AI SEO Checklist 2025: 15 Must-Have Optimizations
Published September 5, 2025 by WAYF
AI-powered search is no longer the future—it's happening now. ChatGPT has 200M+ users. Perplexity handles 500M+ monthly searches. Google AI Overviews appear on 15-20% of searches.
If your business isn't optimized for AI visibility, you're invisible to millions of potential customers using these platforms to make purchasing decisions.
This comprehensive checklist provides 15 essential AI SEO optimizations, split into technical requirements (items 1-8) and content requirements (items 9-15). Use it as your implementation roadmap for improving visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Chat.
AI SEO vs. Traditional SEO
Before diving into the checklist, understand the key differences:
Traditional SEO
- • Goal: Rank on page 1
- • Metric: Search rankings, clicks
- • Focus: Keywords, backlinks
- • Result: Website traffic
AI SEO (GEO)
- • Goal: Be cited by AI
- • Metric: Mention rate, citations
- • Focus: Structured data, authority
- • Result: Brand awareness, consideration
Important: You need both. Traditional SEO for search engines, AI SEO for AI platforms. They complement each other and share many foundational practices.
Technical Checklist (8 Items)
These are foundational requirements. Without these, AI systems can't access, understand, or trust your content.
1. Allow AI Crawlers in robots.txt
Why it matters: If you block AI crawlers, you have zero visibility. This is the #1 blocker for most businesses.
How to implement:
- 1. Check
yoursite.com/robots.txt - 2. Ensure these are allowed: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot, CCBot
- 3. Remove any
Disallow: /entries for these crawlers
Timeline: 5 minutes to fix, 2-4 weeks for AI re-crawl
2. Create llms.txt File
Why it matters: Emerging standard file that helps AI understand your business. Early research shows improved citation accuracy.
How to implement:
- 1. Create file at
yoursite.com/llms.txt - 2. Include: Business description, key pages, services, contact info
- 3. Follow format from llmstxt.org
Timeline: 30 minutes to create, 3-6 weeks for impact | Full guide →
3. Implement Schema Markup
Why it matters: Highest-impact technical factor. Helps AI understand your content with 95%+ accuracy (vs 60-70% without).
Priority schemas:
- • Organization: Business identity, contact info
- • LocalBusiness: Location, hours, service area
- • Product/Service: Offerings, pricing
- • Article: Blog posts, guides
- • FAQ: Common questions (highly citation-worthy)
Timeline: 2-4 hours, 2-6 weeks for impact | Validate with Rich Results Test
4. Optimize Site Speed
Why it matters: Slow pages = incomplete AI crawls. Target LCP <2.5s, FID <100ms, CLS <0.1.
Quick wins:
- • Compress images (use WebP format)
- • Enable browser caching
- • Minimize JavaScript
- • Use a CDN
- • Lazy load below-fold images
Timeline: 4-8 hours, immediate impact | Test with PageSpeed Insights
5. Ensure Mobile Optimization
Why it matters: Many AI crawlers use mobile user agents. Poor mobile experience = poor AI understanding.
Requirements:
- • Responsive design (adapts to all screen sizes)
- • Readable text without zooming
- • Tap targets properly sized (48x48px minimum)
- • No horizontal scrolling
- • Fast mobile load times
Timeline: Varies by site, 2-4 weeks | Test with Mobile-Friendly Test
6. Create XML Sitemap
Why it matters: Helps AI crawlers discover all important pages. Especially critical for sites with deep navigation.
How to implement:
- 1. Generate sitemap (most CMS do this automatically)
- 2. Place at
yoursite.com/sitemap.xml - 3. Reference in robots.txt:
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml - 4. Submit to Google Search Console
Timeline: 30 minutes, 2-4 weeks for crawl improvement
7. Enable HTTPS
Why it matters: Security is a trust signal. Many crawlers deprioritize HTTP sites.
How to implement:
- • Get SSL certificate (free with Let's Encrypt)
- • Install on server
- • Redirect all HTTP to HTTPS
- • Update internal links to use HTTPS
Timeline: 1-2 hours (if not already done), immediate impact
8. Fix Crawlability Issues
Why it matters: Broken pages, orphaned content, and infinite loops prevent comprehensive crawling.
