How the GEO Score (0–100) is computed. Based on the Princeton KDD 2024 research on Generative Engine Optimization, extended with AutoGEO (arXiv:2510.11438, preprint) and geo-checklist.dev signals.
| Band |
Range |
Meaning |
| Excellent |
86–100 |
Fully optimized for AI citation engines |
| Good |
68–85 |
Well-optimized, minor gaps remain |
| Foundation |
36–67 |
Partially visible — key signals missing |
| Critical |
0–35 |
AI engines cannot reliably discover or cite you |
The total score is the sum of all points earned across 9 categories, capped at 100.
Rubric v2 is the default (score_version: 2). Use geo audit --score-version 1 for legacy comparisons; history deltas and regressions should compare snapshots with the same score version.
| Category |
v1 (legacy) |
v2 |
google_ai |
— |
20 |
robots |
18 |
14 |
schema |
16 |
14 |
content |
12 |
14 |
brand_entity |
10 |
12 |
meta |
14 |
11 |
llms |
18 |
6 |
signals |
6 |
6 |
ai_discovery |
6 |
3 |
llms.txt is useful to other AI agents but is ignored by Google Search.
| Category |
Max |
v2 signals |
google_ai |
20 |
G-INDEX 5, G-SNIPPET 5, G-CANONICAL 3, G-DATES 2, G-BYLINE 2, G-LINKS 1, G-VIEWPORT 1, G-SITEMAP 1, G-GENAI-CONTROL 0 |
robots |
14 |
found 3, citation bots allowed 11 |
schema |
14 |
any valid 2, richness 2, FAQ 2, Article 2, Organization 3, WebSite 1, visible name match (G-SD-VISIBLE) 2 |
content |
14 |
H1 2, numbers 1, links 1, word count 1, heading hierarchy 3, lists/tables 2, front-loading 2, image alt coverage 2 |
brand_entity |
12 |
coherence 3, KG readiness 4, about/contact 3, geo identity 1, topic authority 1 |
meta |
11 |
title 5, description 2, Open Graph 4; canonical moved to G-CANONICAL |
llms |
6 |
found 3, sections 1, links 1, llms-full 1; ignored by Google Search |
signals |
6 |
lang 3, RSS 1, freshness 2 (valid, not future date) |
ai_discovery |
3 |
ai.txt 1, summary.json 1, markdown negotiation 1 |
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
robots_found |
5 |
File exists and is reachable |
robots_citation_ok |
13 |
All 4 citation bots allowed (OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot) |
robots_some_allowed |
10 |
At least some AI bots allowed (partial credit — not cumulative with citation_ok) |
Citation bots are the most critical: OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, and PerplexityBot drive real-time citations in ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. The robots_some_allowed score is awarded only when citation bots are not fully covered — it acts as partial credit for sites that allow some AI bots via wildcard rules.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
llms_found |
5 |
/llms.txt exists at site root |
llms_h1 |
2 |
File has a top-level H1 heading |
llms_blockquote |
1 |
File contains a blockquote (site description) |
llms_sections |
2 |
File has H2 content sections |
llms_links |
2 |
File contains at least one URL link |
llms_depth |
2 |
Word count ≥ 1,000 (substantial index) |
llms_depth_high |
2 |
Word count ≥ 5,000 (comprehensive index) |
llms_full |
2 |
llms-full.txt also exists at site root |
Quality is graduated: a minimal llms.txt scores 5 pts, but a deep, well-structured file with a blockquote description and companion llms-full.txt can earn all 18.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
schema_any_valid |
2 |
Any valid JSON-LD schema found in the page |
schema_richness |
3 |
Schema contains 5+ relevant attributes (Growth Marshal 2026) |
schema_faq |
3 |
FAQPage schema present |
schema_article |
3 |
Article or BlogPosting schema present |
schema_organization |
3 |
Organization schema present |
schema_website |
2 |
WebSite schema present |
schema_sameas |
0 |
(migrated to brand_kg_readiness in v3.18.2 — retained for backwards compatibility, always 0) |
Note: The sameAs knowledge graph signal has been moved to the Brand & Entity Signals category as brand_kg_readiness (3 pts). The schema_sameas key is kept for compatibility but contributes 0 points. The effective maximum for this category is 16 pts, not 22.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
meta_title |
5 |
<title> tag present and non-empty |
meta_description |
2 |
<meta name="description"> present |
meta_canonical |
3 |
<link rel="canonical"> present |
meta_og |
4 |
Open Graph tags present (og:title, og:description) |
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
content_h1 |
2 |
Page has at least one <h1> heading |
content_numbers |
1 |
Page contains statistics (numbers, percentages) |
content_links |
1 |
Page contains external citation links |
content_word_count |
2 |
Page has ≥ 300 words of substantive content |
content_heading_hierarchy |
2 |
Has H2 + H3 headings in correct hierarchy |
content_lists_or_tables |
2 |
Contains <ul>, <ol>, or <table> elements |
content_front_loading |
2 |
Key information appears in the first 30% of the content |
Note: The declared category maximum was 14 pts in v3.14, but the real sum of weights has always been 12 pts. The rubric now reflects the actual values from config.py.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
signals_lang |
3 |
<html lang="..."> attribute is set |
signals_rss |
2 |
RSS or Atom feed is discoverable |
signals_freshness |
1 |
dateModified in schema or Last-Modified HTTP header present |
Reduced from 8 pts in v3.14. signals_rss reduced from 3 to 2, signals_freshness reduced from 2 to 1, reflecting their relatively lower impact on AI citability.
