO becomes as routine as technical SEO audits. ## AEO vs GEO: What's the Difference? Honestly: these two overlap far more than the industry admits, and neither is an official term — Google's own guidance uses neither word. AEO is the older marketing label from the featured-snippet and voice-search era. GEO is newer and, unusually, has a real academic origin: a 2024 ACM SIGKDD paper defining generative engines and measuring what actually changes their answers. The useful distinction is scope, not doctrine. This checker covers page-level answer readiness plus the on-page half of GEO — including the evidence signals that study measured. Full GEO also needs brand mentions, entity graphs, and ongoing monitoring across engines, which no single URL scan can tell you. | | AEO | GEO | | --- | --- | --- | | Goal | Become the answer | Become the cited source | | Focus | Your page | Your brand ecosystem | | Signals | Structure, headings, schema, extractable answers | Evidence density, authority, mentions, entities, knowledge graph | | Example query | “What is LASIK?” | “Best LASIK clinics in Turkey” | Learn more in our [GEO optimization guide](https://maksut.net/geo-manifesto/). Use this tool for page-level AEO; use AEO Tracker (Pro) for weekly score monitoring on URLs you care about. ## Verified live scan vs paste mode Two input modes, two trust levels. Paste is useful for drafts; only a public URL fetch is a verified live-page score. Preferred ### Verified live scan - We fetch the public URL with SSRF-safe networking. - Schema, robots headers, and on-page signals come from the live response. - Full score range applies (subject to free daily limits). Draft mode ### Paste / self-reported - You supply HTML or text — we do not claim it matches a live URL. - Schema and FAQ points are capped; origin probes (llms.txt, robots, CWV) are skipped. - Use for drafts and View Source experiments, then re-check the published URL. ## How this stack compares (methodology) Public positioning — not a paid bake-off. We measure on-page AI-search readiness; classic SEO suites measure different jobs. | Job | Maksut tools | Typical SEO suite | AlsoAsked-style | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | On-page AEO / AI visibility score | Primary — schema, FAQ, answer-first, GEO probes | Secondary / partial | Not the focus | | Keyword research & SERP clusters | Content Gap outlines (AI-assisted) | Primary strength | Question graphs | | Live URL fetch + paste draft modes | Both — paste capped & labelled self-reported | Usually crawl / project URLs | N/A | | Ranking / citation guarantees | None — diagnostic heuristics only | None (honest vendors) | None | Re-run the same public URL here after changes. Third-party tools remain useful for keyword and SERP research; this stack is built for AI-search page readiness. ## Frequently asked questions **What is an AEO score?** An AEO score is a heuristic 0–100 summary from this AEO Readiness Checker for how well a public page signals structure, trust, and machine-readable facts. Those signals matter for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and when AI-assisted search summarizes or cites sources. It is not an official ranking, visibility, or citation score from any platform. **Is AEO the same as traditional SEO?** No. [Classic SEO](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) optimizes for ranking and clicks in search results (Google, Bing, Yandex). AEO and AI SEO overlap on technical quality and clarity, but emphasize schema, headings, FAQs, entity clarity, AI crawlability, and citation-friendly writing so AI systems can quote you accurately. **Is AEO replacing SEO?** No. AEO and AI search optimization extend SEO—they do not replace it. You still need crawlable, fast, trustworthy pages. See our [AEO vs SEO guide](https://maksut.net/aeo-vs-seo/) or [SEO & AEO services](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) for how both work together. **Does this AI visibility checker work with ChatGPT?** Yes, for on-page readiness. The checker evaluates structure, schema, and content signals that ChatGPT Search and similar systems use when selecting sources. It never queries ChatGPT live — not on the free tier and not on Pro. Pro adds an optional citability probe that runs one search-style question through Claude's live web search and reports whether your URL came back as a source; that samples one engine at one moment, and no tool here claims to see inside ChatGPT. **How can I improve my AI search visibility?** Start with what research actually measured: add verifiable statistics, quote credible sources, and cite primary sources with outbound links. Then confirm search-facing AI crawlers are not blocked in robots.txt, write answer-first intros, and fix heading hierarchy. Re-run this audit after changes. For brand-level citation tracking across engines, pair on-page work with ongoing AI search monitoring. **Is AEO the same thing as GEO?** They overlap heavily and neither is an official term — Google's own guidance uses neither word. AEO is the older label from the featured-snippet and voice-search era, meaning "be the direct answer". GEO comes from a 2024 ACM SIGKDD paper that defined generative engines and measured what changes their answers. In practice the useful split is scope: AEO is page-level answer readiness, GEO adds brand-level authority, mentions, and entity signals. This checker covers page-level readiness plus the on-page half of GEO, including the evidence signals that study measured. **What is GEO optimization?** Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on making your brand the cited source across AI answers—through entity authority, mentions, and knowledge-graph signals. Read our [GEO optimization guide](https://maksut.net/geo-manifesto/). This checker includes on-page GEO signals; full GEO needs brand monitoring beyond one URL. **Does Google AI Overview use the same ranking factors as classic search?** Mostly yes. Google has stated AI Overviews and AI Mode run on the same core Search ranking systems — there is no special AEO markup, schema, or AI-only file required to appear in them. Structured data still improves machine-readable clarity and helps with regular rich results, and extractable, well-structured, trustworthy passages remain easier for any system to reuse — but that is normal SEO and content quality, not a separate "AEO ranking factor." **Will a high score guarantee top 3 rankings or AI recommendations?** No tool can guarantee positions in Google, Bing, or Yandex, or that ChatGPT or Perplexity will recommend a specific site. Rankings depend on competition, backlinks, history, and query intent. This checker tool helps you improve discoverable, trustworthy signals—one input to a broader strategy. **Is this AEO readiness checker free?** Yes. Paste any public URL into the form at the top of this page — no account required — and get an instant AEO score plus category breakdowns for schema, headings, technical crawl, and trust signals. I sometimes offer an optional email for a fuller report; that step is never required to see your score. Pro unlocks deeper citation analysis. **How does the tool analyse my page?** For URLs, the AEO Readiness Checker requests your HTML over HTTPS like a lightweight crawler, parses the document, and runs a combined technical SEO and schema pass: JSON-LD, headings, robots/canonical hints, crawlability proxies, readability, and trust cues—then optional AI commentary. Pages that block bots or require JavaScript-only rendering may score lower or fail to fetch. **How do I know if GPTBot or other AI crawlers are blocked?** The checker parses robots.txt for the crawlers that actually matter for citations: OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot, Claude-SearchBot, and PerplexityBot determine whether that engine can cite your page today. Training-only crawlers like GPTBot, Google-Extended, and ClaudeBot are a separate data-use choice that does not affect current AI-search visibility — only a blocked search-facing crawler is flagged as a fix. **Does adding an llms.txt file improve AI search visibility?** It may help systems that choose to follow the proposed convention prioritize your key pages, but it is not a ranking or citation guarantee, and adoption varies by AI vendor. This checker's Pro tier checks for an llms.txt file as one AI-readiness signal alongside schema, crawlability, and content structure — not a replacement for those fundamentals. **Does the checker tool evaluate voice search readiness?** It checks JSON-LD for SpeakableSpecification or a non-empty \`speakable\` property, which Google documents for eligible news-style and other content. It does not invoke voice assistants or measure audio quality—only structured-data and content-structure signals that support voice-oriented results where Google supports them. **Can I check pages behind a login or paywall?** Generally no. The URL mode needs a publicly reachable HTML response. Use “Paste text” for private drafts if you do not want to publish them yet. **How is this different from Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights?** Lighthouse focuses on performance, accessibility, and Core Web Vitals. This AI visibility checker adds AEO-specific checks: structured data and schema checker signals, heading outline, FAQ/HowTo patterns, E-E-A-T-style trust, and content structure for answer engines—not just speed. For hands-on help, see [SEO & AEO services](https://maksut.net/services/seo/). **What data is stored when I run a check?** The site may cache anonymised fetch results briefly to protect server resources and may store optional lead emails if that feature is on. Do not submit secrets or personal data in URLs or pasted content. **Does this AEO checker cover Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Bing, and Perplexity?** The on-page audit measures signals that matter across AI search optimization: schema and entity clarity for Google AI Overview optimization, extractable answers for ChatGPT search optimization, technical and crawl basics for Bing AI optimization, and citation-friendly structure for Perplexity optimization. It never queries those engines live — not on the free tier and not on Pro. Pro adds deeper analysis plus an optional probe that samples one live Claude web search. Anyone promising live ChatGPT or Perplexity citation data from a URL scan is overselling. **Who maintains this AEO checker tool?