SEO Audit
How We Audit a Website: What We're Actually Looking For
Solenzo
12 min read
The audit scores your site across ten specific dimensions of search and AI visibility. Each dimension maps to something Google — and increasingly, AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity — actively evaluates when deciding whether to surface your business.
We built the audit because most site evaluations are either too vague ("your content needs work") or too technical to act on. We wanted something specific enough to tell you exactly what to fix, in what order, and why it matters for visibility.
This guide walks through every dimension: what we score, what a low score means for your site, what a high score looks like, and one concrete thing you can do right now if you're low. Read it alongside your audit results, or run the audit after so you have a score to put the guide in context.
Dimension 01
Entity Clarity
What we score: Whether Google can confidently identify your business as a specific entity — what it does, who it serves, and where it operates. This is the foundation every other dimension builds on. If Google is uncertain about what your entity is, it suppresses visibility for everything above it.
Low score (0–2)
Multiple contradictory descriptions of your business across pages. Google is guessing what you are. Your homepage says one thing, your about page says another. The AI sees three different entities and resolves to none of them.
High score (4–5)
Consistent naming, clear service descriptions, Organization or LocalBusiness schema on every page, and external sources that confirm who you are. Google doesn't have to guess — you've told it clearly.
Quick fix
Write one sentence that defines your business — service, customer, location — and use it consistently across every page. Then add Organization or LocalBusiness schema if you haven't already.
Dimension 02
Topical Coverage
What we score: Whether you cover your core subject area with enough depth to be considered a topical authority. Google doesn't just rank individual pages — it evaluates whether a site has earned authority on a topic. One good page doesn't prove expertise. A cluster of related content does.
Low score (0–2)
One or two thin pages on your main topic. No content cluster. Google defers to sites that have more depth, even if their individual posts aren't better than yours.
High score (4–5)
A cluster of content covering your topic from multiple angles — awareness, evaluation, objection, decision. The site clearly specializes and demonstrates expertise across the full subject.
Quick fix
Identify your one core topic. List five questions someone would ask before hiring you. Write a focused page answering each one. That's the start of a content cluster.
Dimension 03
Content Cluster Architecture
What we score: Whether your related content is organized into clusters that reinforce each other's authority. Having content on a topic isn't enough — those pieces need to reference each other and connect to a central pillar page. Unconnected pages don't accumulate authority. Clusters do.
Low score (0–2)
Posts exist as isolated pages with no connection to each other or to a pillar page. Authority is trapped in individual pages and never compounds. Google sees a library, not a body of expertise.
High score (4–5)
A clear pillar-and-cluster structure. Related posts link to each other and to a central hub page. The pillar page is comprehensive. Supporting posts go deeper on specific angles.
Quick fix
Identify your most important page on a topic. Find every related post on your site and link them all to it. Then go back to that pillar page and link forward to each of those posts.
Dimension 04
Internal Linking
What we score: Whether internal links distribute authority effectively and signal content relationships to Google. Internal links are how authority flows through your site. They tell Google which pages matter most and how your content connects. Most small business sites rely entirely on navigation links — which are among the weakest internal linking signals.
Low score (0–2)
Navigation links only. Body content has no cross-links. Pages don't reference each other. Authority stays concentrated at the homepage and never reaches your most important content.
High score (4–5)
Editorial internal links throughout content. New content links to old. High-authority pages pass equity to important content pages. Anchor text is descriptive, not generic.
Quick fix
Edit your last three blog posts to each include two links to other relevant pages on your site. Use descriptive anchor text — not "click here" or "learn more."
Dimension 05
Schema Markup
What we score: Whether structured data is present, correct, and comprehensive enough to help machines understand your content. Schema is how you tell search engines and AI systems what your content means — not just what it says. Without it, they have to infer. AI citation systems heavily favor pages where meaning is explicit.
Low score (0–2)
No schema, or only auto-generated schema that's incomplete or incorrect. Machines can visit your site but can't efficiently extract structured information from it.
High score (4–5)
LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service, and Article schema present and accurate. Every key fact a machine needs is explicit in structured data — not just inferred from prose.
Quick fix
Add FAQPage schema to any page with questions and answers. Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate. If you're on WordPress, RankMath or Yoast handles this without touching code.
Dimension 06
Information Gain
What we score: Whether your content adds something that isn't already said by every other site on the same topic. Google's Helpful Content updates have consistently rewarded pages that provide original perspective, unique data, proprietary process, or depth that competitors don't have. Generic content that restates common advice no longer earns rankings.
