How is AEO different from SEO?

SEO optimizes for page rankings. AEO optimizes for AI citations - being the source AI systems reference when answering questions. SEO runs on keywords and backlinks. AEO runs on structured data, clean HTML, entity authority, and Q&A content format. They're complementary, but AEO addresses the growing share of searches that never reach traditional results.

Can AEO help with voice search and smart assistants?

Yes. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant increasingly pull AI-generated answers from web content. The same structured data, Q&A formatting, and entity authority that drive AEO also make your content the go-to source for voice search answers.

What does the free AEO audit include?

The free audit analyzes your website across 48 criteria that determine AI visibility, including llms.txt, Schema.org structured data, Q&A content format, clean crawlable HTML, entity authority, robots.txt AI policy, FAQ sections, original data, content freshness, fact density, canonical URLs, and more. You get a score out of 100 with specific findings and actionable recommendations.

What are the 48 AEO criteria?

The 48 criteria are organized into 5 pillars with fixed target shares: Answer Readiness 40%, Content Structure 25%, Trust & Authority 15%, Technical Foundation 10%, and AI Discovery 10%. Inside those pillars, criteria cover topic coherence, original data, depth, fact density, direct answers, Q&A structure, entity authority, freshness, visible dates, schema, semantic HTML, extraction friction, llms.txt, robots.txt, licensing, canonicals, sitemap coverage, and RSS. Each criterion is scored 0–10, converted into an effective weight after confidence and overlap controls, then rolled into the final score.

How is the AEO readiness score calculated?

Each criterion is scored 0–10 based on presence, quality, and completeness. AEORank then normalizes those criteria inside 5 fixed-weight pillars, applies a topic-coherence cap when coherence is below 6/10, and blends the site score with a weighted page-fleet score from sampled pages. Audits also return score confidence plus split headline scores for foundation and content fleet. Below 40 means major gaps. 40–60 means partial implementation. 60–80 is solid. Above 80 is excellent.

qnetic.energy - AEO Audit Report | 46/100

qnetic.energy

Weak AI visibility with 26 of 48 criteria passing. Biggest gap: q&a content format.

Energy & Cleantech Energy Technology

Scoring Methodology

How Your AEO Site Rank Is Calculated

A weighted average of 48 deterministic criteria. Each scored 0-10, each with a specific weight. No AI judgment calls - every point is traceable.

Weak visibilityOut of 100 possible points

The Formula

Score = sum(criterion_score / 10 * weight * 100) / sum(weights)

Each criterion is scored 0-10 by deterministic checks, multiplied by its weight, and summed to produce a 0-100 overall score.

Your Score Breakdown

Content9 criteria

Q&A Content Format15%0/10+0.0

FAQ Sections10%2/10+2.0

Original Data10%5/10+5.0

Content Freshness7%7/10+4.9

Direct Answer Paragraphs7%4/10+2.8

Fact & Data Density5%10/10+5.0

Definition Patterns4%9/10+3.6

Query-Answer Alignment8%0/10+0.0

Content Cannibalization5%7/10+3.5

Subtotal71%+26.8

Structure5 criteria

Schema.org JSON-LD15%8/10+12.0

Clean, Crawlable HTML10%7/10+7.0

Semantic HTML55%8/10+4.0

Table & List Extractability7%5/10+3.5

Schema Coverage3%9/10+2.7

Subtotal40%+29.2

Discovery5 criteria

llms.txt10%10/10+10.0

robots.txt for AI5%5/10+2.5

Internal Linking10%7/10+7.0

Sitemap Completeness5%9/10+4.5

RSS/Atom Feed3%3/10+0.9

Subtotal33%+24.9

Trust Signals6 criteria

Entity Authority10%5/10+5.0

Content Licensing4%2/10+0.8

Author & Expert Schema4%5/10+2.0

Canonical URL4%10/10+4.0

Content Velocity3%10/10+3.0

Visible Date Signals4%3/10+1.2

Subtotal29%+16.0

Overall Score100%46/100

Score Ranges

86-100AI-first content architecture

71-85Strong AI visibility

56-70Moderate visibility

41-55Weak visibility

26-40Minimal visibility

0-25Not on the radar

Key Points

Topic Coherence carries the highest weight at 14%, followed by Original Data at 10%, across 48 total criteria.

No HTTPS means Clean HTML is capped at 3/10, costing approximately 3-4 overall points.

Every criterion uses deterministic checks. Same site, same audit, same score - every time.

