Free AEO Audit for B2B SaaS: 20-Point Checklist

01What it checks

What does an AEO audit check?

Whether AI can reach your pages, read and trust them, and name you today, and whether you can measure it. Also called a GEO audit or AI SEO audit.

Access5 checks

Can AI crawlers reach you?

robots.txt, firewall settings, JavaScript, Bing and your sitemap.

Understanding7 checks

Can AI read and trust you?

Answer-first pages, headings, schema and sourced facts.

Presence5 checks

Does AI name you today?

Your real buyer questions, asked in every AI engine.

Measurement3 checks

Can you see the results?

Copilot data in Bing, AI visits in GA4, leads in your CRM.

02Do it yourself

The 20-point AEO audit checklist

Tick each check you pass. Start at the top: if AI can't reach your pages, nothing below helps.

AccessCan AI crawlers reach your pages?

0 / 5

01robots.txt lets AI search crawlers inOpen yoursite.com/robots.txt. Look for Disallow rules under OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot, Bingbot or Googlebot, or a blanket rule under User-agent: *. 02Your firewall or CDN doesn't block AI botsSome CDNs, including Cloudflare, offer one-click AI bot blocking. Check those settings, and look for 403 errors served to AI crawlers in your server logs. 03Your main content is in the page's HTMLUse view source, not the inspector, and search for a sentence from the page. Many AI crawlers don't run JavaScript, so text that only appears after scripts run can be invisible to them. 04Your key pages are indexed in BingSearch site:yourdomain.com on Bing, or check Bing Webmaster Tools. Microsoft Copilot grounds its web answers in Bing. 05Your sitemap is current and submittedYour XML sitemap lists every page you want found, and it's submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

UnderstandingCan AI read and trust your pages?

0 / 7

06Each page answers its question in the opening linesThe first two or three sentences answer the question on their own, before any background or story. 07Headings match the questions buyers askH2 and H3 headings read like real questions or plain labels, not slogans. 08Schema is in place and matches the pageOrganization schema on your homepage with your name, logo, URL and links to your LinkedIn, G2 and other profiles, plus Article or FAQ schema on key pages. Test with validator.schema.org. 09You describe what you do the same way everywhereOne plain sentence about what you do and who it's for, used on your homepage, About page, LinkedIn and review profiles. 10Comparisons and specs are text, not imagesTables and lists in HTML are easy for AI tools to quote. Text inside an image usually isn't read. 11Claims carry numbers and sources, and pages show an author and dateNamed authors, linked sources and a last-updated date give AI tools reasons to trust and quote a page. 12You have an llms.txt fileA short summary of your site and key pages at yoursite.com/llms.txt. It's a newer, proposed standard, so treat it as a quick extra, not a fix for anything above.

PresenceDoes AI name you today?

0 / 5

13You have a list of 10 to 20 real buyer questionsPulled from sales calls, Search Console, G2 reviews and Reddit, not invented keywords. Don't drop a question for showing zero volume: for one client, 19 of 23 questions already earning Search Console impressions showed zero volume in Ahrefs. 14You've asked those questions in each AI engineRun them in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google (for AI Overviews) and Copilot, and note which companies get named. 15AI describes your company accuratelyAsk each engine what your company does, who it's for and how it's priced. Note anything wrong or out of date. 16You know which sources AI cites for your categoryNote the review sites, lists, Reddit threads and competitor pages AI tools link to, and whether you appear on them. 17You have pages for decision-stage questionsComparison, alternatives, pricing and use-case pages, where buyers make up their minds.

MeasurementCan you see the results?

0 / 3

18Bing Webmaster Tools is set upIts AI performance report shows how often Microsoft Copilot cites your pages. It's the one AI engine that shares citation numbers. 19GA4 shows visits from AI tools separatelyA channel or segment for referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. 20Your CRM records which page a lead came fromDemo and signup forms capture the landing page, so pipeline can be traced back to pages.

03AI crawlers

Which AI crawlers should you allow in robots.txt?

Blocking a training crawler doesn't hide you from AI answers. Blocking a search crawler does.

