SEO Optimization
Search engine optimization based on Lighthouse SEO audits and Google Search guidelines. Focus on technical SEO, on-page optimization, and structured data.
Technical SEO
Crawlability
robots.txt:
/robots.txt
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Block admin/private areas
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /private/
Don't block resources needed for rendering
❌ Disallow: /static/
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Meta robots:
<
meta
name
=
"
robots
"
content
=
"
index, follow
"
<
meta
name
=
"
robots
"
content
=
"
noindex, nofollow
"
<
meta
name
=
"
robots
"
content
=
"
index, nofollow
"
<
meta
name
=
"
robots
"
content
=
"
max-snippet:150, max-image-preview:large
"
Canonical URLs:
<
link
rel
=
"
canonical
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/page
"
<
link
rel
=
"
canonical
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/current-page
"
<
link
rel
=
"
canonical
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/products
"
XML sitemap
<
urlset
xmlns
=
"
http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9
"
<
url
<
loc
https://example.com/
</
loc
<
lastmod
2024-01-15
</
lastmod
<
changefreq
daily
</
changefreq
<
priority
1.0
</
priority
</
url
<
url
<
loc
https://example.com/products
</
loc
<
lastmod
2024-01-14
</
lastmod
<
changefreq
weekly
</
changefreq
<
priority
0.8
</
priority
</
url
</
urlset
Sitemap best practices:
Maximum 50,000 URLs or 50MB per sitemap
Use sitemap index for larger sites
Include only canonical, indexable URLs
Update
lastmod
when content changes
Submit to Google Search Console
URL structure
✅ Good URLs:
https://example.com/products/blue-widget
https://example.com/blog/how-to-use-widgets
❌ Poor URLs:
https://example.com/p?id=12345
https://example.com/products/item/category/subcategory/blue-widget-2024-sale-discount
URL guidelines:
Use hyphens, not underscores
Lowercase only
Keep short (< 75 characters)
Include target keywords naturally
Avoid parameters when possible
Use HTTPS always
HTTPS & security
<
img
src
=
"
https://example.com/image.jpg
"
<
img
src
=
"
http://example.com/image.jpg
"
Security headers for SEO trust signals:
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-Frame-Options: DENY
On-page SEO
Title tags
<
title
Page
</
title
<
title
Home
</
title
<
title
Blue Widgets for Sale | Premium Quality | Example Store
</
title
Title tag guidelines:
50-60 characters (Google truncates ~60)
Primary keyword near the beginning
Unique for every page
Brand name at end (unless homepage)
Action-oriented when appropriate
Meta descriptions
<
meta
name
=
"
description
"
content
=
"
"
<
meta
name
=
"
description
"
content
=
"
Shop premium blue widgets with free shipping. 30-day returns. Rated 4.9/5 by 10,000+ customers. Order today and save 20%.
"
Meta description guidelines:
150-160 characters
Include primary keyword naturally
Compelling call-to-action
Unique for every page
Matches page content
Heading structure
<
h2
Welcome to Our Store
</
h2
<
h4
Products
</
h4
<
h1
Contact Us
</
h1
<
h1
Blue Widgets - Premium Quality
</
h1
<
h2
Product Features
</
h2
<
h3
Durability
</
h3
<
h3
Design
</
h3
<
h2
Customer Reviews
</
h2
<
h2
Pricing
</
h2
Heading guidelines:
Single
per page (the main topic)
Logical hierarchy (don't skip levels)
Include keywords naturally
Descriptive, not generic
Image SEO
<
img
src
=
"
IMG_12345.jpg
"
>
<
img
src
=
"
blue-widget-product-photo.webp
"
alt
=
"
Blue widget with chrome finish, side view showing control panel
"
width
=
"
800
"
height
=
"
600
"
loading
=
"
lazy
"
>
Image guidelines:
Descriptive filenames with keywords
Alt text describes the image content
Compressed and properly sized
WebP/AVIF with fallbacks
Lazy load below-fold images
Internal linking
<
a
href
=
"
/products
"
>
Click here
<
a
href
=
"
/widgets
"
>
Read more
<
a
href
=
"
/products/blue-widgets
"
>
Browse our blue widget collection
<
a
href
=
"
/guides/widget-maintenance
"
>
Learn how to maintain your widgets
Linking guidelines:
Descriptive anchor text with keywords
Link to relevant internal pages
Reasonable number of links per page
Fix broken links promptly
Use breadcrumbs for hierarchy
Structured data (JSON-LD)
Organization
<
script
type
=
"
application/ld+json
"
>
{
"@context"
:
"https://schema.org"
,
"@type"
:
"Organization"
,
"name"
:
"Example Company"
,
"url"
:
"https://example.com"
,
"logo"
:
"https://example.com/logo.png"
,
"sameAs"
:
[
"https://twitter.com/example"
,
"https://linkedin.com/company/example"
]
,
"contactPoint"
:
{
"@type"
:
"ContactPoint"
,
"telephone"
:
"+1-555-123-4567"
,
"contactType"
:
"customer service"
}
}
Article
<
script
type
=
"
application/ld+json
"
>
{
"@context"
:
"https://schema.org"
,
"@type"
:
"Article"
,
"headline"
:
"How to Choose the Right Widget"
,
"description"
:
"Complete guide to selecting widgets for your needs."