Read full scoring methodology →

↓1 since v1

Citation Avg

Answer Readiness

~40% weight

6/10

Content Structure

~25% weight

3/10

Trust & Authority

~15% weight

5/10

Technical Foundation

~10% weight

5/10

AI Discovery

~10% weight

7/10

Verdict

Below-average AEO readiness at 46/100 - multiple areas need attention. Key strengths include llms.txt File, Fact & Data Density, and Canonical URL Strategy. Priority gaps: Q&A Content Format, Speakable Schema, and Query-Answer Alignment.

Top priorities

Q&A Content FormatStructure+10 pts

Speakable SchemaTechnical+10 pts

Query-Answer AlignmentStructure+10 pts

#7441of 13362

#125of 290 in Energy & Cleantech

Ahead of you

viabiofuels.com46

lisusenergy.com46

View full rankings →

View improvement plan

How to Improve

Current

46/100

Projected

77/100

42Total Fixes

11Quick Wins

~94hEst. Effort

Quick Wins

Create /llms.txt fileConfigure robots.txt for AI crawlersAdd direct answer paragraphsAdd ai.txt and content licensingEnhance author and expert schemaAdd visible date signalsMake pages solve the user task fasterExplain how content was tested or reviewedImprove server response efficiencyReduce render-blocking resourcesReduce document weight

Fix

Impact

Effort

Create /llms.txt file

Add a machine-readable llms.txt file at your domain root that describes your site, services, and key pages for AI engines.

critical

low

Create /llms.txt file

critical|low

Add llms-full.txt with extended content

Create a comprehensive llms-full.txt with detailed page descriptions, content summaries, and topic taxonomy.

medium

low

Add llms-full.txt with extended content

medium|low

Fix HTML structure and meta tags

Ensure clean, well-structured HTML with proper meta tags, HTTPS, and parseable content for AI crawlers.

medium

low

Fix HTML structure and meta tags

medium|low

Reduce document weight

Trim oversized HTML, excessive DOM nodes, and large inline payloads that slow AI crawlers.

high

low

Reduce document weight

high|low

Configure robots.txt for AI crawlers

Update robots.txt to explicitly allow AI crawlers and include sitemap directive.

high

trivial

Configure robots.txt for AI crawlers

high|trivial

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Top Opportunities10

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Fix It With AI43

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Score Breakdown

Criteria

Status

Potential

Score

Q&A Content Format

critical+10 pts0/10

Speakable Schema

critical+10 pts0/10

Query-Answer Alignment

critical+10 pts0/10

Evidence Packaging

critical+10 pts0/10

Owned Data Density

critical+10 pts0/10

Answer-First Placement

critical+9 pts1/10

Entity Disambiguation

critical+9 pts1/10

Image Context for AI

critical+9 pts1/10

Comprehensive FAQ Section

critical+8 pts2/10

Content Licensing & AI Permissions

critical+8 pts2/10

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Site Pages

URLCitationSiteIn-linksCategoryIssuesWords

www.qnetic.energy/productPRODUCT | Qnetic

F37

content

641

www.qnetic.energy/productF37

PRODUCT | Qnetic

Changes since v1Last audited 29 days ago

→

-1

View full comparison →

Criterion

Delta

llms.txt File

0/10

10/10

+10

Q&A Content Format

1/10

0/10

-1

Content Cannibalization

10/10

7/10

-3

Helpful Purpose Alignment

6/10

5/10

-1

Image Context for AI

3/10

1/10

-2

Cross-Page Duplicate Content

10/10

7/10

-3

Improve Your Score

Guides for the criteria with the most room for improvement

Criteria0/10

Q&A Content Format: Write Like AI Reads

AI assistants are question-answering machines. When your content is already shaped as questions and answers, you're handing AI a pre-formatted citation. Sites that do this right get extracted -sites that don't get skipped.

Beginner·8 min readRead guide →

supplementary0/10

Speakable Schema Markup

Voice assistants need to pick which paragraph to read aloud from your page. Without Speakable markup, they guess -and they frequently guess wrong, reading your cookie notice.

Beginner·3 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Query-Answer Alignment: Does Your Content Match What People Actually Ask?

You wrote a 3,000-word guide on "customer support automation." But people ask AI "how do I reduce support ticket volume?" If your content doesn't match the actual queries, AI can't connect the dots.

Beginner·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Evidence Packaging: Why AI Trusts Some Claims and Ignores Others

A statistic without a source is a liability. A claim without attribution is invisible. We track evidence packaging across every audit and the pattern is clear - sites that cite their sources get cited by AI. Sites that state facts without attribution get skipped.

Intermediate·5 min readRead guide →

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Verdict

How to Improve

Unlock Full Improvement Plan

Top Opportunities10

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Fix It With AI43

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Score Breakdown

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