AI Marketing Partner — Free Resource
A plain-language self-audit for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Run this checklist on any page of your site and find out exactly why AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT aren't citing your business — and what to fix first.
Pick one page on your website — your homepage or your most important service page is the best starting point. Work through each of the seven criteria below and answer honestly. At the end, tally your score and read the corresponding recommendation.
This audit takes approximately 15–20 minutes per page. Run it on your top three pages for the most complete picture of your AI search visibility.
The Audit
Open your page and read only the first two sentences. Do they directly answer the main question someone would ask to find this page? Or do they start with context, backstory, or a welcome message?
✓ Pass:
The first sentence directly defines what the page is about and who it's for. The core answer is fully stated before the reader scrolls.
✗ Fail:
The page opens with "Welcome to..." or "We believe..." or a mission statement. The actual answer to the buyer's question appears in paragraph three or later.
The fix:
Rewrite your opening paragraph so sentence one answers the question and sentence two explains who it's for. Move everything else below.
Scan the H2 and H3 headings on your page. Are they written as topic labels or as the actual questions buyers type into AI tools?
✓ Pass:
"How does Answer Engine Optimization work?" / "What is the difference between SEO and AEO?" / "How long does it take to see results?"
✗ Fail:
"Our Approach" / "Core Services" / "Why Choose Us" / "The Process"
The fix:
Rewrite each heading as the question a buyer would actually type. If your section covers your process, the heading should be "How does [your service] work?" not "The Process."
Pick any section in the middle of your page and read only that section. Does it stand alone as a complete, useful answer? Or does it rely on what came before it to make sense?
✓ Pass:
The section opens with a brief context sentence, answers its specific question completely, and could be lifted and used independently without losing meaning.
✗ Fail:
The section starts with "As mentioned above..." or references something explained earlier. Reading it alone leaves the reader without enough context to understand the point.
The fix:
Add a one-sentence context opener to each section that names the topic being addressed. Remove cross-references to other sections. Each section should be a complete unit.
Check whether your page has a dedicated FAQ section visible to readers. Then check your page source or CMS to confirm whether FAQPage JSON-LD schema is implemented. Both are required — visible content alone without schema is only half the signal.
✓ Pass:
The page has 4–6 visible FAQ items answering real buyer questions, and FAQPage JSON-LD schema is present in the page source validated through Google's Rich Results Test.
✗ Fail:
No FAQ section exists on the page, or FAQs are present visually but no schema markup has been added to the page code.
The fix:
Write 5–6 questions your buyers ask before hiring you. Add them as a visible FAQ section and encode them in FAQPage JSON-LD schema. Validate at search.google.com/test/rich-results before publishing.
Check whether your page shows a named author with their title, expertise, and business affiliation. Then check whether Person schema is implemented with matching information.
✓ Pass:
The page shows: "[Name] is the founder of [Business], a [specialty] based in [location]." The same description appears consistently on LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and other indexed sources.
✗ Fail:
No author is named on the page, or the author bio uses different language than what appears on LinkedIn or other profiles.
The fix:
Write one standard author bio sentence and use it verbatim everywhere — your website, LinkedIn About section, Google Business Profile, and any third-party profiles. Lock it in and never vary it.
Open your website, LinkedIn profile, and Google Business Profile side by side. Check that your business name, your name, your location, and your area of expertise are described using identical language across all three.
✓ Pass:
Business name, founder name, city/state, and specialty description are word-for-word consistent across your website, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and any directory listings.
✗ Fail:
Your business is called "XYZ Consulting" on your website but "XYZ Consulting LLC" on LinkedIn. Your specialty is described differently in each place. Your location is listed on some profiles but missing from others.
The fix:
Create a single "entity card" document with your exact business name, founder name, location, and one-sentence specialty description. Use it as the source of truth for every profile and page update going forward.
Search your business name in Google. Are there any results other than your own website? Directory listings, review platforms, LinkedIn articles, guest posts, press mentions, or podcast appearances all count as external validation.
✓ Pass:
At least two external sources mention your business name with consistent entity information — a directory listing, a review platform, a LinkedIn article, or an industry mention.
✗ Fail:
Google results for your business name show only your own website and social profiles. No third-party sources mention or validate your brand.
The fix:
Start with the easiest wins: create a complete Clutch or Crunchbase profile, publish a LinkedIn article, and get listed in one relevant industry directory. One new external mention per month compounds meaningfully over 6 months.
Your Results
7 of 7 — Citation-ready
Your page is structurally optimized for AI citation. The next step is building topical authority — publish more content that answers related buyer questions and continue building external validation sources.
5–6 of 7 — Strong foundation, addressable gaps
You're closer than most. Fix the failing criteria in priority order — schema and direct answer structure first, external validation last. You could be citation-ready within 30 days.
3–4 of 7 — Structural work needed
Your content exists but isn't structured for AI extraction. Start with criteria 1 and 2 — rewriting your opening paragraph and headings will move the needle faster than any other fix at this stage.
Below 3 — Rebuild before expecting citation
The current page structure won't generate citations regardless of content quality. A full AEO rebuild — starting with content structure and schema — is the most efficient path forward. A Discovery session with AI Marketing Partner can map exactly what that looks like for your business.
Ready to Fix What You Found?
Tell us where your marketing stands today, or book a $2,500 Discovery engagement — Brent Ragan maps exactly which buyer queries your business should own and builds the content and schema architecture to get you cited. Based in Kīhei, Maui, Hawaii.
Free · No pressure · We respond within one business day
Or explore more free AEO resources →Questions
The AEO Visibility Checklist is a seven-criteria self-audit framework developed by Brent Ragan of AI Marketing Partner. It helps entrepreneurs and small business owners evaluate any page on their website to determine why AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT aren't citing their business — and what to fix first.
Pick one page on your website — your homepage or most important service page is the best starting point. Work through each of the seven criteria, answer honestly, tally your score, and read the corresponding recommendation. The audit takes approximately 15–20 minutes per page.
A score of 7 of 7 means your page is citation-ready. A score of 5–6 indicates a strong foundation with addressable gaps that can be fixed within 30 days. A score of 3–4 means structural work is needed. Below 3 indicates a full AEO rebuild is the most efficient path forward.