What is AEO (AI Engine Optimization)?

AEO is the practice of structuring your website so AI answer engines - ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude - can find, understand, and cite it. SEO gets you ranked in search results. AEO gets you into AI-generated answers. Different game, different rules.

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.

What happens if my site scores below 20?

A score below 20 means most fundamental AEO infrastructure is missing - no llms.txt, no relevant schema, likely blocking AI crawlers, no FAQ content. The good news is the fastest gains come from this starting point. Adding llms.txt, basic Organization schema, and unblocking AI crawlers in robots.txt can double your score in a single day.

What is llms.txt and do I need one?

llms.txt is a plain-text file at your domain root — like robots.txt — that gives AI assistants a structured summary of your website. What your business does, key content areas, how to navigate your site. It helps AI systems understand your business without crawling every page. If you want AI visibility, you need one.

useautumn.com - AEO Audit Report | 42/100

SUMMER 2025 useautumn.com

Weak AI visibility with 18 of 48 criteria passing. Biggest gap: llms.txt file.

Developer Tools & Infrastructure Developer Platforms

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%5/10+7.5

FAQ Sections10%2/10+2.0

Original Data10%4/10+4.0

Content Freshness7%2/10+1.4

Direct Answer Paragraphs7%0/10+0.0

Fact & Data Density5%8/10+4.0

Definition Patterns4%5/10+2.0

Query-Answer Alignment8%0/10+0.0

Content Cannibalization5%5/10+2.5

Subtotal71%+23.4

Structure5 criteria

Schema.org JSON-LD15%0/10+0.0

Clean, Crawlable HTML10%8/10+8.0

Semantic HTML55%7/10+3.5

Table & List Extractability7%0/10+0.0

Schema Coverage3%0/10+0.0

Subtotal40%+11.5

Discovery5 criteria

llms.txt10%0/10+0.0

robots.txt for AI5%2/10+1.0

Internal Linking10%4/10+4.0

Sitemap Completeness5%0/10+0.0

RSS/Atom Feed3%0/10+0.0

Subtotal33%+5.0

Trust Signals6 criteria

Entity Authority10%2/10+2.0

Content Licensing4%0/10+0.0

Author & Expert Schema4%2/10+0.8

Canonical URL4%0/10+0.0

Content Velocity3%0/10+0.0

Visible Date Signals4%0/10+0.0

Subtotal29%+2.8

Overall Score100%42/100

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 →

↓10 since v1

Citation Avg

Coherence gate active - score capped at 60

Answer Readiness

~40% weight

6/10

Content Structure

~25% weight

3/10

Trust & Authority

~15% weight

2/10

Technical Foundation

~10% weight

5/10

AI Discovery

~10% weight

2/10

Verdict

Critical AEO gaps at 42/100 - useautumn.com is largely invisible to AI engines. Key strengths include Duplicate Content Blocks, Cross-Page Duplicate Content, and Page Speed: Page Size. Priority gaps: llms.txt File, Schema.org Structured Data, and Sitemap Completeness. Topic coherence is moderate at 5/10, capping the score at 60. Tighter topical focus would lift this ceiling.

Top priorities

llms.txt FileDiscovery+10 pts

Schema.org Structured DataTrust+10 pts

Sitemap CompletenessDiscovery+10 pts

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View improvement plan

How to Improve

Current

42/100

Projected

80/100

39Total Fixes

13Quick Wins

~88hEst. Effort

Quick Wins

Create /llms.txt fileAdd question-based headingsFix HTML structure and meta tagsConfigure robots.txt for AI crawlersLink orphan pages into site navigationAdd definition-style contentAdd ai.txt and content licensingImprove query-answer alignmentAdd visible date signalsIncrease content depth and structureAdd first-hand experience signalsClarify entity boundariesImprove server response efficiency

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.

high

low

Fix HTML structure and meta tags

high|low

Reduce document weight

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

critical

medium

Reduce document weight

critical|medium

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 AI44

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Score Breakdown

Criteria

Status

Potential

Score

llms.txt File

critical+10 pts0/10

Schema.org Structured Data

critical+10 pts0/10

Sitemap Completeness

critical+10 pts0/10

RSS/Atom Feed

critical+10 pts0/10

Table & List Extractability

critical+10 pts0/10

Direct Answer Paragraphs

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Licensing & AI Permissions

critical+10 pts0/10

Canonical URL Strategy

critical+10 pts0/10

Content Publishing Velocity

critical+10 pts0/10

Schema Coverage & Depth

critical+10 pts0/10

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See all 48 criteria with detailed findings and actionable fix recommendations.

