36 Criteria

AEOrank scores your site across 36 criteria in 5 pillars. Each criterion is scored 0–10 and weighted by percentage importance (weights sum to 100%).

Answer Readiness (26%)

These 7 criteria measure whether your content is ready to be used as a direct answer by AI engines.

Topical Authority

ID: topic-coherence · Weight: 7% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether your site demonstrates coherent topical coverage — that pages reinforce a consistent subject area rather than covering unrelated topics. AI engines prefer citing sources with clear subject authority.

Pass: Strong topical consistency across pages Warn: Mixed topics with some coherence Fail: No clear topical focus

Original Research & Data

ID: original-data · Weight: 5% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether your content includes proprietary data, statistics, studies, or original research. AI engines prefer citing primary sources over pages that merely summarize others.

Pass: Original data, statistics, or research present Warn: Some original data mixed with summaries Fail: No original data detected

Fact & Data Density

ID: fact-density · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Measures the density of verifiable facts, numbers, and data points per page. High fact density makes content more useful for AI citation and more likely to be referenced.

Pass: High density of specific facts and numbers Warn: Some facts present but sparse Fail: Mostly vague claims without supporting data

Duplicate Content

ID: duplicate-content · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Detects near-duplicate pages within your site. Duplicate content confuses AI engines about which page to cite and dilutes authority signals.

Pass: Pages have unique content throughout Warn: Some overlap between pages Fail: Significant duplicate blocks across pages

Cross-Page Duplication

ID: cross-page-duplication · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks for duplicate paragraph-level content repeated across multiple pages. More granular than page-level duplicate detection.

Pass: No repeated content blocks across pages Warn: Minor repeated sections Fail: Major content blocks duplicated across many pages

Evidence Packaging

ID: evidence-packaging · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether claims are backed by inline evidence — citations, links to sources, footnotes, or attribution. AI engines prefer content that packages its evidence visibly.

Pass: Claims backed by inline sources or citations Warn: Some claims backed, others unsupported Fail: Assertions without supporting evidence

Citation-Ready Writing

ID: citation-ready-writing · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether content is written in a quotable, citation-ready style — clear sentences, defined terms, and statements that can stand alone as a cited excerpt.

Pass: Content contains easily quotable statements Warn: Some quotable passages but format varies Fail: Dense prose not suited for citation

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Content Structure (25%)

These 8 criteria measure how well your content is structured for AI parsing and direct answer extraction.

Content Structure

ID: content-structure · Weight: 5% · Max Score: 10

Analyzes heading hierarchy (H1–H6), content organization, and logical page structure. Well-structured content is easier for AI engines to parse and cite accurately.

Pass: Clean heading hierarchy, logical structure Warn: Minor heading issues (skipped levels, multiple H1s) Fail: No headings or severely broken structure

Answer-First Formatting

ID: answer-first · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether content leads with direct answers rather than burying them. AI engines prefer content that states the answer in the first paragraph, then elaborates.

Pass: Content leads with concise answers Warn: Answers present but buried in content Fail: No clear answer formatting

Q&A Content Format

ID: qa-format · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Detects whether content uses explicit question-and-answer formatting. Q&A structure maps directly to how AI engines retrieve and present information.

Pass: Explicit Q&A sections present throughout Warn: Some Q&A formatting, inconsistently applied Fail: No Q&A structure detected

Direct Answer Density

ID: direct-answer-density · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Measures the ratio of content that provides direct, concrete answers versus preamble, filler, or off-topic material. Higher density means more of the page is useful to AI engines.

Pass: Most content is direct and on-point Warn: Good content mixed with padding Fail: Low ratio of actionable, direct answers

Query-Answer Alignment

ID: query-answer-alignment · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether page headings and content align with common search queries for your topic. Alignment improves retrieval when AI engines look for specific answers.

Pass: Headings and content match query patterns Warn: Some alignment, some mismatch Fail: Content doesn’t align with query intent

Tables & Lists

ID: tables-lists · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks for the presence of structured lists and comparison tables. Structured formatting makes data easy for AI engines to extract and re-present.

Pass: Tables and lists used appropriately throughout Warn: Some use of structured formatting Fail: No tables or lists detected

Definition Patterns

ID: definition-patterns · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Detects whether key terms are defined inline — using definition list markup, “X is Y” sentence patterns, or explicit glossary sections. Definitions are frequently cited by AI engines.

Pass: Key terms defined inline throughout Warn: Some definitions present Fail: No definition patterns detected

Entity Disambiguation

ID: entity-disambiguation · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether entities (people, products, organizations, places) are disambiguated with enough context for AI engines to identify them unambiguously.

