The AEO Readiness Checklist
This is the exact checklist I run when auditing a new client site. For the full context on Google’s rich results gallery, it shows every schema type Google supports and can reward in search results. Work through it page by page, starting with your highest-value pages: your primary service page, your homepage, and your top content pages. Each criterion that fails is a gap that reduces your AI citation eligibility.
Content Structure
- The page’s primary question is answered directly in the first sentence or first paragraph. No preamble, no company introduction before the answer.
- H2 and H3 headings are written as questions your customers actually ask, not labels or category names.
- Each section’s first sentence answers the heading question before expanding on it.
- Content is specific: real numbers, real timeframes, named people, defined processes. No generic statements that could apply to any business.
- The page covers one primary topic thoroughly rather than skimming multiple topics at shallow depth.
Author Attribution
- A named author with specific credentials is displayed visibly on the page as a byline.
- The author’s credentials are specific: “licensed electrician, 14 years residential and commercial” not “electrical professional.”
- Article schema on the page includes the author’s name, the author’s URL (bio page or LinkedIn), publication date, and modified date.
Schema Markup
- Article schema is present and validates correctly in Google’s Rich Results Test.
- FAQ sections have FAQPage schema markup. Every question-answer pair is marked up, not just listed as prose.
- LocalBusiness schema is present on the homepage and contact page (for service-area businesses).
- No schema errors or warnings in the Rich Results Test.
Technical Readiness
- Page loads in under 3 seconds on mobile (check with Google PageSpeed Insights).
- Page is indexed in Google Search Console with no crawl errors.
- Page has been submitted for re-indexing after any content updates.
- The site has an XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
How to Score Your Results
Count how many criteria each page passes. To understand what AEO is and why these criteria matter, start with What Is AEO and How Is It Different from SEO. Here is what the score means in practical terms:
- 0-4 criteria met: The page is not AEO-eligible. It may rank in traditional search but will not be cited by AI engines consistently. Full restructuring needed.
- 5-9 criteria met: The page is partially AEO-ready. It may earn occasional AI citations but is inconsistent. Targeted fixes to the failing criteria will improve performance.
- 10-14 criteria met: The page is AEO-ready. It is structured for consistent AI citation eligibility. Maintain content freshness and monitor results.
Most business websites I audit score 2-5 on this checklist without any AEO work. The two most common failures are no named author attribution (often zero points on the entire author section) and no schema markup at all.
Every business website I have audited that was not appearing in AI answers had the same two failures. Reading what makes a web page good for AEO alongside this checklist gives you the full picture of what to fix.: anonymous content and no schema markup. Fix those two things on your core pages before anything else. They are the highest-leverage changes available.
Quick Wins You Can Implement Today
If your site fails multiple criteria, start with these three changes. They are the highest-leverage fixes and can be implemented on most WordPress sites without developer help:
- Add author bylines to your top 5 pages. Add a visible byline with your name and specific credentials. Takes under 30 minutes per page.
- Restructure the first paragraph of your primary service page. Move the direct answer to the top. The rest of the content can stay. Just reorder so the answer leads.
- Add a FAQ section to your primary service page. Four to six real customer questions, answered directly. Add FAQPage schema using the Yoast FAQ block or a JSON-LD snippet.
These three changes applied to your primary service page can move you from AEO-ineligible to AEO-eligible on your most important page within a few hours of work.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can run the content structure and author attribution sections yourself with no tools. The schema markup section requires Google’s Rich Results Test, which is free and straightforward. The technical readiness section requires Google PageSpeed Insights and Search Console, both free. No paid tools are required for a basic AEO audit.
A focused audit of your five most important pages takes 2-4 hours when done manually with the checklist above. A professional audit covers more pages, includes competitor analysis, and identifies the specific content gaps that would yield the highest-value citations. AgentScott’s Track A modernization service includes a full AEO audit as part of the engagement.
Passing the checklist makes you eligible, not guaranteed. For a detailed look at what AEO is and how it works, start with that overview before implementing these changes. AI citation also depends on topic competition, your domain authority, and how well your content compares to other pages covering the same topic. The checklist removes the structural barriers. Winning the citation on competitive topics also requires having genuinely better content than alternatives.
Run the checklist quarterly on your core pages, and any time you make significant content changes. AI engines re-evaluate content when they re-crawl pages. Keeping your pages current and maintaining schema markup validity is the ongoing maintenance task. Schema markup can break if a plugin update or template change affects how it is output.