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Site Pages

URLCitationSiteIn-linksCategoryIssuesWords

useautumn.com/the-easiest-way-to-integrate-stripeTheo's easy and simple way to integrate Stripe - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

D41

content

1,331

useautumn.com/the-easiest-way-to-integrate-stripeD41

Theo's easy and simple way to integrate Stripe - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

useautumn.com/easy-stripeSimple and easy Stripe billing integration in 2025 - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

D42

content

1,196

useautumn.com/easy-stripeD42

Simple and easy Stripe billing integration in 2025 - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

useautumn.com/how-to-implement-usage-tracking-and-limitsHow to Implement Usage Tracking and Limits - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

F39

blog

1,050

useautumn.com/how-to-implement-usage-tracking-and-limitsF39

How to Implement Usage Tracking and Limits - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

useautumn.com/old-homeCredits, limits & usage billing platform - Autumn

F38

content

735

useautumn.com/old-homeF38

Credits, limits & usage billing platform - Autumn

useautumn.com/how-to-implement-usage-tracking-and-limitsHow to Implement Usage Tracking and Limits - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

F39

blog

1,050

useautumn.com/how-to-implement-usage-tracking-and-limitsF39

How to Implement Usage Tracking and Limits - Autumn - Pricing & Billing for Founders

useautumn.com/blog/marketingMarketing is hard

F38

blog

1,010

useautumn.com/blog/marketingF38

Marketing is hard

useautumn.com/blog/how-we-made-our-first-sale-as-a-startupHow we made our first sale as a startup

F31

blog

842

useautumn.com/blog/how-we-made-our-first-sale-as-a-startupF31

How we made our first sale as a startup

Unlock Full Page Analysis

Changes since v1Last audited 30 days ago

→

-10

View full comparison →

Criterion

Delta

Clean, Crawlable HTML

5/10

8/10

Entity Authority & NAP Consistency

4/10

2/10

-2

robots.txt for AI Crawlers

5/10

2/10

-3

Comprehensive FAQ Section

0/10

2/10

Original Data & Expert Analysis

5/10

4/10

-1

Semantic HTML5 & Accessibility

6/10

7/10

Sitemap Completeness

6/10

0/10

-6

Table & List Extractability

10/10

0/10

-10

Direct Answer Paragraphs

10/10

0/10

-10

Fact & Data Density

10/10

8/10

-2

Canonical URL Strategy

10/10

0/10

-10

Content Publishing Velocity

2/10

0/10

-2

Query-Answer Alignment

4/10

0/10

-4

Content Cannibalization

10/10

5/10

-5

Topic Coherence

8/10

5/10

-3

Content Depth

6/10

3/10

-3

First-Hand Experience Signals

4/10

5/10

Citation-Ready Writing Quality

6/10

5/10

-1

Evidence Packaging

4/10

3/10

-1

Extraction Friction Score

8/10

4/10

-4

Image Context for AI

1/10

2/10

Cross-Page Duplicate Content

5/10

10/10

Page Speed: Server Response

5/10

8/10

Page Speed: Load Blockers

7/10

9/10

Page Speed: Page Size

2/10

10/10

Entity Density

6/10

10/10

Owned Data Density

6/10

0/10

-6

Sentence Atomicity

8/10

4/10

-4

Focus Content on Core TopicsAdd Direct Answer ParagraphsAdd Structured Tables & ListsAdd Owned Data SignalsIncrease Entity DensityImprove Internal Linking ArchitectureRestructure Content as Q&AAdd Schema.org Structured Data

Improve Your Score

Guides for the criteria with the most room for improvement

Criteria0/10

llms.txt -The File That Separates 63 from 34

Tidio has a 251-line llms.txt. Crisp has zero. The score gap: +29 points. This single file tells AI assistants exactly what your site does -and without it, they're guessing.

Beginner·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Schema.org JSON-LD: The Scoreboard AI Actually Reads

Tidio runs 4 JSON-LD schema types. Crisp runs zero. That's not a coincidence -it's the difference between a 63 and a 34. Structured data is the machine-readable layer AI trusts most.

Intermediate·8 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

Sitemap Completeness

Your sitemap says 500 pages exist. Our crawl finds 700. Those 200 missing URLs? AI crawlers will never know they exist.

Beginner·5 min readRead guide →

Criteria0/10

RSS Feed Presence & Quality

Sitemaps tell crawlers what exists. RSS feeds tell them what changed. If you don't have one, your new content waits days -or weeks -to be discovered.

Beginner·3 min readRead guide →