** The AEO Readiness Checker is built and maintained by Maksut as part of hands-on AI SEO, Answer Engine Optimization, and WordPress engineering. For strategy beyond an automated website audit, see the [SEO & AEO services](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) page or get in touch via [contact](https://maksut.net/contact/). **How do AI search engines decide what to cite?** Most AI answer engines retrieve eligible pages, rank passages by relevance and trust, then synthesize an answer with citations. Clear entities, extractable definitions, FAQ/HowTo structure, and valid schema make your passages easier to select — which is what this checker measures on-page. ## Why trust this AI search audit tool? The AEO Readiness Checker is built and maintained by Maksut—WordPress engineering, technical SEO, and AEO implementation in production sites, not slide decks. Read [about Maksut](https://maksut.net/about/) or explore [SEO & AEO services](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) for hands-on help beyond an automated score. Scores are transparent heuristics—not official Google, Microsoft, or AI vendor ratings. Methodology is documented on this page; limitations are stated openly. For regulated or YMYL industries, validate recommendations with a human expert. Need deeper 9-dimension analysis, PDF export, or weekly tracking? Compare [AEO Pro plans](https://maksut.net/aeo-pro/) — separate from MiniSEO Pass toolkit credits. Fetch behaviour, score caveats, external documentation ## Methodology & limitations 1. Server-side fetch: heavy JavaScript sites, bot blocks, or geo gates may differ from a user’s browser. 2. Scores are heuristics—not official Google, Microsoft, Yandex, or AI vendor ratings. No third-party tool has access to any vendor’s internal ranking or AI systems, and this one does not claim to. 3. Signal weights follow first-party documentation, not industry folklore: proven SEO foundations and search-crawler access carry real weight; training-only crawler rules are reported without penalty; llms.txt, Speakable, FAQPage, and HowTo are small optional bonuses. 4. Weights are re-reviewed when platforms publish new guidance — the deprecations and clarifications of 2026 already changed several of them. 5. Use paste mode for drafts; never submit secrets or disallowed personal data. 6. Free tier does not query ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini live; Pro adds optional citability probes. ### What the score categories mean - **Schema & structured data** — JSON-LD validity and connected Article/Organization graphs. FAQPage, HowTo, and Speakable are scored as optional bonuses only. - **Content & headings** — H1/H2 hierarchy, depth, readability, answer-first structure. - **Technical & crawl** — Robots, canonical, HTTPS, indexability. Blocking a search-facing AI crawler costs points here; blocking a training-only crawler does not. - **Trust & E-E-A-T** — Author, publisher, freshness, authority signals. - **GEO & AI readiness** — Hreflang, alt text, citation-friendly structure. llms.txt is a small bonus; Google states Search ignores it. ### References & further reading - [Google — Optimizing for generative AI features on Search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide) - [Aggarwal et al. — GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (ACM SIGKDD 2024)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735) - [Google — Helpful content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) - [Google — Structured data intro](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data) - [OpenAI — Crawlers and user agents](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) - [Anthropic — Claude crawlers and blocking](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler) - [Perplexity — Bots and crawlers](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots) - [Schema.org documentation](https://schema.org/docs/documents.html) ## Guides, tools & next steps This AI search audit tool sits in a content cluster—free checkers, in-depth guides, and implementation services—so you can move from score to strategy without dead ends. - [Ultimate guide Complete AEO Guide](https://maksut.net/aeo-guide/) - [GEO Generative Engine Optimization](https://maksut.net/geo-manifesto/) - [Google AI Google AI Overview SEO](https://maksut.net/google-ai-overview-seo/) - [ChatGPT ChatGPT Search Optimization](https://maksut.net/chatgpt-seo-guide/) - [Perplexity Perplexity SEO Guide](https://maksut.net/perplexity-seo-guide/) - [Free tool AI Content Gap Finder](https://maksut.net/content-gap-finder/) - [Free tool llms.txt Generator](https://maksut.net/llms-txt-generator/) - [Free tool JSON-LD @graph Generator](https://maksut.net/json-ld-graph-generator/) - [Free tool Local SEO Checker](https://maksut.net/local-seo-checker/) - [Pro plans AEO Pro — deep analysis & PDF](https://maksut.net/aeo-pro/) - [Compare AEO vs SEO](https://maksut.net/aeo-vs-seo/) - [Hub AEO Toolkit — all free tools](https://maksut.net/ai-search-optimization-tools/) - [Services SEO, AEO & AI Search Services](https://maksut.net/services/seo/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://maksut.net/#website","url":"https://maksut.net/","name":"Maksut — Digital Systems Builder","description":"Custom WordPress and WooCommerce development with technical SEO and AI search visibility for businesses in the UK, Europe and worldwide. 