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Free AEO Checker: AEO Readiness and AI Visibility Score
An AEO checker scores a page on the signals that help answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews pull a clean, trustworthy answer from it. Paste your text or HTML, enter your target keyword, and the WritoryBuzz tool returns a score out of 100 across 15 signals with a prioritised list of fixes.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of writing and structuring a page so that an AI system can find the answer, trust it and attribute it to you. This tool is a pre-publish check for that work. Think of it as a proofreader for extractability.
Run the AEO readiness checker above and see your scoreQuick start
1Enter your target keyword
2Add your page title (optional)
3Choose the input mode
4Paste your content
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Enter your target keyword and content
The primary keyword you want this page to rank and be cited for.
0 wordsPlain text mode
0/ 100
Calculating...
Signal breakdown
Priority fixes
a score out of 100 and a ranked fix list. What it checks: 15 signals in four groups: content structure, keyword optimisation, E-E-A-T and schema. What it cannot do: predict whether a specific engine will cite you. No tool can promise that. Input: plain text or HTML, with your target keyword and an optional page title.
What Is Answer Engine Optimization?
Traditional SEO tries to earn a ranked blue link. AEO tries to earn a place inside the answer itself: the paragraph an AI assistant writes, the box at the top of a results page, or the source list under a generated response. The two overlap heavily. A page that is clearly organised, written by an identifiable expert and marked up properly tends to do well in both.
The difference is the reader. A human skims a page and forgives vagueness. A language model retrieves passages, so each section needs to make sense on its own. A heading that says "Overview" gives a retrieval system nothing. A heading that says "How long does DNS propagation take?" followed by a two-sentence answer gives it something it can quote.
Google describes the same idea for its own AI features: content should be helpful, people-first and easy to understand, and standard SEO fundamentals still apply. You can read its guidance in the AI features and your website documentation on Google Search Central.
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How to Use the AEO Readiness Checker
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1STEP 1 Enter your target keyword. This is the phrase you want the page to be found and cited for, for example "how to check page speed".
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2STEP 2 Add your page title (optional). The tool uses it to test whether the keyword appears in the title or H1.
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3STEP 3 Choose the input mode. Use Plain text for a draft you are still writing. Use HTML source when you want the tool to read real heading tags, lists and markup.
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4STEP 4 Paste your content. The word counter under the box confirms the text arrived.
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5STEP 5 Click Analyse AEO Readiness. You get an overall score, a score for each category and a prioritised list of fixes.
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6STEP 6 Fix the highest-impact items first, then re-run. Structure fixes usually move the score fastest.
What the 15 Signals Measure
The checks sit in four groups. The table below explains what each group looks at and why it matters for AI citation.
| Category | What it checks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Content structure (5 signals) | H2 and H3 hierarchy, question-style headings, an FAQ section, bullet or numbered lists, short paragraphs | Models lift answers from sections that are labelled and self-contained. Structure is the highest-impact group. |
| Keyword optimisation (4 signals) | Target keyword in the title or H1, in the opening paragraph, in at least one H2, and a density check | Placement tells both people and machines what the page is about. Density is flagged only when it looks stuffed. |
| E-E-A-T (5 signals) | Author attribution, a published or updated date, expertise cues, sources, trust signals | Google lists E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust) in its quality guidance. AI systems favour sources that look reliable. |
| Schema readiness | Whether structured data such as FAQPage or Article markup is present in the HTML | Structured data states facts in a machine-readable form instead of making the engine infer them. |
How to Read Your Score
Treat the score as a to-do list, not a verdict. A page at 55 with clear next steps is in a better position than a page at 80 that nobody revisits. Read the output in this order:
- Category scores first. A weak category shows where the work is. A page can be strong on keywords and still have no FAQ, no author and no schema.
- Fix list second. Items are ranked by impact. Start at the top.
- Overall score last. Use it to track progress across drafts, not to compare against other people's pages.
The tool's density check treats roughly 0.5 to 2.5 percent as a healthy range for the target keyword. That is the tool's scoring rule. Google has not published a target keyword density, so use it as a stuffing alarm, not a goal.
Citable definition
Answer engine optimization is the practice of structuring and writing content so AI search systems can retrieve a direct answer from it, judge it trustworthy and attribute it to the source. It extends SEO rather than replacing it.
