Every AEO check findable runs, and how to fix each one

By findable team. Published 2026-10-14. Updated 2026-10-14.

AEO is about making your page easy to answer from. People ask a question. A search feature or an assistant looks for a clean passage that answers it. These 35 checks test whether your page offers that. Most are simple pattern matches on your HTML or text.

What does the AEO family test in findable?

AEO is 25% of your findable score. It has 35 checks on answer shape: structured data, FAQ markup, short direct paragraphs, question headings, lists, tables, plain language and clean markup. Every check is a pattern test on your HTML and text, so each one is only a proxy.

How do I fix the structured data and FAQ checks?

Two checks cover markup: aeo_structured_data passes with any JSON-LD block, and aeo_faq passes only with a FAQPage type. Add JSON-LD that matches content people can see on the page. Do not mark up questions that are not visible. A block that is not valid JSON is dropped, so a trailing comma fails both checks at once.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "What is AEO?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {"@type": "Answer", "text": "Making a page easy to answer from."}
  }]
}
</script>

See schema.org FAQPage and Google's structured data intro. Markup helps machines read the page. It does not force a rich result.

How do I fix the direct answer and question heading checks?

Two checks cover answer shape: aeo_direct_answers wants one paragraph of 30 to 80 words, and aeo_question_headings wants a heading that starts with What, How or Why, or ends with a question mark. Put the answer right under the heading. Only <p> elements count as paragraphs, so a 50 word answer inside a <div> is invisible to the check.

<h2>How do I add a canonical link?</h2>
<p>Put a link tag in the head with rel set to canonical and your preferred URL.
Every duplicate version of the page should point at that same URL. Search engines
then treat that address as the main one.</p>

The word range is a guess at a good snippet size. It is not a published rule.

How do I fix the list, table and code checks?

Six checks reward structure: aeo_definition_lists, aeo_numbered_steps, aeo_tables, aeo_lists, aeo_code_blocks and aeo_collapsible. Each one passes when the element exists. Use the right element for the job and these pass on their own. An <ol> satisfies both aeo_numbered_steps and aeo_lists, so a page with one ordered list and no bullets still passes both.

<ol><li>Open the file.</li><li>Add the tag.</li><li>Save.</li></ol>
<dl><dt>AEO</dt><dd>Answer engine optimization.</dd></dl>
<details><summary>More detail</summary><p>Extra text.</p></details>

Do not add an empty table just to pass. These checks only see that the tag exists. They cannot tell if it helps the reader. A pageful of prose with no steps or data may not need all six.

How do I fix the readability checks?

Three checks cover plain writing: aeo_conversational, aeo_reading_level and aeo_short_sentences. Use "you" or "we" at least 3 times. Keep the average sentence at 22 words or fewer for reading level, and 20 or fewer for the short sentence check. The pronoun count needs a space on each side, so "you," and "you." are not counted.

Cut filler. Split long sentences at "and" or "but". Prefer plain words. The average is computed by splitting text on periods, so a page full of bullet points with no periods looks like one giant sentence and fails. End list items with a period if that bites you.

How do I fix the summary check?

The aeo_summary check is simple. It passes when your text contains the phrase "key takeaway", "summary" or "conclusion". That is all. It does not read your summary or judge it. A page that says "no summary" would pass. The match is case-insensitive and runs over the whole page text, so a nav link called "Summary" passes it too.

Do the real thing anyway. End the page with a "Key takeaways" section of 3 to 6 bullets. Readers who skim land there first. The check is a nudge to write one, not proof that you wrote a good one.

How do I fix the URL, semantic HTML and robots checks?

Three checks cover housekeeping: aeo_clean_url wants a lowercase path with no underscores, aeo_semantic_html wants 4 or more semantic HTML5 elements, and aeo_ai_robots fails if the robots meta contains noindex. Use hyphens, landmark elements and no noindex. The elements counted are article, section, main, nav, aside, header, footer, time, figure and details.

<!-- good path: /learn/aeo-checks  bad path: /Learn/AEO_Checks -->
<header>...</header>
<nav>...</nav>
<main><article>...</article></main>
<footer>...</footer>

Despite the name, aeo_ai_robots only checks the robots meta tag for noindex. It does not read robots.txt, and it ignores nofollow and nosnippet. For AI crawler rules in robots.txt, run with -site and read the unscored Site checks in the GEO guide.

Key takeaways

• AEO is 25% of the findable score and has 35 checks.
• Most checks only test that an element or phrase exists. They are proxies.
• Put a 30 to 80 word answer right under a question heading.
• Use lists, tables, steps and code blocks where the content calls for them.
• aeo_summary only looks for the words summary, key takeaway or conclusion. Write a real one.
• Keep sentences short and speak to the reader as "you".
• A good score helps, but it does not guarantee a citation anywhere.