Common issues to fix:
- • Broken links (404 errors)
- • Redirect chains (A→B→C instead of A→C)
- • Orphaned pages (no internal links pointing to them)
- • Duplicate content (canonicalization issues)
- • JavaScript-only navigation
Timeline: 2-4 hours for audit, varies for fixes | Use Google Search Console
Content Checklist (7 Items)
Technical optimization gets you crawled. Quality content gets you cited. Both are essential.
9. Use Clear Answer Format
Why it matters: Users ask AI questions. Content structured as clear answers is perfectly formatted for extraction.
Best practices:
- • Lead with the answer, then provide context
- • Use question-style headings ("How to...", "What is...", "Why does...")
- • Break complex topics into clear sections
- • Use bullet points and numbered lists
- • Write conversationally (how people speak)
Timeline: Ongoing content optimization
10. Add FAQ Sections
Why it matters: Extremely citation-worthy. Direct Q&A format matches how users query AI.
Implementation:
- • Add FAQ sections to all key pages (5-10 questions each)
- • Create dedicated FAQ page
- • Use FAQ Schema markup
- • Answer real questions customers ask
- • Keep answers concise (1-3 paragraphs)
Timeline: 2-4 hours per page, 3-6 weeks for impact
11. Establish Author Authority
Why it matters: AI favors content from recognized experts. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) matters.
How to implement:
- • Add author bylines with credentials
- • Create author pages with bio and expertise
- • Link to author LinkedIn profiles
- • Show credentials, certifications, experience
- • Include author schema markup
Timeline: 2-3 hours, 4-8 weeks for impact
12. Add Freshness Signals
Why it matters: AI prioritizes recent, up-to-date information. Content >2 years old rarely gets cited.
Implementation:
- • Add datePublished and dateModified in schema
- • Display "Last updated: [date]" on pages
- • Update content quarterly (key pages) or annually (all pages)
- • Publish new content regularly
- • Include current year in titles when relevant
Timeline: 1 hour for schema, ongoing for content
13. Use Structured Headings
Why it matters: Clear hierarchy helps AI understand content structure and extract relevant sections.
Best practices:
- • One H1 per page (main title)
- • H2 for major sections
- • H3 for subsections
- • Don't skip heading levels (H1→H3)
- • Make headings descriptive, not clever
Timeline: Quick fixes during content audits
14. Optimize Images with Alt Text
Why it matters: AI can't "see" images. Alt text helps AI understand visual content.
Implementation:
- • Add descriptive alt text to all images
- • Describe what's in the image (not just keywords)
- • For informational graphics, summarize key data
- • Use surrounding text to provide context
- • Don't put critical information only in images
Timeline: 2-4 hours for audit and fixes
15. Build Internal Linking
Why it matters: Helps AI discover related content and understand your site's topical authority.
Strategy:
- • Link to related pages contextually
- • Use descriptive anchor text (not "click here")
- • 3-5 internal links minimum per page
- • Create pillar content with topic clusters
- • Ensure all pages are reachable within 3 clicks
Timeline: Ongoing optimization
How to Audit Your AI SEO
Use this step-by-step process to identify which checklist items you're missing:
Step 1: Check crawler access
Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt and verify AI crawlers aren't blocked
Step 2: Test structured data
Use Rich Results Test on key pages
Step 3: Check technical health
Step 4: Audit content quality
Review top pages for depth, structure, FAQs, freshness signals
Step 5: Test actual AI visibility
Run an Unveily diagnostic to test across all major AI platforms
Recommended Implementation Order
Don't try to implement all 15 items at once. Use this prioritized approach:
Critical (Week 1)
Items #1 (robots.txt), #3 (basic schema), #7 (HTTPS)
High Priority (Week 2)
Items #2 (llms.txt), #4 (speed), #5 (mobile), #6 (sitemap)
Medium Priority (Weeks 3-4)
Items #9 (answer format), #10 (FAQs), #12 (freshness), #13 (headings)
Ongoing
Items #8 (crawlability), #11 (author authority), #14 (alt text), #15 (internal linking)
Next Steps
This checklist covers the essential optimizations needed for AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Chat.
Action plan:
- Print this checklist or save to your project management tool
- Run a baseline AI visibility diagnostic to measure current state
- Implement Critical items (#1, #3, #7) in week 1
- Complete High Priority items (#2, #4, #5, #6) in week 2
- Work through Medium Priority and Ongoing items in weeks 3-8
- Retest monthly to track progress and identify new opportunities
Want a personalized checklist for your business?
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