What is an AEO audit?

An AEO audit evaluates how well your brand is optimized to appear in AI-generated answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. It covers technical access (AI bot crawlability), entity signals (brand clarity and third-party references), structured data (schema markup), content coverage (FAQ pages, comparison pages), off-site signals (G2 reviews, Reddit), and AI-specific files (llms.txt). A thorough AEO audit checks 40+ points across these categories.

What are the most important AEO audit checkpoints?

The highest-impact AEO audit checkpoints are: (1) AI bot access in robots.txt — blocking GPTBot, PerplexityBot, or ClaudeBot removes you from AI retrieval entirely; (2) FAQPage schema on your homepage and pricing page; (3) llms.txt file at your domain root; (4) 15+ G2 reviews with specific outcomes; (5) Organization JSON-LD schema with sameAs links. These five alone account for the majority of AEO citation gaps.

How long does an AEO audit take?

A manual AEO audit using this checklist takes approximately 10 minutes to check your current status across 40 points. Implementing all fixes takes 2–6 weeks depending on your starting state. An automated audit using Surfedo's scanner returns your technical and entity audit results in about 2 minutes — sign up with your email — no card needed for the scan at surfedo.com/scan.

What is a good AEO audit score?

Scoring above 85% (34/40 checkpoints) indicates strong AEO optimization. 65–85% (26–34 points) is good — focus on off-site signals and weekly tracking. 40–65% (16–26 points) means core gaps in entity signals and schema need attention. Below 40% is early stage — start with llms.txt, robots.txt AI crawler access, and FAQPage schema for the fastest improvements per hour invested.

Free AEO Audit Tool · 40 Checkpoints

AEO Audit Checklist

40 checkpoints across 6 categories. Check off what you’ve done, see your score, and get a prioritized fix list. Takes 5 minutes. Free, no login required.

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Early Stage0 / 42 done

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⚙️

Technical Access

0 / 7 complete

GPTBot is allowed in robots.txt (OpenAI crawler)

PerplexityBot is allowed in robots.txt

ClaudeBot is allowed in robots.txt (Anthropic crawler)

GoogleOther is allowed in robots.txt (Gemini crawler)

Site loads in under 3 seconds (Core Web Vitals pass)

HTTPS on all pages, no mixed content errors

Sitemap.xml exists and is submitted to Google Search Console

🏷️

Entity & Brand Signals

0 / 6 complete

A single, consistent brand description is used across homepage, About page, and schema

Wikidata entry exists for your brand (or is in progress)

LinkedIn company page is complete (logo, description, category)

Organization JSON-LD schema on homepage with sameAs array

sameAs links include LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Wikidata, G2, and Crunchbase

Brand name is spelled consistently across all pages (no variations)

🗂️

Structured Data (Schema)

0 / 8 complete

FAQPage JSON-LD schema on homepage

FAQPage JSON-LD schema on pricing page

FAQPage JSON-LD schema on top blog posts

SoftwareApplication schema on product/pricing page (with price)

BreadcrumbList schema on all blog posts and pillar pages

Article schema on all blog posts (with datePublished + dateModified)

HowTo schema on step-based posts and guides

All schema validated with Google's Rich Results Test

📝

Content Coverage

0 / 7 complete

Dedicated FAQ page answering 20+ buyer questions

Comparison pages for each main competitor (X vs Y format)

Definition page for your category's primary term (e.g. 'What is AEO?')

How-to guide that walks buyers through your core use case step by step

Blog content targeting 'why doesn't [AI] recommend my brand' type queries

Pricing page answers 'how much does X cost' directly and explicitly

About page exists and describes founding, mission, and team

🌐

Off-Site Signals

0 / 7 complete

G2 profile is claimed and fully complete (logo, description, categories)

G2 profile has 15+ reviews (with specific outcomes and feature names)

Capterra listing exists and is complete

Product Hunt listing exists

Brand has been mentioned in at least 3 Reddit threads in relevant subreddits

Brand appears in at least one 'best X tools' roundup article on a third-party site

Crunchbase or similar company directory profile exists

🤖

AI-Specific Signals

0 / 7 complete

llms.txt file exists at yourdomain.com/llms.txt

llms.txt includes brand description, canonical URLs, and preferred citation text

ai.txt file exists at yourdomain.com/ai.txt

You have checked your citation position on ChatGPT for your top 5 queries

You have checked your citation position on Perplexity for your top 5 queries

You have verified no AI engine is hallucinating false information about your brand

You track AI citation positions at least monthly (ideally weekly)

Your Score

Early Stage

Start with llms.txt, robots.txt access, and FAQPage schema — highest impact per hour.

Technical Access0/7

Entity & Brand Signals0/6

Structured Data (Schema)0/8

Content Coverage0/7

Off-Site Signals0/7

AI-Specific Signals0/7

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Full AEO guide →FAQ schema guide →Entity authority →