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It combines direct answers, clear entities, trustworthy evidence, crawlable pages, and machine-readable schema; it does not guarantee rankings, citations, or inclusion in generated answers."},"inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-03-31T00:24:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-23T20:22:34+00:00"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://maksut.net/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AEO Toolkit","item":"https://maksut.net/ai-search-optimization-tools/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AEO Readiness Checker","item":"https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/"}]},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/#faq","url":"https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://maksut.net/aeo-visibility-checker/#webpage"},"mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is an AEO score?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"An AEO score is a heuristic 0–100 summary from this AEO Readiness Checker for how well a public page signals structure, trust, and machine-readable facts. Those signals matter for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and when AI-assisted search summarizes or cites sources. It is not an official ranking, visibility, or citation score from any platform."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is AEO the same as traditional SEO?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Classic SEO optimizes for ranking and clicks in search results (Google, Bing, Yandex). AEO and AI SEO overlap on technical quality and clarity, but emphasize schema, headings, FAQs, entity clarity, AI crawlability, and citation-friendly writing so AI systems can quote you accurately."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is AEO replacing SEO?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. AEO and AI search optimization extend SEO—they do not replace it. You still need crawlable, fast, trustworthy pages. See our AEO vs SEO guide or SEO & AEO services for how both work together."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does this AI visibility checker work with ChatGPT?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, for on-page readiness. The checker evaluates structure, schema, and content signals that ChatGPT Search and similar systems use when selecting sources. It never queries ChatGPT live — not on the free tier and not on Pro. Pro adds an optional citability probe that runs one search-style question through Claude's live web search and reports whether your URL came back as a source; that samples one engine at one moment, and no tool here claims to see inside ChatGPT."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I improve my AI search visibility?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Start with what research actually measured: add verifiable statistics, quote credible sources, and cite primary sources with outbound links. Then confirm search-facing AI crawlers are not blocked in robots.txt, write answer-first intros, and fix heading hierarchy. Re-run this audit after changes. For brand-level citation tracking across engines, pair on-page work with ongoing AI search monitoring."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is AEO the same thing as GEO?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"They overlap heavily and neither is an official term — Google's own guidance uses neither word. AEO is the older label from the featured-snippet and voice-search era, meaning \"be the direct answer\". GEO comes from a 2024 ACM SIGKDD paper that defined generative engines and measured what changes their answers. In practice the useful split is scope: AEO is page-level answer readiness, GEO adds brand-level authority, mentions, and entity signals. This checker covers page-level readiness plus the on-page half of GEO, including the evidence signals that study measured."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is GEO optimization?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on making your brand the cited source across AI answers—through entity authority, mentions, and knowledge-graph signals. Read our GEO optimization guide. This checker includes on-page GEO signals; full GEO needs brand monitoring beyond one URL."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Google AI Overview use the same ranking factors as classic search?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Mostly yes. Google has stated AI Overviews and AI Mode run on the same core Search ranking systems — there is no special AEO markup, schema, or AI-only file required to appear in them. Structured data still improves machine-readable clarity and helps with regular rich results, and extractable, well-structured, trustworthy passages remain easier for any system to reuse — but that is normal SEO and content quality, not a separate \"AEO ranking factor.\""}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Will a high score guarantee top 3 rankings or AI recommendations?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No tool can guarantee positions in Google, Bing, or Yandex, or that ChatGPT or Perplexity will recommend a specific site. Rankings depend on competition, backlinks, history, and query intent. This checker tool helps you improve discoverable, trustworthy signals—one input to a broader strategy."