SEO

SEO

• IS: one entry point for search visibility: evidence-led audits, implementation, demand research, writer briefs, and performance measurement across search engines and AI search (AEO for AI answers inside search, GEO for standalone assistants; see references/answer-engines.md).
• IS NOT: writing the article or standalone marketing copy (ghostwriter), visual redesign (ui-design), tenant infrastructure (multi-tenant-architecture), or implementing AFDocs / Is Agentic / Is It Agent Ready scorecards (agent-ready). Fix SEO copy and markup when they are part of the requested implementation.

Route the task

For a combined request, reuse one property and URL inventory across modes. An audit request produces findings; a request to fix them proceeds through implementation and verification within the user's authorized scope. A research-only request does not require crawling every URL or changing code.

Establish the evidence boundary

Identify the exact public host, URL-prefix or domain property, production environment, project/subpath, audience, and business outcome. On a shared domain, filter each project's path separately. In analytics, verify hostname, path, conversion event and attribution window before interpreting a number.

Discover connected tools and existing project bindings first. Prefer the established reporting source, then an available equivalent, then a signed-in browser. No vendor is required. Ownership verification, API consent and a successful scoped query are separate states. An export for a neighboring property is not a fallback.

Use No data with its reason for inaccessible, missing, unsupported or unmeasured metrics; distinguish these from a measured zero. Label historical exports by their actual dates. Do useful public checks while an authenticated metric is unavailable.

Working sequence

For substantial mixed work, track only the applicable steps:

• Confirm property, scope, baseline and intended outcome.
• Inspect live evidence and map affected route patterns or research questions.
• Prioritize blocking defects and high-value opportunities; separate observations from hypotheses.
• Implement authorized corrections or deliver the requested research/brief.
• Recheck the changed behavior, identify the tested environment, and report remaining gaps.

Prioritize crawl/index defects before cosmetic metadata changes. Page titles, headings and content structure follow the page's purpose and reader intent. Descriptive non-brand terms help category discovery; brand-led portfolio and product pages can be appropriate. Neither a fixed title character count nor question-shaped headings are ranking requirements.

For AI visibility, the owner builds crawl access, content and extractable structure; independent reviews, comparisons and coverage are earned, and they supply most of what answers say about a brand. Fix the owned layers first, then say where the remaining leverage sits instead of padding the site. Original evidence, useful comparisons and honest product limitations earn their place ahead of manufactured keyword permutations. Research likely reader questions; do not present invented query fan-outs as engine telemetry or create a page for every variation.

References