Pass: Entities described with sufficient disambiguating context Warn: Some entities clear, others ambiguous Fail: Entities referenced without disambiguation

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Trust & Authority (12%)

These 3 criteria measure the trust signals that affect whether AI engines prefer to cite your content.

E-E-A-T Signals

ID: eeat-signals · Weight: 6% · Max Score: 10

Checks for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness signals. Looks for author information, publication dates, citations, and about pages.

Pass: Strong author/org signals, dates, expertise indicators Warn: Some E-E-A-T signals present Fail: No authorship or trust signals

Internal Linking

ID: internal-linking · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Checks the quality and density of internal links. Strong internal linking helps AI crawlers understand your site’s structure and the relationships between pages.

Pass: Dense, contextual internal links throughout Warn: Some internal linking present Fail: Few or no internal links

Citation Anchors

ID: citation-anchors · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks for heading IDs and anchor links that enable AI engines to cite specific sections. Stable anchor links improve citation accuracy.

Pass: Headings have stable IDs with anchor links Warn: Some headings have IDs Fail: No heading anchors detected

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Technical Foundation (25%)

These 9 criteria measure the technical infrastructure that makes your site accessible and readable by AI systems.

llms.txt Presence

ID: llms-txt · Weight: 5% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether your site has a llms.txt file at the root URL. This file tells language models what your site is about, following the llmstxt.org specification.

Pass: llms.txt exists and is well-structured Fail: No llms.txt found

FAQ & Speakable

ID: faq-speakable · Weight: 5% · Max Score: 10

Checks for FAQ markup and speakable specification. FAQ-structured content is heavily favored by AI engines when generating responses to questions.

Pass: FAQPage schema with speakable markup Warn: FAQ content exists but lacks schema Fail: No FAQ content detected

Schema.org Markup

ID: schema-markup · Weight: 4% · Max Score: 10

Checks for structured data using Schema.org vocabulary (JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa). Looks for Organization, WebSite, FAQPage, Article, and other relevant types.

Pass: Multiple schema types detected with complete properties Warn: Some schema markup present but incomplete Fail: No schema markup found

AI Crawler Access

ID: ai-crawler-access · Weight: 3% · Max Score: 10

Checks robots.txt for AI-specific crawler rules. Verifies that GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and Google-Extended are not blocked.

Pass: All major AI crawlers allowed Warn: Some crawlers blocked Fail: All or most AI crawlers blocked

Meta Descriptions

ID: meta-descriptions · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks that pages have meta descriptions of appropriate length (120–160 characters). Meta descriptions help AI engines understand page content without full parsing.

Pass: All pages have quality meta descriptions Warn: Some pages missing or too short/long Fail: Most pages lack meta descriptions

Semantic HTML

ID: semantic-html · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether pages use semantic HTML5 elements (<article>, <section>, <main>, <nav>, <aside>) rather than generic <div> containers. Semantic markup gives AI crawlers structural context.

Pass: Semantic elements used throughout Warn: Some semantic elements present Fail: No semantic HTML structure detected

Extraction Friction

ID: extraction-friction · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Measures how much JavaScript, lazy-loading, or dynamic rendering stands between AI crawlers and your content. High friction means AI crawlers may not see your full content.

Pass: Content fully accessible without JavaScript Warn: Some content requires JS but core content accessible Fail: Critical content only visible after JS execution

Image Context for AI

ID: image-context · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks that images have descriptive alt text and, where appropriate, captions or surrounding context. AI engines use text context to understand images.

Pass: Images have descriptive alt text and context Warn: Some images documented Fail: Images have no alt text or context

Schema Coverage

ID: schema-coverage · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Measures the percentage of pages with schema markup, not just whether any schema exists. Broad schema coverage across all pages improves AI indexability site-wide.

Pass: Schema present on 80%+ of pages Warn: Schema on some pages Fail: Schema on fewer than 25% of pages

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AI Discovery (12%)

These 9 criteria measure signals that help AI engines discover, trust, and index your content reliably.

Content Cannibalization

ID: content-cannibalization · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether multiple pages compete for the same topic or query. Cannibalization confuses AI engines about which page represents your authoritative answer.

Pass: Each topic covered by a single authoritative page Warn: Some topic overlap between pages Fail: Multiple pages competing for the same queries

HTTPS & Redirects

ID: https-redirects · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks that the site uses HTTPS and handles redirects properly. AI engines prefer secure sites with clean URL structures.

