Introduction
SEO is no longer just about indexing and ranking. Today you need to ask something new: does your brand appear in AI responses?
AEO/GEO auditing emerges as a strategic tool to evaluate if your content is ready to be read, cited and recommended by generative engines like ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity.
For whom: SEO/Content teams and growth leaders who need to evaluate citability and attribution from AI in 90 days.
TL;DR
- Auditing AEO/GEO = validating if your brand is readable and citable by AI.
- Check technical aspects (
robots.txt,llms.txt). - Reinforce semantic aspects (
FAQPage,HowTo,sameAs). - Adjust strategic elements (entities and linking).
- Measure metrics: AI Appearances, Citations, SGV, Attribution Rate.
Quick answer
An AEO/GEO audit is a strategic check to know if your brand can appear in generative responses. It complements classic SEO and allows you to understand how AI "reads" your site.
Step-by-step strategic development
1. Technical: bot control
The first step is to ensure AI crawlers can discover your content. This is done throughrobots.txt and the emerging llms.txt standard.
robots.txt for AI bots
Define clear rules for crawlers like GPTBot (OpenAI), Google-Extended (Google), PerplexityBot (Perplexity), etc. Control which paths they can discover and which they can't.
Where it goes: File at /robots.txt (site root)
How to verify: Open /robots.txt (must return 200 OK) and check logs/CDN. Purge cache if you change rules.
Official documentation: OpenAI GPTBot · Google-Extended
2. Semantic: schema and FAQs
AI engines rely on structured data to understand and cite content. Implement schemas likeFAQPage, HowTo and Organization.
JSON-LD (Schema.org)
Structured markup that disambiguates your entity and enables rich results and citation.
Why it matters: Helps AI agents understand and cite your content correctly.
Where it goes: In the <head> as<script type="application/ld+json">
How to verify: Use Rich Results Test with your URL and verify coherence with visible content.
3. Strategic: entities and linking
Connect your brand with sameAs to verified profiles like LinkedIn, Wikipedia or Crunchbase. This increases LLMs' trust when citing you.
4. Metrics that matter
SparkToro (2025) showed that 20% of U.S. users already use AI 10+ times per month, while 95% remain on search engines. This confirms that you need to measure both fronts.
Limitations and operational reality 2025
llms.txtis not yet a universal standard.- Not all bots respect opt-outs.
- Cloudflare is already testing Content Signals and AI usage licenses; heterogeneous adoption.
AEO/GEO audit checklist
| Area | Key question | How to check | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical | Does your robots.txt control AI bots? | Crawl test | User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / |
| Semantic | Did you implement FAQs with schema? | Validator | FAQPage in 2–3 questions |
| Entities | Is your brand linked in sameAs? | JSON-LD | Link to LinkedIn |
| Content | Do you include tables/clear definitions? | Audit | Comparison table |
| Metrics | Do you monitor AI citations? | SearchBrand | Monthly SGV |
Auditing AEO/GEO is not a trend: it's the logical evolution of SEO. It's about ensuring your brand is part of generative responses and doesn't remain invisible.
