GEOhandbook

Copy-and-run checklist

The GEO Checklist

Every technical, editorial and off-site item you need to ship a GEO-ready site — in one page. Print it, tick it, deploy.

Below is the full GEO checklist — the technical items are drawn from Strapi’s implementation guide and Onely’s 2026 breakdown; the editorial items are informed by Shadow, Contently and Moxie Digital’s citation-analysis work.

Content & markup

  • [ ] Every page opens with a 2–3 sentence direct answer in paragraph one.
  • [ ] Every H2 section opens with a 2–3 sentence direct answer.
  • [ ] Body paragraphs are 60–100 words, one clear claim each.
  • [ ] Headings use plain question phrasing (“What is …?”, “How do I …?”).
  • [ ] <h1> exactly once per page; h2 → h3 never skips levels.
  • [ ] Subsection headings have explicit id attributes for deep-linking.
  • [ ] Uses semantic HTML5: <header>, <main>, <article>, <section>, <footer>.
  • [ ] Author byline visible, linked to a bio page with Person schema.
  • [ ] “Last updated” date visible on every content page.
  • [ ] FAQ block near the end of every high-intent page.
  • [ ] Data-backed statistics with inline links to primary sources.
  • [ ] Comparison content (“X vs Y”, “best 5 …”) where relevant.
  • [ ] Descriptive internal link anchors — never “click here” or “read more”.

Source: Shadow, Moxie Digital, Contently.

Structured data (JSON-LD)

  • [ ] Article schema on posts with headline, author, datePublished, dateModified, image, mainEntityOfPage.
  • [ ] FAQPage schema on FAQ sections.
  • [ ] HowTo schema on procedural content.
  • [ ] Organization schema on the homepage with name, url, logo, sameAs.
  • [ ] Person schema on author pages with sameAs (LinkedIn, Twitter/X, personal site).
  • [ ] BreadcrumbList on non-root pages.
  • [ ] JSON-LD validates on Rich Results Test and Schema.org validator.
  • [ ] Schema validation runs in CI and fails the build on error.

Source: Strapi, SEOptimer.

Rendering & performance

  • [ ] Core content is present in the initial HTML response (view-source test).
  • [ ] Site renders correctly with JavaScript disabled.
  • [ ] Uses static-site generation, SSR or ISR — not client-side-only rendering.
  • [ ] LCP under 2.5s on mobile.
  • [ ] CLS under 0.1.
  • [ ] Images use srcset and modern formats (WebP/AVIF) with descriptive alt text.
  • [ ] Non-critical JavaScript is deferred.
  • [ ] HTTPS enforced sitewide, HSTS enabled.

Discovery for AI crawlers

  • [ ] robots.txt explicitly Allows GPTBot, PerplexityBot, OAI-SearchBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot, CCBot.
  • [ ] sitemap.xml regenerated on every build and linked in robots.txt.
  • [ ] llms.txt at the domain root with a Markdown map of canonical pages.
  • [ ] IndexNow ping fired on publish and content update (bing.com/indexnow).
  • [ ] Server logs show GPTBot and PerplexityBot requests (proof of crawl).
  • [ ] Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are verified for the domain.

Note: Google has stated llms.txt alone doesn’t currently affect Google Search ranking (Contentful); ship it anyway as low-cost future insurance and for engines that do consume it.

Entities & authority signals

  • [ ] Every mention of your brand uses the same canonical name across pages.
  • [ ] Organization.sameAs links to Wikipedia (if you have an entry), Wikidata, Crunchbase, LinkedIn, GitHub.
  • [ ] Author bios link to LinkedIn, Twitter/X, personal site, and any staff page.
  • [ ] Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) if you have a physical presence.
  • [ ] Organization.description matches the description on your About page.

Source: eSEOspace, Visalytica.

Off-site earned authority

Reminder: 89% of LLM citations come from earned sources (Onely). This section is not optional.

  • [ ] Active digital-PR pipeline (target: 1–2 earned placements per month).
  • [ ] Journalist-query response cadence (HARO, Qwoted, Featured, Terkel).
  • [ ] Presence in category-relevant subreddits — helpful answers, not spam.
  • [ ] Expert quotes contributed to industry roundups.
  • [ ] Podcast appearances by named subject-matter experts.
  • [ ] Product/service listed in reputable third-party comparison sites.
  • [ ] Wikipedia entry (if genuinely notable) is accurate and well-sourced.

Measurement

  • [ ] Monthly prompt-panel rerun across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Copilot.
  • [ ] Citation-rate tracked by category (brand, category, comparison, problem).
  • [ ] Referral traffic segmented for chat.openai.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com in GA4.
  • [ ] Bing Webmaster Tools’ AI Performance report reviewed monthly (Wikipedia).
  • [ ] Google Search Console Search Generative AI performance report reviewed monthly.
  • [ ] Alerts on schema-validation failure and citation drops.

Governance

  • [ ] SECURITY.md, humans.txt, and a public change-log for the site.
  • [ ] Content ownership defined per URL (author + editor).
  • [ ] Editorial disclosure page for advertising, affiliates and sponsored content.
  • [ ] Accessibility statement (WCAG 2.2 AA target).

Sources