Low score (0–2)
Generic content that restates common advice. No unique perspective, data, process, or depth that a competitor doesn't also provide. Google has no reason to rank you over the established players.
High score (4–5)
Original framing, proprietary process, specific examples, real data, or depth that competitors don't have. The content earns its ranking by being the best answer to its specific question.
Quick fix
Find your most-visited page. Ask: what does this say that no one else says? If the answer is nothing, rewrite the opening with your actual perspective, a specific client example, or a result you've achieved.
Dimension 07
Query Network Coverage
What we score: Whether you answer the full range of questions someone might have about your topic, not just the obvious ones. Topical authority isn't built by ranking for one query — it's built by covering the full network of related questions. AI systems in particular look for sites that demonstrate comprehensive command of a subject.
Low score (0–2)
Content only covers the most searched queries. Long-tail questions, comparison queries, objection-handling content, and decision-stage questions are entirely absent.
High score (4–5)
Content covers the full decision journey: awareness, evaluation, objection, and decision-stage questions. The site can answer nearly any question someone might have before hiring you.
Quick fix
Use "People Also Ask" on Google for your core topic. Write a paragraph answering each question that your site doesn't currently address. These can be added to existing pages or become new ones.
Dimension 08
Trust and Authority Signals
What we score: Whether your site has the signals that tell both Google and potential customers you are credible. Trust is demonstrated, not asserted. "We've been in business for 10 years" is assertion. A named client result, a third-party review, or a verifiable credential is demonstration.
Low score (0–2)
No reviews, no case studies, no credentials, no external mentions. The site says "trust us" with nothing to back it up. Google and visitors have no external confirmation that you are who you claim to be.
High score (4–5)
Verified reviews, specific results, named credentials, consistent external presence. Trust is demonstrated across multiple sources — not just asserted on the homepage.
Quick fix
Add three specific results to your homepage or services page. Not "we help businesses grow" — "we helped a plumber in Denver rank #1 for 12 local search terms in 90 days." Specificity is what makes trust signals credible.
Dimension 09
GEO and AI Visibility
What we score: Whether your content is structured to be cited by AI systems — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews. This is the newest and fastest-growing dimension of search visibility. AI citation works differently from traditional ranking: systems favor pages that give direct, extractable answers over pages that bury information in long prose.
Low score (0–2)
Content is written for humans but not for extraction. No FAQ structure, no direct answers in the first paragraph, no citation-ready language. AI systems can access your site but choose not to cite it.
High score (4–5)
Content opens with direct answers. FAQ schema is present throughout. Entity signals are clear enough for AI to confidently cite you by name for your specific service and location.
Quick fix
Rewrite the first paragraph of your top service page to directly answer: "What does [your business] do and who is it for?" That single change improves AI extractability significantly.
Dimension 10
CSQAF Readiness
What we score: The Content Specific Quality Assessment Framework — a unified score across four sub-dimensions: Crawler Fluency (can machines access your content without obstacles?), Extraction Efficiency (can they pull structured information from it cleanly?), Entity Salience (is your entity clearly the primary subject of the content?), and Semantic Integrity (does the meaning hold up consistently across the full document?). CSQAF is the most comprehensive single indicator of machine-readability.
Low score (0–2)
Content is accessible but not extractable. Machines can visit your site but can't confidently use it as a citation source. One or more sub-dimensions is blocking overall readability.
High score (4–5)
All four sub-dimensions are strong. Your site is not just indexable — it's citable. AI systems can access, extract, and trust your content as an authoritative source.
Quick fix
Run the free audit. CSQAF is one of the most diagnostic dimensions — your score will tell you exactly which sub-dimension to fix first, rather than guessing where the problem is.
Reading your score
How to interpret your total and what to do next
0–35/100
Structural problems that are blocking visibility. Fix the lowest-scoring dimensions first — they're suppressing everything above them. Entity Clarity and Schema are usually the fastest to address at this tier.
36–59/100
The foundation is there but there are significant gaps. Prioritize Entity Clarity, Schema Markup, and Internal Linking. These three have the highest leverage per hour invested at this score range.
60–79/100
Solid. The gaps are in the harder dimensions — Information Gain and Query Network Coverage. Content quality work is next. You're not blocked; you're competing on depth now.
80–100/100
You're in the top tier. The work now is maintaining coverage and monitoring for algorithm changes. New content should extend your cluster, not start new topics.
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