AI Search Audit: How to Audit Your Website in 60 Minutes
A 10-step, 60-minute website audit any business owner can run to assess AI search visibility and GEO readiness, with specific tools and fixes for each check.
Most business owners have never audited their website through the lens of AI search. This 60-minute audit covers 10 specific checks that reveal how visible your business is to ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and AI agents. Each check tells you what to look for, what tool to use, and what to fix. You do not need a marketing degree to run this audit. You need 60 minutes and access to your website's admin.
Why This Audit Matters
Most business owners have spent years optimizing their website for Google’s traditional search algorithm. Very few have assessed how their website looks to an AI system trying to generate an answer about their industry.
The difference matters because the evaluation criteria are not the same. Traditional SEO rewards keyword density, backlink authority, and page experience signals. AI search rewards structured definitions, factual specificity, author credibility, and machine-readable data.
This 60-minute audit covers both layers. By the end, you will know specifically where your AI search visibility is strong, where it is weak, and what to fix first.
Before You Start
Open these tools in separate browser tabs before beginning:
- business.google.com (your Google Business Profile dashboard)
- search.google.com/search-console (Google Search Console)
- search.google.com/test/rich-results (Rich Results Test)
- pagespeed.web.dev (PageSpeed Insights)
- chat.openai.com (ChatGPT)
- perplexity.ai (Perplexity)
- Your website’s homepage in a separate tab
Set a timer. You have 60 minutes.
The 10-Check AI Search Audit
Check 1: Google Business Profile Completeness (8 minutes)
What to look for: Log into business.google.com and review your GBP listing. Score each of the following as complete or incomplete: business description (500+ characters), primary category, secondary categories (at least 3), services list, products (if applicable), photos (at least 10), Q&A section (at least 3 seeded questions), weekly posts active (last post within 7 days), verified hours, verified phone and address.
How to find it: business.google.com dashboard for your location.
What a passing score looks like: 8 of 10 items complete or better.
When to call for help: If your GBP is not claimed or verified, stop and claim it before doing anything else. Unclaimed profiles cannot be fully optimized.
Check 2: AI Visibility Query Test (10 minutes)
What to look for: Query ChatGPT and Perplexity with each of these prompts (substitute your actual category and city):
- “[Your category] in [Your city] [Your state]”
- “Best [your category] near [your city]”
- “Who are the top [your service] providers in [your city]?”
Document whether your business appears in any of the responses as a named result or cited source.
How to find it: chat.openai.com and perplexity.ai, free tier.
What a passing score looks like: Your business name appears in at least one of the six queries.
When to call for help: If you appear in zero of six queries, your AI visibility gap is significant. The root cause is usually one of: no GEO-structured content on your site, incomplete GBP, or no defined author attribution.
Check 3: Google Search Console Coverage (6 minutes)
What to look for: Log into Google Search Console. Check for crawl errors (Coverage section). Confirm your sitemap is submitted and shows no errors. Note how many pages are indexed.
How to find it: search.google.com/search-console. If you have not set up Search Console, this check will take longer on first run. Set it up even if you cannot finish today.
What a passing score looks like: Zero crawl errors, sitemap submitted with no errors, all key pages indexed.
When to call for help: If your homepage or key service pages show as “not indexed” or “crawl error,” AI search engines may not be reading those pages. This is a technical issue that requires a developer or SEO agency to fix.
Check 4: Website Speed and Mobile Performance (5 minutes)
What to look for: Enter your homepage URL in pagespeed.web.dev. Check two scores: Mobile performance and Core Web Vitals. Look specifically at Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which should be under 2.5 seconds.
How to find it: pagespeed.web.dev, no account required.
What a passing score looks like: Mobile score above 60, LCP under 2.5 seconds.
When to call for help: A mobile score below 40 or LCP above 4 seconds indicates performance issues serious enough to affect both traditional search rankings and AI crawl quality. Site speed optimization typically requires developer involvement.
