A free SEO GEO audit checks two things at once: whether Google can find, index and rank your pages, and whether AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews mention and cite your brand. You can do the whole thing yourself in about 60 minutes with Google Search Console, a few free checks and a spreadsheet. This guide gives you the checklist, the hour-by-hour plan and the order to fix things in.
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Why combine them? Because they share the same foundation. A page that isn't indexed can't rank in Google, and it usually can't be cited by AI engines that search the web either. Running a free SEO and GEO audit together stops you from fixing one side while the other quietly breaks.
If you'd rather go through it with someone who does this every day, get a free SEO strategy session and we'll look at your Google and AI visibility with you on the call.
SEO and GEO: Two Sides of the Same Audit
Classic SEO is about ranking in Google's results. GEO, generative engine optimisation, is about getting your brand named and cited inside AI answers. The term GEO comes from a 2023 research paper on optimising for generative search engines, and people often use it interchangeably with AEO, answer engine optimisation.
Here's the thing most people miss. GEO doesn't replace SEO. It sits on top of it. AI engines lean on pages that are crawlable, well structured and backed by other sites. So the SEO half of the audit is really the first half of your GEO audit too.
If you only care about the AI side and want a deeper engine-by-engine method, read my guide to running a free GEO audit. This page is for people who want one audit that covers both.
And if you'd like to learn AI search alongside people doing the same work, the AI Profit Boardroom is $69/mo and walks through these workflows step by step.
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The Free SEO GEO Audit Checklist
Every row below is one check. The SEO column says what to look at for Google. The GEO column says what to look at for AI answers. Tick both before you move on.
| Check | SEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Indexing | Key pages indexed in Search Console, no surprise exclusions | Same pages reachable, because web-searching engines can only cite what they can find |
| Crawl access | robots.txt not blocking important sections | Not blocking the AI crawlers you want reading your pages |
| Technical health | Fast pages, clean HTML, working internal links, no broken redirects | Clean, readable HTML that's easy to pull an answer from |
| Rankings | Search Console queries, impressions, average position, pages close to page one | Prompts where AI answers mention you or a competitor |
| On-page | Title, headings, keyword in the opening, internal links | First sentence answers the question, tables, lists, FAQs |
| Schema | Valid markup in Google's Rich Results Test | Organization, Article and FAQ schema that make your entity clear |
| Entity signals | Consistent brand name and about page | Author bios, about page and descriptions that match across the web |
| Backlinks | Links from relevant, trusted sites | Mentions on the review sites, lists and forums AI engines cite |
| Citations | Not applicable | Which URLs AI answers cite for your prompts, and whether yours are among them |
Notice how many rows overlap. That's the point. Fix indexing, structure and links once, and you help both columns.
The one row that's pure GEO is citations. Google Search Console won't show you which URLs ChatGPT or Perplexity cite, so you have to test it by hand. That's why the plan below gives the AI prompts the biggest block of time. It's the part most of your competitors probably aren't measuring, which makes it the part where you can get ahead quickest.
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The 60-Minute Combined Free Audit Plan
Set a timer. Open a spreadsheet with a tab for SEO and a tab for GEO. Then work through these blocks.
Minutes 0 to 15: Search Console and indexing
- Open the page indexing report and note any important pages that aren't indexed.
- Open the performance report and export your top queries and pages.
- Flag queries where you have impressions but sit just off page one. Those are your quick SEO wins.
Minutes 15 to 25: Technical health
- Check robots.txt for anything blocking key sections or crawlers you want.
- Run three money pages through Google's Rich Results Test and note missing schema.
- Click through your main navigation and note broken links or slow pages.
Minutes 25 to 35: On-page and entity
- Read the first sentence of your top five pages. Does it answer the question straight away?
- Check your about page and author bios. Are they clear and consistent?
- Search your brand name and note how you're described on other sites.
Minutes 35 to 55: AI mentions and citations
- Write 20 real buyer prompts, the way customers actually phrase them.
- Run them in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode).
- Record whether you're mentioned, which URLs are cited and which competitors appear.
Short on prompt ideas? My 200+ AI SEO Prompts will get you a list in minutes.
Minutes 55 to 60: Backlinks and gaps
- List the third-party sites cited in AI answers that don't mention you.
- Cross-check them against the sites that link to your competitors.
That last list often turns out to be your most valuable output. It's a ready-made outreach target list for both Google and AI. Stuck at any step? Book your free strategy session and bring your spreadsheet.
Priority Order of Fixes
After an hour you'll have more findings than you can fix this week. Don't spread yourself thin. Work through them in this order.
- Access and indexing. Unindexed or blocked pages first. Nothing else matters until Google and AI engines can reach them.
- Technical blockers. Broken redirects, broken internal links, very slow money pages.
- Striking-distance pages. Pages already getting impressions near page one. Tighten the opening, add an FAQ, add internal links. These often move fastest in Google and become easier for AI to cite.
- Answer structure. Direct first sentences, tables and FAQs on your key pages, plus schema.
- Missing pages. Prompts and queries where you have nothing. One focused page per topic.
- Links and mentions. Pitch the cited sites that don't mention you. Get reviewed, get listed, earn links.
- Entity cleanup. Consistent naming, stronger about page and author bios across the web.
Link building runs through steps six and seven, and it's where a lot of the long-term gains come from. My free link building book covers how I approach it.
Want to write up your AI findings in a simple format you can share with your team? Read my guide to building a free AEO report yourself. And if you're weighing up outside help for the GEO side, here's my take on the best GEO agency options.
To keep the monthly re-check from eating your week, my Agent OS guide shows how I hand repeat tasks to AI agents. If you want to know which AI models handle SEO tasks best, check Goldie Bench.
The Free Expert Option
I've worked in SEO for more than 10 years and I teach AI SEO and AEO every day to over 430K YouTube subscribers. My agency, Goldie Agency, does link building and AI-first SEO, including visibility in AI answers.
If you want help reading your results, book a free SEO strategy session. It's a call, not a written report. We'll look at where you stand in Google and in AI answers with you, and map out what to fix first.
Prefer to build the skills yourself? The AI Profit Boardroom at $69/mo is where I share the AI search workflows I use.
Ready to turn your hour of checks into a plan? Get a free SEO strategy session.
FAQ
Is a free SEO and GEO audit enough, or do I need paid tools?
For most sites, the free version is enough to find the biggest problems. Search Console, the Rich Results Test, robots.txt and manual prompt testing cover the essentials. Paid tools help when you want to track lots of prompts or keywords over time.
Should I do SEO or GEO first?
Do them together, but fix SEO foundations first. Indexing, crawl access and technical health support both. Once those are solid, work on answer structure, citations and mentions.
How often should I repeat the audit?
Run the full hour once a quarter, and re-run your AI prompts monthly. AI answers shift faster than Google rankings, so the GEO side needs more frequent checks.
Can your team do the free SEO GEO audit for me?
We don't send written audit reports. What we do is a call: book a free SEO strategy session or book your free strategy session, and we'll look at your Google and AI visibility with you and map out a plan.