OpenAI

OAI-SearchBotAllowFinds pages for ChatGPT search. Block it and you're left out of ChatGPT search answers.
ChatGPT-UserAllowVisits a page when a ChatGPT user's request needs it.
GPTBotYour choiceCollects content for model training. Blocking it doesn't remove you from ChatGPT search.

Anthropic

Claude-SearchBotAllowIndexes pages to improve Claude's search results.
Claude-UserAllowFetches pages when a Claude user asks a question.
ClaudeBotYour choiceCollects content for model training.

Perplexity

PerplexityBotAllowSurfaces and links sites in Perplexity answers. Not used for training.
Perplexity-UserAllowVisits pages when a user asks. Generally ignores robots.txt.

Google

GooglebotAllowCrawls for Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Google-ExtendedYour choiceA robots.txt token for Gemini training and grounding. Doesn't affect Search.

Microsoft

BingbotAllowCrawls for Bing, which Copilot uses to ground its answers.

5,630

AI-crawler visits to a client's new posts in one quarter, from PerplexityBot (33%), Claude-User (27%), OAI-SearchBot (22%) and ChatGPT-User (18%). Block them and none of that happens. Propelius case study

A robots.txt that welcomes AI search and opts out of training could look like this:

# Allow AI search and user requests
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
User-agent: Claude-User
User-agent: PerplexityBot
User-agent: Perplexity-User
Allow: /

# Optional: opt out of model training
User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: ClaudeBot
User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow: /

From each company's own documentation: OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and Google, checked 6 October 2026. Names change, so check before you edit.

04With us

What do you get from the free AEO audit?

The checklist shows whether AI is able to cite you. The audit shows who it cites instead.

01

The buyers AI sends to rivals

Questions answered without you.

02

You vs your top three competitors

Answer share by engine.

03

Five questions to win first

Proven demand, weak answers.

Book my free audit See our AEO services

05Questions

Questions about AEO audits

What is an AEO audit?

An AEO (answer engine optimization) audit checks whether AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot can reach your site, understand your pages and name you when buyers ask about your category. It covers four areas: crawler access, how readable your pages are, whether AI names you today, and whether you can measure it.

How is an AEO audit different from an SEO audit?

An SEO audit checks how well your pages can rank in Google's list of links: crawling, indexing, speed, keywords and backlinks. An AEO audit adds the checks that decide whether AI tools quote you: AI crawler access, answer-first structure, schema, how AI describes your company, which sources it cites, and citations per engine.

Is a GEO audit the same as an AEO audit?

Yes, for practical purposes. GEO (generative engine optimization), AEO and AI SEO audits all check whether AI tools can find, read and cite your site. The names differ; the checks are the same.

How do I run an AEO audit myself?

Work through four areas in order. Check that AI crawlers can reach your pages, that your pages answer questions clearly with schema in place, that AI tools name you for your buyers' real questions, and that you can measure AI visits and citations. The 20-point checklist on this page covers each step.

Which AI crawlers should I allow in robots.txt?

To appear in AI answers, allow the search and user crawlers: OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User from OpenAI, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User from Anthropic, PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User from Perplexity, plus Googlebot and Bingbot. Crawlers that collect training data, such as GPTBot and ClaudeBot, are a separate choice.

Does blocking GPTBot remove my site from ChatGPT?

No. OpenAI says GPTBot collects content that may be used to train its models, while OAI-SearchBot finds pages for ChatGPT search. Blocking GPTBot opts you out of training. Blocking OAI-SearchBot keeps your pages out of ChatGPT search answers.

What do I get from Salient's free AEO audit?

A 30-minute session with the people who would run your account. We show you the buyer questions where AI answers without you, your answer share by engine against your top three competitors, and five questions you could win first. You keep the plan whether you work with us or not.

How often should we run an AEO audit?

Check crawler access and schema after any change to your site, and re-ask your buyer questions every month. AI answers shift often, so a page that was cited last quarter can drop out without warning.

See who AI recommends instead of you.

In 30 minutes we show you which buyers AI is sending to your competitors, and the fastest ones to win back. You keep the plan either way.

Book my free audit Talk to a specialist

No credit card, no sales script. Thirty minutes with the pod that would run it.

Free AEO audit: can AI find, read and cite your site?