AI search guide
AI Citation Readiness Checklist for Websites
Use this checklist to make a public page easier for AI search systems to crawl, parse, understand, and responsibly cite.
Citation readiness checklist
Citation readiness starts with access but does not end there. A page also needs clear entity signals, answerable text, supporting links, current facts, and consistent metadata.
- The page returns 200 on the canonical URL.
- robots.txt does not block the crawlers you want to allow.
- The title, description, H1, and body copy describe the same topic.
- JSON-LD is valid and matches visible content.
- Claims are specific enough to quote without losing context.
- Important facts are not hidden only in images or scripts.
Crawl access
A page must be fetchable before it can be cited. Check status code, robots.txt, redirects, blocked resources, and whether the canonical URL resolves cleanly.
Canonical consistency
The canonical tag, internal links, sitemap URL, Open Graph URL, and llms.txt references should point to the same preferred URL. Mixed signals make source selection harder.
Structured data
Use JSON-LD that matches visible content. Organization, WebSite, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage, Article, Product, or SoftwareApplication schema can help parsers identify entities and page purpose when used correctly.
Clear source and entity signals
Identify the site, organization, product, author, or responsible source clearly. A page that does not say who is speaking is harder to reference confidently.
Quotable passages
Add short, direct passages that answer specific questions. A quoted sentence should still make sense when shown with a link back to the page.
Last updated and freshness signals
For technical topics, include visible update dates where appropriate and keep examples current. Freshness signals help reviewers and automated systems understand whether a page is maintained.
Technical checks before content edits
Fix failed fetches, redirects, noindex mistakes, broken canonicals, blocked resources, and invalid JSON-LD before rewriting content. These issues can prevent a good page from being understood.
Content checks for AI search
Add short definitions, direct answers, examples, dates, source links, and organization clarity. Avoid vague marketing copy when a concrete answer would help a search result cite the page.