,
"image"
:
"https://example.com/article-image.jpg"
,
"author"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Person"
,
"name"
:
"Jane Smith"
,
"url"
:
"https://example.com/authors/jane-smith"
}
,
"publisher"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Organization"
,
"name"
:
"Example Blog"
,
"logo"
:
{
"@type"
:
"ImageObject"
,
"url"
:
"https://example.com/logo.png"
}
}
,
"datePublished"
:
"2024-01-15"
,
"dateModified"
:
"2024-01-20"
}
Product
<
script
type
=
"
application/ld+json
"
>
{
"@context"
:
"https://schema.org"
,
"@type"
:
"Product"
,
"name"
:
"Blue Widget Pro"
,
"image"
:
"https://example.com/blue-widget.jpg"
,
"description"
:
"Premium blue widget with advanced features."
,
"brand"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Brand"
,
"name"
:
"WidgetCo"
}
,
"offers"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Offer"
,
"price"
:
"49.99"
,
"priceCurrency"
:
"USD"
,
"availability"
:
"https://schema.org/InStock"
,
"url"
:
"https://example.com/products/blue-widget"
}
,
"aggregateRating"
:
{
"@type"
:
"AggregateRating"
,
"ratingValue"
:
"4.8"
,
"reviewCount"
:
"1250"
}
}
FAQ
<
script
type
=
"
application/ld+json
"
>
{
"@context"
:
"https://schema.org"
,
"@type"
:
"FAQPage"
,
"mainEntity"
:
[
{
"@type"
:
"Question"
,
"name"
:
"What colors are available?"
,
"acceptedAnswer"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Answer"
,
"text"
:
"Our widgets come in blue, red, and green."
}
}
,
{
"@type"
:
"Question"
,
"name"
:
"What is the warranty?"
,
"acceptedAnswer"
:
{
"@type"
:
"Answer"
,
"text"
:
"All widgets include a 2-year warranty."
}
}
]
}
Breadcrumbs
<
script
type
=
"
application/ld+json
"
>
{
"@context"
:
"https://schema.org"
,
"@type"
:
"BreadcrumbList"
,
"itemListElement"
:
[
{
"@type"
:
"ListItem"
,
"position"
:
1
,
"name"
:
"Home"
,
"item"
:
"https://example.com"
}
,
{
"@type"
:
"ListItem"
,
"position"
:
2
,
"name"
:
"Products"
,
"item"
:
"https://example.com/products"
}
,
{
"@type"
:
"ListItem"
,
"position"
:
3
,
"name"
:
"Blue Widgets"
,
"item"
:
"https://example.com/products/blue-widgets"
}
]
}
Validation
Test structured data at:
Google Rich Results Test
Schema.org Validator
Mobile SEO
Responsive design
<
meta
name
=
"
viewport
"
content
=
"
width=1024
"
>
<
meta
name
=
"
viewport
"
content
=
"
width=device-width, initial-scale=1
"
>
Tap targets
/* ❌ Too small for mobile */
.small-link
{
padding
:
4
px
;
font-size
:
12
px
;
}
/* ✅ Adequate tap target */
.mobile-friendly-link
{
padding
:
12
px
;
font-size
:
16
px
;
min-height
:
48
px
;
min-width
:
48
px
;
}
Font sizes
/* ❌ Too small on mobile */
body
{
font-size
:
10
px
;
}
/* ✅ Readable without zooming */
body
{
font-size
:
16
px
;
line-height
:
1.5
;
}
International SEO
Hreflang tags
<
link
rel
=
"
alternate
"
hreflang
=
"
en
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/page
"
>
<
link
rel
=
"
alternate
"
hreflang
=
"
es
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/es/page
"
>
<
link
rel
=
"
alternate
"
hreflang
=
"
fr
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/fr/page
"
>
<
link
rel
=
"
alternate
"
hreflang
=
"
x-default
"
href
=
"
https://example.com/page
"
>
Language declaration
<
html
lang
=
"
en
"
>
<
html
lang
=
"
es-MX
"
>
SEO audit checklist
Critical
HTTPS enabled
robots.txt allows crawling
No
noindex
on important pages
Title tags present and unique
Single
per page
High priority
Meta descriptions present
Sitemap submitted
Canonical URLs set
Mobile-responsive
Core Web Vitals passing
Medium priority
Structured data implemented
Internal linking strategy
Image alt text
Descriptive URLs
Breadcrumb navigation
Ongoing
Fix crawl errors in Search Console
Update sitemap when content changes
Monitor ranking changes
Check for broken links
Review Search Console insights
Audit workflow
Baseline: run Lighthouse and PageSpeed on key templates (home, category, detail, blog).