Check 5: Definition Block Check on Service Pages (8 minutes)
What to look for: Visit each of your top three service pages. Read the first paragraph on each page. Does it open with a clear definition of the service? Does it name the service category specifically? Does it include what the service does and who it is for?
How to find it: Your website, navigating to your service pages.
What a passing score looks like: All three service pages open with a definition of the service in the first two sentences.
When to call for help: If your service pages open with headlines like “We help businesses succeed” or “Why choose us?”, they have no definition blocks. Rewrite the opening paragraphs using the format: “[Service name] is [what it is]. [Who it helps]. [Specific result or outcome].”
Check 6: Schema Markup Check (8 minutes)
What to look for: Enter your homepage URL in search.google.com/test/rich-results. Review which schema types are detected. You want to see at minimum: LocalBusiness schema. You ideally also want: FAQPage schema, Service schema, and Review schema.
How to find it: search.google.com/test/rich-results, no account required.
What a passing score looks like: LocalBusiness schema detected with no errors. At least one additional schema type detected.
When to call for help: If no schema is detected, or if schema errors appear, schema implementation requires editing your website’s HTML or using a plugin. For WordPress sites, plugins like Rank Math or Yoast handle basic schema. Custom sites require developer implementation.
Check 7: Author Attribution Check (5 minutes)
What to look for: Navigate to your blog or resources section. Check the most recent five posts. Does each post display an author name? Is there an author bio with credentials anywhere on the post page?
How to find it: Your blog or articles section.
What a passing score looks like: All five recent posts have a named author. At least three have an author bio.
When to call for help: If your blog is anonymous or shows “admin” as the author, this is a content settings fix. Change author display names in your CMS and add author bio profiles to each active contributor.
Check 8: FAQ Section Coverage (5 minutes)
What to look for: Check your three most important service pages and your last five blog posts. Does each one have a FAQ section at the bottom with at least 5 specific questions and direct answers?
How to find it: Your website, checking service pages and recent posts.
What a passing score looks like: At least 5 of 8 pages and posts checked have a FAQ section.
When to call for help: FAQ sections are a content edit, not a technical fix. If they are missing, add them manually to your top-priority pages first. Use specific questions your actual buyers ask, not marketing questions.
Check 9: NAP Consistency Check (6 minutes)
What to look for: Check three places for your business Name, Address, and Phone number: your website footer, your Google Business Profile, and your Yelp listing. Confirm all three match exactly, including suite number format, state abbreviation, and phone format.
How to find it: Your website footer, business.google.com, yelp.com/biz/[your business name].
What a passing score looks like: NAP is identical across all three sources.
When to call for help: If you have inconsistencies, correct the website and Yelp listing first. GBP corrections take effect within 24-48 hours. Directory corrections may take 2-4 weeks to propagate.
Check 10: llms.txt File Check (2 minutes)
What to look for: Enter yourwebsite.com/llms.txt in your browser. Does a page load with structured information about your business?
How to find it: Direct URL in your browser, no tools needed.
What a passing score looks like: A page loads with a plain-text description of your business, services, and key pages.
When to call for help: If you get a 404 error, you do not have an llms.txt file. Create a plain text file with your business description, services, location, contact information, and links to your 5-10 most important pages. Upload it to your website root. This can be done by your web developer in under 30 minutes.
Scoring Your Audit
After completing all 10 checks, count your passing scores.
| Score | Interpretation | Next Step |
|---|---|---|
| 8-10 passing | Strong AI search foundation | Focus on content quality and citation expansion |
| 5-7 passing | Moderate foundation with gaps | Fix failing checks in impact order, starting with GBP and schema |
| 3-4 passing | Significant gaps | Prioritize GBP, schema, and definition blocks before other work |
| 0-2 passing | Foundation needs rebuild | Start with GBP claim and verification, then schema, then content |
After the Audit: What to Do With Your Findings
The audit tells you what is wrong. Your priority order tells you what to fix first.
