AEO Audit Checklist: 35 Checks for AI Answer Visibility
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An AEO audit checks whether AI answer engines can reach, understand, trust and cite your site. This AEO audit checklist covers six areas, in order: crawler access, indexing and search settings, answer-first content, entity consistency, structured data and measurement. Fix access problems first, because no amount of good content helps if engines cannot use your pages.
This checklist is written so an in-house marketer or developer can run it without special tools. Each check says what to look at and how to verify it. You will need access to Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, your robots.txt and, ideally, server or CDN logs.
1. Can AI crawlers reach your site?
Confirm that search and AI search agents are allowed by robots.txt and not blocked by your firewall, CDN or host.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | robots.txt allows Googlebot and Bingbot on all public pages | Read /robots.txt; use the robots.txt report in Search Console |
| 2 | OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot are not disallowed | Search robots.txt for each token and for broad User-agent: * blocks |
| 3 | Training agents (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended) reflect a deliberate decision | Find who decided and where it is documented |
| 4 | Firewall, CDN and security plugin do not block or challenge AI search agents | Check bot settings; look for 403 or 429 responses in logs |
| 5 | Subdomains such as docs or help have their own correct robots.txt | Open /robots.txt on each subdomain |
| 6 | Important content is in the HTML, not only rendered by JavaScript | View source or use URL Inspection’s rendered HTML |
| 7 | XML sitemap lists all important URLs and is referenced in robots.txt | Open the sitemap; check Sitemaps report in Search Console |
Our AI crawler guide explains what each agent does.
2. Are your pages indexed and eligible?
AI features can only cite pages that are indexed and allowed to show snippets, and Google also requires your site to be included in its generative AI features.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Key pages are indexed in Google | URL Inspection; Page indexing report |
| 9 | Key pages are indexed in Bing | URL Inspection in Bing Webmaster Tools |
| 10 | No unintended noindex, nosnippet or low max-snippet |
Crawl the site; check meta robots and X-Robots-Tag headers |
| 11 | Search generative AI setting is “Include” (or inherits an included parent) | Search Console, Settings, Search generative AI |
| 12 | No manual actions or security issues | Search Console Manual actions and Security issues reports |
| 13 | IndexNow is enabled for fast updates to Bing and partners | Check your SEO plugin or CDN settings |
More detail on the Google side is in how to get cited in Google AI Overviews.
3. Does your content answer buyer questions directly?
Check that your most valuable pages lead with clear answers, cover follow-up questions and show real expertise.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | You have a written list of the top 20 to 50 buyer questions | Sales calls, support tickets, Search Console queries |
| 15 | Each top question has one clearly best page on your site | Map question to URL; look for gaps and duplicates |
| 16 | Pages open with a direct answer in the first two sentences | Read the first paragraph of each mapped page |
| 17 | Headings describe the content, often as the buyer’s question | Review H2s; replace vague headings such as “Learn more” |
| 18 | Key answers are visible, not hidden in tabs, PDFs or images | Check page HTML and layouts |
| 19 | Claims are specific and third-party facts link to sources | Editorial review |
| 20 | Authors or the responsible team are clearly shown | Check bylines, about pages and author boxes |
| 21 | Content is current: no outdated prices, features or dates | Review last-updated dates on priority pages |
Use our answer-first content guide to fix what you find.
4. Is your brand entity clear and consistent?
Make sure engines and assistants can identify your company and describe it the same way everywhere.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | One consistent company description across site and profiles | Compare home, About, LinkedIn and key directories |
| 23 | About page states who you are, what you do, where and for whom | Read it as a stranger would |
| 24 | Business Profile and directory listings are accurate | Review Google Business Profile and top listings |
| 25 | Product and service names are used consistently | Search your site for variants |
| 26 | AI assistants describe your company accurately | Ask “What is [company]?” in each major assistant |
See entity SEO for AEO for how to fix inconsistencies.
5. Is your structured data accurate?
Structured data is not required for AI features, but wrong or duplicated markup confuses machines. Check it matches what is on the page.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Organization markup exists once, with a stable @id and sameAs links | Rich Results Test or Schema Markup Validator on the home page |
| 28 | Articles have accurate headline, author, publisher and dates | Test a blog post template |
| 29 | No duplicate entities from overlapping plugins or theme code | Inspect the JSON-LD output for repeated types |
| 30 | Every marked-up claim is visible on the page | Compare markup with the page by hand |
Note that Google no longer shows FAQ rich results as of May 2026. Our schema guide explains what to keep.
6. Can you measure AI visibility?
Set up the first-party reports and a simple tracking routine so you can see whether changes work.
| # | Check | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Search Console Generative AI performance report reviewed monthly | Open the report; note the baseline |
| 32 | Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance reviewed monthly | Open the report; note citations and cited pages |
| 33 | AI assistant referrers are segmented in analytics | Check channel groupings or segments |
| 34 | A fixed prompt panel is tracked monthly | Look for a log with prompts, dates and results |
| 35 | Forms capture self-reported source and the CRM records it | Submit a test lead and check the CRM |
Our guide to measuring AI search visibility covers each report.
How do you prioritize what the audit finds?
- Blockers: anything in sections 1 and 2 that stops engines using your pages.
- High-value pages: content fixes on pages mapped to your most valuable questions.
- Accuracy: wrong facts about your company in AI answers and the sources behind them.
- Clarity: entity and structured data clean-up.
- Measurement: baselines, so next quarter’s review has something to compare against.
If you would rather have an outside view, request a free SEO and AEO audit. We review B2B sites in the United States, Canada and India across sectors such as IT services and cybersecurity and consulting and professional services. Our AEO services then turn the findings into a plan. New to the topic? Start with what answer engine optimization is.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AEO audit?
An AEO audit reviews whether AI answer engines can reach, understand, trust and cite your website. It covers crawler access, indexing, search engine settings, content structure, entity consistency, structured data and how you measure AI visibility.
How is an AEO audit different from an SEO audit?
It shares the technical foundation but adds checks for AI crawlers, Search Console’s generative AI setting, answer-first content, how assistants describe your brand and AI-specific reporting such as Google’s Generative AI performance report and Bing’s AI Performance.
How often should I run an AEO audit?
A full audit once or twice a year is sensible for most B2B sites, with monthly spot checks on crawler access, AI impressions and citations, and a prompt panel. Re-run the access checks after any change of host, CDN, security plugin or CMS.
What should I fix first after an AEO audit?
Fix access and eligibility issues first, such as blocked crawlers, noindex or nosnippet tags and an excluded generative AI setting, because nothing else matters until engines can use your pages. Then improve the pages that should answer your most valuable buyer questions.
Can I do an AEO audit myself?
Yes. Most checks need only Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, your robots.txt, a crawler or browser tools and an hour with the main AI assistants. An outside audit helps when you need a prioritized plan or lack time.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Search Console Help: Search generative AI control
- Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report (Search)
- Google Search Central: Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet and X-Robots-Tag
- Bing Webmaster Guidelines
- Bing Webmaster Blog: Introducing AI Performance (February 2026)
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers
- Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers
- Google Search Central: Latest documentation updates
- IndexNow
