What we’re checking
This is the part of AEO that asks whether the page can be fetched, indexed and reused at all. Great copy cannot compensate for a URL that returns the wrong response or blocks snippets.
What the audit actually reads
The segment pulls together HTTP/HTTPS, indexability, snippet controls, canonical, language and mobile-baseline checks.
Keep the score in perspective: this is a diagnostic signal. Passing it does not prove that a search engine will rank the page or that an AI product will cite it.
What I would change
Clear accidental blockers first. Then make the canonical and document-level signals agree with the version of the page you actually want people and crawlers to use.
- Check the page type first. A homepage, article and product page do not need identical patterns.
- Fix the underlying page or markup; do not add something only because the checker can count it.
- Keep what visitors see and what structured data says in agreement.
- After deployment, compare the evidence from the old and new audit before celebrating a higher score.
How to check your work
Open the affected checks, verify their evidence against the live response, then audit the page again.
Where this usually goes wrong
- The team fixes the number but leaves the user experience unchanged.
- A plugin adds markup or repeated copy that the visible page cannot honestly support.
- One directive is changed without checking the redirects, canonical, sitemap or indexing policy around it.
- A readiness score is presented as proof of ranking or AI visibility. It is not.