High-impact fixes to address first:
- GBP completeness (Check 1) — free, high impact, do this week
- Definition blocks on service pages (Check 5) — low cost, high impact, do this month
- Schema markup (Check 6) — technical but high impact, do this month
- Author attribution (Check 7) — low cost, do this week
- FAQ sections (Check 8) — low cost, do this month
Lower-impact fixes to address second:
- Site speed (Check 4) — technical, schedule with a developer
- llms.txt file (Check 10) — low cost, schedule with a developer
- Search Console setup and error fixes (Check 3) — schedule with a developer
Run this audit again in 90 days. Your AI visibility score on Check 2 should improve as you address the other nine checks.
This is the Audit phase of the Starfish GEO Framework in condensed form. If you need help completing the fixes or running a more comprehensive version of this audit, Starfish Ad Age serves businesses throughout East Texas and Northwest Louisiana from our office at 140 E Tyler St Suite 200, Longview TX 75601. Call (903) 508-2576.
Questions
worth answering.
What is an AI search audit? +
An AI search audit is a structured evaluation of a business's website and digital presence to assess how visible and citable it is in AI-generated search answers from tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. It differs from a traditional SEO audit in that it evaluates structured data, definition blocks, authorship signals, and GBP completeness, not just keyword rankings and backlink profiles.
How long does the 60-minute AI search audit take? +
The 10-check audit is designed to take 60 minutes for a single website. Some checks take 3-5 minutes (querying AI tools), some take 10-15 minutes (checking schema and structured data). Business owners who are less familiar with technical tools may need 90 minutes for their first run. The audit gets faster with each repetition. Run it quarterly.
What tools do I need for the AI search audit? +
You need: a free Google account (for Google Search Console access), ChatGPT (free tier is sufficient), Perplexity (free tier is sufficient), Google's Rich Results Test (free, no account needed), Google PageSpeed Insights (free, no account needed), and your website admin panel. No paid tools are required for the basic 10-check audit.
What is schema markup and why does it matter for AI search? +
Schema markup is structured data code (typically JSON-LD format) embedded in your website's HTML that tells search engines and AI systems what type of content a page contains. A LocalBusiness schema tells Google your business name, address, phone, hours, and services in a machine-readable format. Without schema, AI systems must infer this information from text, which introduces errors and ambiguity. Schema is the language AI engines prefer to read.
What is the most common AI search visibility problem for SMB websites? +
The most common problem is absence of definition blocks on service pages. Service pages that begin with vague headlines ('We help businesses grow') rather than specific definitions give AI engines nothing to extract and cite. The second most common problem is incomplete Google Business Profile, which is the primary data source for AI-generated local answers. Together, these two gaps affect the majority of SMB websites.
What should I do after completing the audit? +
After completing all 10 checks, rank your findings by impact. The checks with a 'Fail' status are your priority list. Start with the highest-impact items: GBP completeness (Check 1), definition blocks on service pages (Check 5), and schema markup (Check 6). Address one item per week. Most audit findings can be fixed without technical support. For schema markup and Google Search Console setup, consider working with an agency or developer.
How does the Starfish GEO Framework relate to this audit? +
This 60-minute audit covers the Audit phase of the Starfish GEO Framework. The GEO Framework's Audit phase establishes your current AI visibility baseline before any optimization work begins. The 10 checks in this post are a simplified version of the full Audit phase deliverables. Completing this audit gives you the baseline data needed to prioritize Structure, Author, Distribute, and Measure phase work.
Abel Sanchez · Founder, COO, Partner
Abel founded Starfish Ad Age in Longview, Texas in 2017 and has been building AI-driven marketing systems for East Texas and Shreveport-Bossier small businesses ever since. Now based in Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana, where he leads the agency's expanded Louisiana territory.
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