Based on the geo-checklist.dev emerging standard.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
ai_discovery_well_known |
2 |
/.well-known/ai.txt is present |
ai_discovery_summary |
2 |
/ai/summary.json is present and valid |
ai_discovery_faq |
1 |
/ai/faq.json is present |
ai_discovery_service |
1 |
/ai/service.json is present |
Rewards sites that establish a clear, machine-readable brand identity — a key factor in knowledge graph inclusion and AI attribution accuracy.
| Signal |
Points |
Condition |
brand_entity_coherence |
3 |
Brand name is consistent across title, schema, and OG tags |
brand_kg_readiness |
3 |
sameAs links to authoritative KG domains (Wikipedia, Wikidata, LinkedIn, etc.) |
brand_about_contact |
2 |
/about and /contact (or equivalents) are discoverable |
brand_geo_identity |
1 |
Geographic identity signal present (LocalBusiness schema or address) |
brand_topic_authority |
1 |
Consistent topical focus across headings, schema, and meta tags |
Authoritative sameAs domains include: wikipedia.org, wikidata.org, linkedin.com, crunchbase.com, github.com, twitter.com / x.com, facebook.com.
| Category |
Max Points |
Notes |
| robots.txt |
18 |
|
| llms.txt |
18 |
|
| Schema JSON-LD |
16 |
22 declared; schema_sameas migrated (0 pts) |
| Meta Tags |
14 |
|
| Content Quality |
12 |
14 declared in v3.14; actual sum was always 12 |
| Signals |
6 |
Reduced from 8 in v3.14 |
| AI Discovery |
6 |
|
| Brand & Entity Signals |
10 |
New in v3.18.2 |
| Total |
100 |
|
WebMCP Readiness measures how well a site exposes machine-readable context for MCP-compatible AI agents. This signal does not contribute to the GEO score but is included in the audit report and JSON output as a standalone indicator.
| Level |
Value |
Meaning |
none |
No MCP signals detected |
Site has no machine-readable AI context endpoints |
basic |
Minimal signals present |
/.well-known/ai.txt or /ai/summary.json found, but incomplete |
ready |
MCP-compatible |
Full AI Discovery suite present and valid (ai.txt + summary.json + faq.json) |
advanced |
Full MCP + structured data |
All AI Discovery endpoints present plus rich schema and llms.txt with depth |
WebMCP Readiness is surfaced in the CLI output, HTML report, and JSON API. It helps site owners understand their exposure to next-generation AI agents that consume structured context (not just crawled content) before generating responses.
| Version |
Change |
| Unreleased |
Rubric v2 is the default; added Google AI readiness checks and updated category weights. Use --score-version 1 for legacy comparisons. |
| v3.18.3 |
WebMCP Readiness Check (#233): 4-level indicator (none/basic/ready/advanced), exposed in report but excluded from GEO score |
| v3.18.2 |
Brand & Entity Signals category added (10 pts, 5 checks); schema_sameas migrated to brand_kg_readiness (Schema effective max 22→16); Content max corrected 14→12; Signals max reduced 8→6 |
| v3.18.0 |
Rich formatter v2 (ASCII art, stacked dashboard), centralized URL validation across 4 endpoints |
| v3.17.x |
Mass bugfix series: citability score accuracy, formatter max scores, security hardening (SSRF, XSS, rate limiting), @graph JSON-LD parser (Yoast/RankMath), CI fixes |
| v3.14 |
7 categories (added Signals + AI Discovery), schema_richness + schema_sameas, graduated llms.txt scoring, content structure checks, bands adjusted |
| v3.0.0 |
5 categories, schema_website 10 pts, meta_description 8 pts |
| v1.5.0 |
Original weights |
