` present, 30-60 chars | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A2 | `<title>` unique across crawl | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | A3 | Meta description present, 120-160 chars | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A4 | Canonical URL declared | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A5 | `<html lang>` attribute set | high | 2 | ✅ | | A6 | Viewport meta correct for mobile | high | 2 | ✅ | | A7 | charset declared as UTF-8 | medium | 1 | ✅ | | A8 | robots meta consistent with intent | high | 2 | ✅ | | A9 | Favicon linked (multiple sizes) | medium | 1 | ✅ | | A10 | Apple touch icon linked | low | 1 | ✅ | ## Category B — Content Structure & Chunking (20 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | B1 | Exactly one `<h1>` | critical | 3 | ⚠️ guided | | B2 | `<h1>` contains primary topic keyword | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B3 | Logical H2/H3 hierarchy | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B4 | Long pages broken into H2 sections | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B5 | FAQ section present where appropriate | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | B6 | Concrete data points (numbers, dates, prices) | medium | 2 | ❌ | | B7 | Quoted/attributed expert language | medium | 2 | ❌ | | B8 | External citations to authoritative sources | medium | 1 | ❌ | | B10 | Definitional sentence patterns ("X is defined as...") | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | B11 | ≥3 internal links to sibling pages | medium | 1 | ✅ via templates | | B14 | Lists/tables for comparisons | medium | 2 | ❌ | ## Category C — Structured Data (18 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | C1 | At least one JSON-LD block present | critical | 3 | ✅ | | C2 | Organization schema present | high | 2 | ✅ | | C3 | WebSite schema with SearchAction | medium | 1 | ✅ | | C4 | FAQPage schema on FAQ pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C5 | Article/BlogPosting on blog pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C6 | Product schema on product pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C7 | BreadcrumbList on nested pages | medium | 1 | ✅ | | C8 | HowTo schema on tutorial pages | low | 1 | ✅ | | C9 | All schemas validate against schema.org | critical | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | C10 | Schema fields match visible content | high | 2 | ❌ | ## Category D — E-E-A-T & Entity Authority (22 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | D1 | About page exists and linked | critical | 3 | ✅ via templates | | D2 | Privacy policy exists and linked | critical | 3 | ✅ via templates | | D3 | Terms of use exists and linked | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | D4 | Contact information accessible | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | D5 | About/Trust/Newsroom links in chrome | high | 2 | ✅ | | D6 | Privacy/Terms/Contact links in footer | high | 2 | ✅ | | D7 | Author info on articles (where applicable) | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | D8 | Date published / updated on articles | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | D9 | Editorial standards page (Phase 2 check) | low | 1 | ❌ | | D10 | Original research/data signals | low | 1 | ❌ | | D11 | Awards/credentials displayed if real | low | 1 | ❌ | | D12 | Brand token consistency across title/desc/H1/body | high | 3 | ⚠️ guided | ## Category E — Off-site / Citation Surface (12 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | E1 | Review/marketplace profile linked (G2, PH, etc.) | medium | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | E2 | App store profile linked (if applicable) | low | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | E3 | Wikidata/Wikipedia entity claimed (when notable) | low | 1 | ❌ | | E7 | GitHub linked for technical products | medium | 2 | ✅ | | E10 | sameAs ≥3 authoritative profiles | medium | 2 | ✅ | | E11 | LinkedIn company/personal profile linked | low | 1 | ✅ | | E12 | External citations near named category sources | medium | 2 | ❌ | | E13 | Social profiles consistent across platforms | low | 1 | ❌ | ## Category F — Open Graph & Social (8 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | F1 | og:title set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F2 | og:description set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F3 | og:image set with absolute URL | high | 2 | ✅ | | F4 | og:image dimensions 1200×630, < 5MB | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | F5 | og:url canonical | medium | 1 | ✅ | | F6 | twitter:card set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F7 | twitter:image dedicated or matches og:image | medium | 1 | ✅ | --- ## Scoring Bands | Score | Band | Color | |-------|------|-------| | 91-100 | Excellent | green | | 81-90 | Strong | green | | 61-80 | Average | yellow | | 41-60 | Weak | orange | | 0-40 | Critical | red | ## Auto-Fix Legend - ✅ Full auto-fix available via `answerfox fix <id>` or `answerfox add <template>` - ⚠️ Guided fix — CLI prompts user for missing info and then patches - ❌ Manual — Content/research work the user must do themselves ## Notes for Implementation - Check IDs are deliberately sparse (e.g., B9/B12/B13, E4–E6, E8–E9 reserved). Once `audit` ships, IDs are part of the public API (users will pin `--ignore <id>` in CI). Do not renumber; reserve gaps for future checks. - Check weights are calibrated to total exactly 100 points - Severity is independent of points: a low-points check can still be critical - Every check has a `docsUrl` linking to a doc page explaining *why* it matters - Checks are run in parallel where they don't share state - Audit output supports console (default), JSON (`--json`), HTML report (`--html report.html`) - CI mode (`--ci`) returns non-zero exit if score drops below threshold (default 80) ## Reference Sources The framework draws from: - **Google Search Quality Guidelines** — E-E-A-T concepts - **freeaiseoaudit.com** — AI search engine readiness checks - **schema.org** — Structured data validation - **Lighthouse SEO audits** — Traditional SEO foundations - **Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT crawling behavior**

# Audit Framework — 50 Checks Across 6 Categories The audit engine evaluates a target URL against 50 checks. Each check has an ID, category, severity, point weight, fix availability, and rationale. Categories and their total point budget (sums to 100): | Category | ID Prefix | Points | Focus | |----------|-----------|--------|-------| | Meta & Technical Foundations | A | 20 | Title, description, canonical, viewport, lang, charset | | Structured Data | C | 18 | JSON-LD presence, validity, completeness | | Content Structure & Chunking | B | 20 | H1/H2 hierarchy, FAQ, lists, tables, definitional sentences | | E-E-A-T & Entity Authority | D | 22 | Trust pages, brand consistency, expert signals | | Off-site / Citation Surface | E | 12 | sameAs links, external citations, marketplace profiles | | Open Graph & Social | F | 8 | OG tags, Twitter cards, social previews | Total: **100 points** --- ## Category A — Meta & Technical Foundations (20 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | A1 | `` present, 30-60 chars | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A2 | `<title>` unique across crawl | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | A3 | Meta description present, 120-160 chars | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A4 | Canonical URL declared | critical | 3 | ✅ | | A5 | `<html lang>` attribute set | high | 2 | ✅ | | A6 | Viewport meta correct for mobile | high | 2 | ✅ | | A7 | charset declared as UTF-8 | medium | 1 | ✅ | | A8 | robots meta consistent with intent | high | 2 | ✅ | | A9 | Favicon linked (multiple sizes) | medium | 1 | ✅ | | A10 | Apple touch icon linked | low | 1 | ✅ | ## Category B — Content Structure & Chunking (20 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | B1 | Exactly one `<h1>` | critical | 3 | ⚠️ guided | | B2 | `<h1>` contains primary topic keyword | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B3 | Logical H2/H3 hierarchy | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B4 | Long pages broken into H2 sections | high | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | B5 | FAQ section present where appropriate | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | B6 | Concrete data points (numbers, dates, prices) | medium | 2 | ❌ | | B7 | Quoted/attributed expert language | medium | 2 | ❌ | | B8 | External citations to authoritative sources | medium | 1 | ❌ | | B10 | Definitional sentence patterns ("X is defined as...") | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | B11 | ≥3 internal links to sibling pages | medium | 1 | ✅ via templates | | B14 | Lists/tables for comparisons | medium | 2 | ❌ | ## Category C — Structured Data (18 