Pass: HTTPS enabled, clean redirects Warn: HTTPS but messy redirects Fail: No HTTPS

Page Freshness

ID: page-freshness · Weight: 2% · Max Score: 10

Checks for publication and modification dates. AI engines prefer citing current content over stale pages.

Pass: Recent dates detected on most pages Warn: Some pages have dates, some don’t Fail: No date information found

Publishing Velocity

ID: publishing-velocity · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Measures how frequently new content is published. Regular publishing signals an active, maintained site that AI engines can trust for current information.

Pass: Consistent publishing cadence detected Warn: Irregular publishing pattern Fail: No recent content or very infrequent publishing

Content Licensing

ID: content-licensing · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks whether content has clear licensing signals that indicate AI engines may use and cite it. Explicit licensing reduces friction for AI systems that respect content permissions.

Pass: Clear licensing or Creative Commons indicator present Warn: Terms of service present but licensing unclear Fail: No licensing information found

Canonical URLs

ID: canonical-urls · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks for canonical <link> tags that indicate the preferred URL for each page. Canonical tags prevent AI engines from indexing duplicate or near-duplicate URLs.

Pass: Canonical tags present on all pages Warn: Canonical tags on some pages Fail: No canonical tags detected

Sitemap Presence

ID: sitemap · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks for a sitemap.xml file and validates its structure. Sitemaps help AI crawlers discover and prioritize your content.

Pass: Valid sitemap.xml found Fail: No sitemap detected

RSS/Atom Feed

ID: rss-feed · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks for RSS or Atom feed presence. Feeds allow AI systems to track content updates and index new content quickly after publication.

Pass: Valid RSS or Atom feed found Warn: Feed present but poorly structured Fail: No feed detected

Visible Date Signals

ID: visible-dates · Weight: 1% · Max Score: 10

Checks for visible publication and update dates displayed on the page (not just in metadata). Visible dates let AI engines verify content freshness from rendered text.

Pass: Publication and update dates visible in content Warn: Dates in metadata only Fail: No dates visible anywhere

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Quick Reference

Pillar	Criterion	ID	Weight (%)	Max Score
Answer Readiness	Topical Authority	topic-coherence	7%	10
Answer Readiness	Original Research & Data	original-data	5%	10
Answer Readiness	Fact & Data Density	fact-density	4%	10
Answer Readiness	Duplicate Content	duplicate-content	4%	10
Answer Readiness	Cross-Page Duplication	cross-page-duplication	2%	10
Answer Readiness	Evidence Packaging	evidence-packaging	2%	10
Answer Readiness	Citation-Ready Writing	citation-ready-writing	2%	10
Content Structure	Content Structure	content-structure	5%	10
Content Structure	Answer-First Formatting	answer-first	4%	10
Content Structure	Q&A Content Format	qa-format	4%	10
Content Structure	Direct Answer Density	direct-answer-density	4%	10
Content Structure	Query-Answer Alignment	query-answer-alignment	2%	10
Content Structure	Tables & Lists	tables-lists	2%	10
Content Structure	Definition Patterns	definition-patterns	2%	10
Content Structure	Entity Disambiguation	entity-disambiguation	2%	10
Trust & Authority	E-E-A-T Signals	eeat-signals	6%	10
Trust & Authority	Internal Linking	internal-linking	4%	10
Trust & Authority	Citation Anchors	citation-anchors	2%	10
Technical Foundation	llms.txt Presence	llms-txt	5%	10
Technical Foundation	FAQ & Speakable	faq-speakable	5%	10
Technical Foundation	Schema.org Markup	schema-markup	4%	10
Technical Foundation	AI Crawler Access	ai-crawler-access	3%	10
Technical Foundation	Meta Descriptions	meta-descriptions	2%	10
Technical Foundation	Semantic HTML	semantic-html	2%	10
Technical Foundation	Extraction Friction	extraction-friction	2%	10
Technical Foundation	Image Context for AI	image-context	1%	10
Technical Foundation	Schema Coverage	schema-coverage	1%	10
AI Discovery	Content Cannibalization	content-cannibalization	2%	10
AI Discovery	HTTPS & Redirects	https-redirects	2%	10
AI Discovery	Page Freshness	page-freshness	2%	10
AI Discovery	Publishing Velocity	publishing-velocity	1%	10
AI Discovery	Content Licensing	content-licensing	1%	10
AI Discovery	Canonical URLs	canonical-urls	1%	10
AI Discovery	Sitemap Presence	sitemap	1%	10
AI Discovery	RSS/Atom Feed	rss-feed	1%	10
AI Discovery	Visible Date Signals	visible-dates	1%	10