AEO Scoring Methodology
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) measures how well your web pages are structured, written, and optimised for AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity.
How the Score is Calculated
Each page is analysed against a comprehensive set of checks across three categories. The overall AEO score (0--100) is a weighted average of the three category scores. Critical failures automatically cap the maximum achievable score.
Scoring Formula
Score = (Structural × 0.30) + (Content × 0.30) + (Answerability × 0.40)The Three-Tier Model
Each tier targets a different aspect of AI readiness.
Structural
Evaluates how well your page is structured for AI extraction. This includes proper heading hierarchy, semantic HTML, structured data (JSON-LD), clean URL structure, and machine-readable layout.
Key Checks
- Heading hierarchy (H1 through H4)
- JSON-LD structured data presence and validity
- Semantic HTML elements (article, section, nav)
- FAQ and HowTo schema markup
- Table and list markup for data presentation
- Language attribute on HTML element
Content
Measures content quality signals that AI engines use to determine reliability and relevance. Includes meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, concise introductions, and keyword optimisation.
Key Checks
- Meta description presence and quality
- Open Graph and social meta tags
- Concise introductory paragraph
- Content length and depth
- Keyword usage and placement
- Internal and external citation links
Answerability
Assesses how well your content can be extracted as a direct answer by AI models. Evaluates factual density, topical focus, claim support, and whether content directly addresses likely user queries.
Key Checks
- Extractable answer quality
- Factual density score
- Topical focus and coherence
- Claim support with evidence
- Primary question identification
- Prompt-content alignment
Critical-Fail Score Cap
If any check with critical severity fails, the overall AEO score is capped at a maximum of 60, regardless of how well other checks perform. This ensures that fundamental issues such as missing structured data or inaccessible content cannot be masked by high scores elsewhere.
Severity Levels
Fundamental issues that prevent AI engines from processing your content. Any critical failure caps the maximum score at 60.
Significant issues that substantially reduce your AI visibility. Should be addressed promptly.
Issues that moderately affect AI discoverability. Fix when possible.
Minor optimisation opportunities. Address for incremental improvements.
Informational findings and best practice recommendations.
Score Ranges
The AEO scoring methodology is continuously refined based on emerging AI search engine behaviours.