The 20-Point GEO Audit Checklist
Twenty checks across five areas. Score each one, fix retrieval first.
The short answer
This checklist covers five areas: retrieval and technical access, content and citability, entity and structured data, authority and presence, and experience and measurement. Fix retrieval items first, since AI cannot cite what it cannot fetch. It follows the same six categories as our GEO Score.
Last updated November 14, 2026 · Written by the Inspire Clicks senior team
What this means for your leadership team
Risk and revenue
For the CEO
A one-page readiness score you can ask your team for this week. The bands are a rule of thumb, but they show whether the basics are in place.
Pipeline and reporting
For the CMO
Use the score to decide whether to invest in basics, authority or measurement first, and to track progress quarter on quarter.
Delivery and governance
For the Head of Digital
Twenty checks across five areas, scored done, partial or missing, so gaps convert directly into a work list.
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Five areas, four checks each
Mark each item done, partial or missing.
1. Retrieval and technical (Technical GEO, 15%)
- Search-style AI crawlers are allowed in robots.txt and not blocked by firewall or CDN
- Key pages are indexed, return 200 and are snippet-eligible
- Main text is present in the HTML, not only after scripts run
- XML sitemap is current, lists canonical URLs and is referenced in robots.txt
2. Content and citability (AI citability, 25%)
- Each priority page answers its main question in the first one to three sentences
- Headings are phrased as the questions buyers ask
- Comparisons and lists use tables and numbered steps
- Facts have named sources and visible last-updated dates
3. Entity and structure (Schema, 10%)
- Organization, WebSite and breadcrumb structured data are valid and match visible content
- Brand name, description, address and category are consistent across your site and profiles
- Authors have named profiles, and Person markup where relevant
- FAQ markup only where the questions and answers are visible on the page
4. Authority and presence (Brand authority 20%, Platform presence 10%)
- Your brand appears on the publications and directories AI tools cite in your category
- Review and directory profiles are claimed, complete and accurate
- You have at least one original data asset others can cite
- Third-party descriptions of you are accurate and consistent
5. Experience and measurement (Content E-E-A-T 20% plus tracking)
- Content shows first-hand experience, named expertise and editorial review
- A fixed prompt set of buyer questions is tracked monthly across AI platforms
- GA4 segments AI referrals and ties them to conversions
- Search Console is reviewed for AI feature impressions and clicks, with changes annotated
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What your score suggests
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Next step
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Keep exploring
- AI Search services →Let our team run these checks as a managed service.
- AI crawler access guide →Five checks and a robots.txt example.
- GEO: executive guide →Why generative engine optimization matters and how it is measured.
- Resources and guides →Checklists, guides and a glossary your team can use today.
- Ways to start →Four ways to begin, without a long contract.
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