This checklist gives you a complete AEO readiness audit in under an hour. Use it before launching any AEO program — and re-run it quarterly thereafter to catch regressions and surface new opportunities.

Content audit (8 checks)

  1. Each key page has an H1 that names the topic clearly.
  2. Each key page opens with a direct answer summary in the first 60 words.
  3. H2 and H3 headings are written as natural-language questions.
  4. Each page has a comprehensive FAQ section with 8-12 questions.
  5. Long-form content includes tables, lists, and structured data wherever they aid extraction.
  6. Internal linking signals topical authority.
  7. Content depth matches or exceeds cited sources for each target query.
  8. Author bios with credentials appear on E-E-A-T-relevant pages.

Structured data audit (7 checks)

  1. Organization schema appears sitewide.
  2. WebSite schema with SearchAction appears sitewide.
  3. BreadcrumbList schema appears on every non-home page.
  4. Article schema appears on every blog post with author and dates.
  5. FAQPage schema appears on every page with a FAQ section.
  6. Type-specific schema (Product, Service, LocalBusiness, etc.) appears where applicable.
  7. All schema validates cleanly in Google Rich Results Test.

AEO file audit (4 checks)

  1. llms.txt exists at /llms.txt with brand description, key pages, and structure.
  2. AGENTS.md exists at /AGENTS.md.
  3. robots.txt allows GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, anthropic-ai, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot, CCBot, Applebot-Extended.
  4. Sitewide head includes the llms.txt alternate link and ai-content-declaration meta tag.

Technical audit (4 checks)

  1. Pages render core content server-side or as plain HTML.
  2. Page load is under 2.5 seconds.
  3. No bot rate-limiting against major AI crawlers.
  4. All key pages return 200 status codes.

Measurement audit (2 checks)

  1. You have a baseline AI share of voice measurement.
  2. You have a baseline citation count and prompt coverage report.