Crawl: verify indexability, canonicals, and duplicate content (use Search Console + crawler).
Fix blockers:
noindex
,
robots.txt
, canonical mismatches, redirect chains.
On-page: titles, meta descriptions, headings, internal linking, image alt.
Structured data: add JSON-LD and validate rich results.
Re-verify: re-run Lighthouse/PageSpeed and check Search Console coverage.
Common pitfalls
noindex
or
X-Robots-Tag
accidentally set on important pages
robots.txt
blocks CSS/JS or critical render resources
Canonical points to a different URL than the one indexed
Mixed
http
/
https
or
www
/non-
www
causing duplicate content
Redirect chains/loops (waste crawl budget and slow page load)
Parameterized URLs indexable (filters, sort, UTM) without canonical control
JavaScript-rendered content not visible in initial HTML
Soft 404s (200 status with "not found" content)
Sitemap includes non-canonical or
noindex
URLs
Hreflang tags missing reciprocal links or using wrong language/region codes
Tools
Tool
Use
Google Search Console
Monitor indexing, fix issues
Google PageSpeed Insights
Performance + Core Web Vitals
Rich Results Test
Validate structured data
Lighthouse
Full SEO audit
Screaming Frog
Crawl analysis
Scripts (optional)
Scripts under
scripts/
for repeatable audits:
scripts/lighthouse.sh
: run Lighthouse CLI against a URL or URL list and store JSON reports.
scripts/pagespeed.sh
: call PageSpeed Insights API with
curl
and capture JSON output.
scripts/search-console-export.mjs
: export Search Console Search Analytics data (requires OAuth access token).
Example usage:
# Lighthouse (SEO category only)
scripts/lighthouse.sh https://example.com
scripts/lighthouse.sh urls.txt reports/lighthouse
# PageSpeed Insights API (requires PAGESPEED_API_KEY)
PAGESPEED_API_KEY
=
..
. scripts/pagespeed.sh https://example.com
PAGESPEED_API_KEY
=
..
. scripts/pagespeed.sh urls.txt reports/pagespeed
# Search Console API (requires GSC_ACCESS_TOKEN)
GSC_ACCESS_TOKEN
=
..
. scripts/search-console-export.mjs https://example.com
2024
-01-01
2024
-01-31
AEO / AI Visibility Optimization
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) focuses on making content discoverable and citable by AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews). While SEO targets rankings and clicks, AEO targets citations, mentions, and brand authority within AI-generated responses.
Key differences from SEO
SEO: Rank high → get clicks → drive traffic
AEO: Be cited → own the answer → build authority
SEO metric: Position, CTR, impressions
AEO metric: Citations, mentions, AI visibility score
SEO query: "best project management software"
AEO query: "What's the best project management software for a remote team of 15 with budget under $500/month?"
Market shift:
Gartner predicts 25% drop in traditional search volume by 2026 due to AI chatbots
400M+ people use OpenAI products weekly
58% of searches are now "zero-click" (answered directly in AI interface)
Content structure for AEO
Answer-first formatting:
##
What is AEO?
In recent years, the rise of AI-powered search has transformed
how users discover information. This shift has created new
opportunities for brands. Answer Engine Optimization is...
##
What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring
content so AI systems can directly extract and cite answers.
It focuses on citations in AI responses rather than search rankings.
Unlike traditional SEO, AEO optimizes for conversational queries
and zero-click results where users get answers without visiting
your site.