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is this AEO readiness checker free?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. Paste any public URL into the form at the top of this page — no account required — and get an instant AEO score plus category breakdowns for schema, headings, technical crawl, and trust signals. I sometimes offer an optional email for a fuller report; that step is never required to see your score. Pro unlocks deeper citation analysis."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does the tool analyse my page?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"For URLs, the AEO Readiness Checker requests your HTML over HTTPS like a lightweight crawler, parses the document, and runs a combined technical SEO and schema pass: JSON-LD, headings, robots/canonical hints, crawlability proxies, readability, and trust cues—then optional AI commentary. Pages that block bots or require JavaScript-only rendering may score lower or fail to fetch."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I know if GPTBot or other AI crawlers are blocked?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The checker parses robots.txt for the crawlers that actually matter for citations: OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot, Claude-SearchBot, and PerplexityBot determine whether that engine can cite your page today. Training-only crawlers like GPTBot, Google-Extended, and ClaudeBot are a separate data-use choice that does not affect current AI-search visibility — only a blocked search-facing crawler is flagged as a fix."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does adding an llms.txt file improve AI search visibility?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It may help systems that choose to follow the proposed convention prioritize your key pages, but it is not a ranking or citation guarantee, and adoption varies by AI vendor. This checker's Pro tier checks for an llms.txt file as one AI-readiness signal alongside schema, crawlability, and content structure — not a replacement for those fundamentals."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does the checker tool evaluate voice search readiness?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It checks JSON-LD for SpeakableSpecification or a non-empty `speakable` property, which Google documents for eligible news-style and other content. It does not invoke voice assistants or measure audio quality—only structured-data and content-structure signals that support voice-oriented results where Google supports them."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I check pages behind a login or paywall?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Generally no. The URL mode needs a publicly reachable HTML response. Use “Paste text” for private drafts if you do not want to publish them yet."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How is this different from Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Lighthouse focuses on performance, accessibility, and Core Web Vitals. This AI visibility checker adds AEO-specific checks: structured data and schema checker signals, heading outline, FAQ/HowTo patterns, E-E-A-T-style trust, and content structure for answer engines—not just speed. For hands-on help, see SEO & AEO services."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What data is stored when I run a check?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The site may cache anonymised fetch results briefly to protect server resources and may store optional lead emails if that feature is on. Do not submit secrets or personal data in URLs or pasted content."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does this AEO checker cover Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Bing, and Perplexity?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The on-page audit measures signals that matter across AI search optimization: schema and entity clarity for Google AI Overview optimization, extractable answers for ChatGPT search optimization, technical and crawl basics for Bing AI optimization, and citation-friendly structure for Perplexity optimization. It never queries those engines live — not on the free tier and not on Pro. Pro adds deeper analysis plus an optional probe that samples one live Claude web search. Anyone promising live ChatGPT or Perplexity citation data from a URL scan is overselling."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Who maintains this AEO checker tool?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The AEO Readiness Checker is built and maintained by Maksut as part of hands-on AI SEO, Answer Engine Optimization, and WordPress engineering. For strategy beyond an automated website audit, see the SEO & AEO services page or get in touch via contact."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do AI search engines decide what to cite?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Most AI answer engines retrieve eligible pages, rank passages by relevance and trust, then synthesize an answer with citations. Clear entities, extractable definitions, FAQ/HowTo structure, and valid schema make your passages easier to select — which is what this checker measures on-page."}}]}]} ```