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | C1 | At least one JSON-LD block present | critical | 3 | ✅ | | C2 | Organization schema present | high | 2 | ✅ | | C3 | WebSite schema with SearchAction | medium | 1 | ✅ | | C4 | FAQPage schema on FAQ pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C5 | Article/BlogPosting on blog pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C6 | Product schema on product pages | high | 2 | ✅ | | C7 | BreadcrumbList on nested pages | medium | 1 | ✅ | | C8 | HowTo schema on tutorial pages | low | 1 | ✅ | | C9 | All schemas validate against schema.org | critical | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | C10 | Schema fields match visible content | high | 2 | ❌ | ## Category D — E-E-A-T & Entity Authority (22 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | D1 | About page exists and linked | critical | 3 | ✅ via templates | | D2 | Privacy policy exists and linked | critical | 3 | ✅ via templates | | D3 | Terms of use exists and linked | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | D4 | Contact information accessible | high | 2 | ✅ via templates | | D5 | About/Trust/Newsroom links in chrome | high | 2 | ✅ | | D6 | Privacy/Terms/Contact links in footer | high | 2 | ✅ | | D7 | Author info on articles (where applicable) | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | D8 | Date published / updated on articles | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | D9 | Editorial standards page (Phase 2 check) | low | 1 | ❌ | | D10 | Original research/data signals | low | 1 | ❌ | | D11 | Awards/credentials displayed if real | low | 1 | ❌ | | D12 | Brand token consistency across title/desc/H1/body | high | 3 | ⚠️ guided | ## Category E — Off-site / Citation Surface (12 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | E1 | Review/marketplace profile linked (G2, PH, etc.) | medium | 2 | ⚠️ guided | | E2 | App store profile linked (if applicable) | low | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | E3 | Wikidata/Wikipedia entity claimed (when notable) | low | 1 | ❌ | | E7 | GitHub linked for technical products | medium | 2 | ✅ | | E10 | sameAs ≥3 authoritative profiles | medium | 2 | ✅ | | E11 | LinkedIn company/personal profile linked | low | 1 | ✅ | | E12 | External citations near named category sources | medium | 2 | ❌ | | E13 | Social profiles consistent across platforms | low | 1 | ❌ | ## Category F — Open Graph & Social (8 pts) | ID | Check | Severity | Points | Auto-fix | |----|-------|----------|--------|----------| | F1 | og:title set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F2 | og:description set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F3 | og:image set with absolute URL | high | 2 | ✅ | | F4 | og:image dimensions 1200×630, < 5MB | medium | 1 | ⚠️ guided | | F5 | og:url canonical | medium | 1 | ✅ | | F6 | twitter:card set | high | 1 | ✅ | | F7 | twitter:image dedicated or matches og:image | medium | 1 | ✅ | --- ## Scoring Bands | Score | Band | Color | |-------|------|-------| | 91-100 | Excellent | green | | 81-90 | Strong | green | | 61-80 | Average | yellow | | 41-60 | Weak | orange | | 0-40 | Critical | red | ## Auto-Fix Legend - ✅ Full auto-fix available via `answerfox fix <id>` or `answerfox add <template>` - ⚠️ Guided fix — CLI prompts user for missing info and then patches - ❌ Manual — Content/research work the user must do themselves ## Notes for Implementation - Check IDs are deliberately sparse (e.g., B9/B12/B13, E4–E6, E8–E9 reserved). Once `audit` ships, IDs are part of the public API (users will pin `--ignore <id>` in CI). Do not renumber; reserve gaps for future checks. - Check weights are calibrated to total exactly 100 points - Severity is independent of points: a low-points check can still be critical - Every check has a `docsUrl` linking to a doc page explaining *why* it matters - Checks are run in parallel where they don't share state - Audit output supports console (default), JSON (`--json`), HTML report (`--html report.html`) - CI mode (`--ci`) returns non-zero exit if score drops below threshold (default 80) ## Reference Sources The framework draws from: - **Google Search Quality Guidelines** — E-E-A-T concepts - **freeaiseoaudit.com** — AI search engine readiness checks - **schema.org** — Structured data validation - **Lighthouse SEO audits** — Traditional SEO foundations - **Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT crawling behavior** — Real-world AI answer engine signals