Guidelines:
Lead with 40-60 word direct answer
Self-contained responses (AI extracts without surrounding context)
Conversational, natural language
Specific data > vague claims
Include quantified claims, dates, authoritative citations
Entity-based optimization:
"Our software helps teams collaborate better with features
for project management and communication."
"Acme PM is a project management platform for remote teams.
Founded in 2020, serves 50,000+ companies. Key features:
Kanban boards, time tracking, Slack integration. Pricing:
$12/user/month."
Define who you are, what you do, and why AI should trust you.
Schema for AEO
Expand beyond SEO schema to optimize for AI extraction.
Critical schema types for AEO:
FAQPage
(highest AI citation rate)
Template:
references/json-ld-templates.md
FAQ answer guidelines for AEO:
40-60 words ideal (under 30 = lacks substance, over 80 = hard to extract)
Match visible H2/H3 headings to schema "name" property exactly
Include specific numbers, dates, and data
Self-contained (makes sense without context)
Natural question phrasing (how users actually ask)
Author + Organization
(trust signals)
Template:
references/json-ld-templates.md
Why it matters:
AI engines prioritize content from identifiable, authoritative sources. Use
sameAs
links to disambiguate your brand.
Product
(for e-commerce AEO)
Template:
references/json-ld-templates.md
Allows AI shopping modules to show accurate pricing, availability, reviews.
Platform-specific optimization
Different AI engines have different preferences. Balance all three for maximum citation probability.
ChatGPT:
Neutral, encyclopedia-style tone
Authoritative external citations
Specific data and quantified claims
Formal structure
Example: "According to a 2025 Gartner study, 78% of enterprises
adopted AI-powered search tools. The primary drivers were cost
reduction (cited by 62% of respondents) and improved accuracy
(58%). Source: Gartner AI Search Report 2025."
Perplexity:
Conversational, experience-driven
Practical examples and case studies
Community insights and real-world context
Less formal tone
Example: "Most teams start with the free tier and upgrade after
2-3 months once they've proven ROI. Based on feedback from 500+
customers, common triggers for upgrading include hitting user
limits or needing advanced reporting."
Google AI Overviews:
E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust)
Fresh content with recent dates
Featured snippet-friendly formatting
Mobile-optimized structure
Example: "Updated February 2026: Current pricing starts at
$12/user/month (annual billing). Month-to-month adds 20%.
Education and nonprofit discounts available. No free tier
as of Q1 2026."
AEO measurement & tools
Metrics:
Citation frequency (how often AI mentions your brand)
Visibility score (presence across AI platforms)
Context quality (positive/neutral/negative sentiment)
Source attribution (which URLs AI cites)
Tracking AI referral traffic:
In Google Analytics 4, filter traffic sources:
chat.openai.com
(ChatGPT)
perplexity.ai
gemini.google.com
copilot.microsoft.com
Monitor these as separate acquisition sources.
Use your preferred AEO monitoring tool to track citation frequency, context, and source attribution.
AEO audit checklist
Content audit
All key pages have 40-60 word direct answers upfront
FAQ sections with self-contained answers
Conversational language matching natural queries
Specific data (numbers, dates, sources) not vague claims
Author bios and organization info visible
Content updated with recent dates (freshness)
Schema audit
FAQPage schema on FAQ/guide pages
Author schema on all articles/blogs
Organization schema site-wide
Product schema on product pages (if e-commerce)
Article schema with datePublished/dateModified
Schema matches visible content exactly (no hidden markup)
Validate with Google Rich Results Test
Technical audit
JSON-LD format (preferred by AI engines)
Schema.org standards compliance
No conflicting or duplicate schema
Fast page load (AI crawlers prefer fast sites)
Clean HTML structure (semantic headings)
Mobile-optimized (especially for Google AI Overviews)
Entity & authority signals
Clear brand identity (who you are, what you do)
Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) across web
sameAs
links to LinkedIn, Twitter, official profiles
External citations and backlinks from authoritative sources
Active presence on review platforms
Google Business Profile optimized (local businesses)
AI visibility monitoring
Test top 10-20 commercial queries monthly
Track AI referral traffic in GA4
Monitor brand mentions across AI platforms
Check citation context (positive/neutral/negative)
Verify factual accuracy of AI responses about your brand
Set up alerts for visibility changes (if using paid tools)
References
Google Search Central
Schema.org
Core Web Vitals
Web Quality Audit