A Practical SEO, GEO and AEO Readiness Checklist

1. Your offer and business details

• The main service page names the service and who it is for.
• The business’s actual coverage area is clear.
• Included work and separately quoted work are distinguished.
• Contact details are current across the website and relevant business profiles.

For example, “garden maintenance” is more informative than “outdoor excellence.” A page should also clarify whether a seasonal tidy-up and ongoing visits are different options.

2. Content a customer can use

• The main customer question is answered near the start.
• Headings describe the information in each section.
• FAQs answer real questions, rather than repeating keywords.
• Credentials, testimonials and results have support and permission to be used.
• Illustrative examples are labelled as demonstrations.

Ask someone unfamiliar with the business to read the first screen. What do they think is offered? What would they need to know before enquiring? Their questions can identify missing information.

3. Discovery and page signals

• Important pages return a working response and are linked from the site.
• Page titles and descriptions accurately describe each page.
• Canonical URLs consistently identify the preferred published pages.
• Crawl rules do not accidentally block pages meant to be public.
• The sitemap lists the pages you want discovered, with accurate modification dates.
• Any structured data describes visible, supported information.

These checks may need access to the website source or Search Console. Put “needs access” beside a check you cannot verify. A technically accessible page is not proof that a search engine has indexed it.

Google’s structured-data guidance explains why accuracy and matching the visible page matter. Extra markup should not be used to manufacture credentials, reviews or results.

4. The mobile enquiry journey

• Navigation and the main enquiry action are visible on a phone.
• Text remains legible without horizontal page scrolling.
• Links, buttons and form controls are easy to identify.
• Every form field has a visible associated label.
• Keyboard focus is visible and follows a useful order.
• Required fields are limited to what starts the conversation.
• The next step after an enquiry is explained accurately.

Try the journey from the home page to the contact form. You can review labels, links and required fields without sending a test enquiry. A live submission test should be arranged with the mailbox owner so an unexpected message is not mistaken for a customer.

5. A sustainable plan

• Someone is responsible for reviewing business facts before publication.
• The publishing volume fits the time available for review and approval.
• Content work and technical repairs have separate, clear scopes.
• Progress is reviewed using actual observations and enquiries.

There is no useful universal score for this list. A broken enquiry path can deserve attention before ten smaller improvements. Use it to choose the next concrete task, not to label a business “invisible to AI.”

Turn the checklist into a small project

Pick one page and write down the missing facts, unclear sections and required corrections. Our content workflow explains how to move from that list to an approved page. The service options offer a page project, ongoing writing or content with agreed publishing support.