AEO vs SEO vs GEO
| Term | Goal | Typical win | Main lever |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Rank pages in search results | A blue link and a click | Relevance, links, technical health |
| AEO | Be the direct answer | A featured snippet, an AI Overview mention or a quoted passage | Answer-first writing, headings, schema |
| GEO | Be cited in generated responses | A named source in ChatGPT or Perplexity | Clear entities, credible sources, extractable passages |
The labels overlap and the industry uses them loosely. In practice you do the same work: answer the question early, back it with evidence, name the author, and mark the page up.
Who Should Use This Tool
SEO consultants and agencies
Who need a quick first pass on a client page before a deeper audit.
Founders and product marketers
Whose category pages should appear when buyers ask an AI assistant for options.
Editors
Who want an objective checklist for freelancer drafts.
Students of SEO
Learning what extractable content looks like.
Common AEO Mistakes This Tool Helps You Catch
- Burying the answer. If the first paragraph is background, the quotable sentence sits three scrolls down. Lead with a 40 to 60 word direct answer.
- Vague headings. "Introduction" and "More info" tell a model nothing. Write headings as the question a person would ask.
- No author, no date. Anonymous, undated pages look less reliable to people and to engines.
- Walls of text. Long paragraphs hide the one sentence worth quoting. Keep paragraphs short and use lists for steps.
- Keyword stuffing. Repeating the phrase in every sentence reads badly and lowers trust.
- Schema that does not match the page. Marking up an FAQ that is not visible on the page can cause the markup to be ignored.
Honest Limits of Any AEO Checker
No tool, this one included, can tell you that ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google will cite a page. Engines use their own retrieval systems, change them without notice and weigh factors a text analyser cannot see, such as brand recognition, backlinks and how often a topic is asked about. A high score means your page has removed common obstacles. It does not guarantee a citation.
- The checker reads only what you paste. It does not crawl your site, check backlinks or test speed.
- Plain text mode cannot see HTML elements, so use HTML source for a full structure and schema check.
- The signals are practical heuristics based on current guidance, not a copy of any engine's ranking formula.
- Quality still matters most. A well-structured page with weak facts will not earn trust for long.
Privacy and Trust
The tool states that you do not need to sign up and that nothing leaves your browser. You can paste unpublished drafts, but as a general habit avoid pasting confidential client material into any online tool.
How to Improve Your Score: A Practical Order of Work
- 1Rewrite the opening so the first 40 to 60 words answer the main question directly.
- 2Turn at least three H2s into the questions your readers ask.
- 3Add an FAQ block with 6 to 10 questions, each answered in one to three sentences first.
- 4Add an author name, a short credential line and a visible updated date.
- 5Cite named sources with the year for any statistic.
- 6Add FAQPage or Article schema and check it with a schema generator.
- 7Re-run the checker and compare category scores.
Need markup for step six? Build it with the Schema Markup Generator. To check the experience and trust side in more depth, try the EEAT Score Checker.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AEO checker?
An AEO checker is a tool that scores a page on the signals that help AI answer engines extract and cite its content. The WritoryBuzz version scores 15 signals out of 100 and lists fixes in priority order.
What does AEO stand for?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization. It is the practice of making content easy for AI systems and search features to turn into a direct answer.
Is AEO different from SEO?
Yes, but they overlap. SEO aims to rank a page, while AEO aims to have a passage from the page used as the answer. Clear structure, credible authorship and schema help both.
Can this tool guarantee that ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews will cite my page?
No. Engines use their own systems and factors a text analyser cannot see. The score shows how many common obstacles you have removed, not whether a citation will happen.
Should I paste plain text or HTML?
Use HTML source if you can, because the tool can then read real headings, lists and schema. Plain text works for early drafts but cannot confirm markup.
What is a good AEO score?
There is no official benchmark. Aim to clear every high-priority fix on the list and track your score across drafts. A rising score with real content improvements matters more than the number.
Does keyword density affect AI citation?
Google has not published a target density. The tool flags very high repetition because it makes content read as stuffed, but placement in the title, opening and a heading matters more than the percentage.
Is the AEO readiness checker free?
Yes. It is free, needs no signup, and states that your content is not sent off your browser. Check your page with the free AEO readiness checker and fix the top three items before you publish.
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