SEO and AEO
Make pages easier for search engines and assistants to understand with clear structure, useful content, and technical checks.
Connect Google Search Console to your site, then list the ten questions your customer asks before buying.
Your learning checklist
0 of 6 steps marked · opening your workspace
Learn the SEO basics from Google itself
Start with Google's own words on how pages are found and what 'helpful content' means, so you can ignore most marketing myths.
docsSEO Starter Guide (Google Search Central)
Google's own introduction to how its crawler finds, indexes and understands a site.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsCreating helpful, reliable, people-first content
The self-check Google publishes for whether a page is written for readers or for rankings.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsRobots.txt introduction and guide
What robots.txt does and does not do; it controls crawling, it does not by itself remove a page from search.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
Set up Search Console and a sitemap
Search Console is the only first-party view of how Google sees your site, so set it up the day a site goes live.
docsAbout Search Console
Free Google tool for tracking indexing, search queries and errors.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsSitemaps XML format (sitemaps.org)
The sitemap format every search engine reads; submit yours in Search Console.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
toolBing Webmaster Tools
Bing's equivalent of Search Console; several AI assistants lean on Bing's index, so register there too.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
Add structured data (schema.org)
Structured data tells machines plainly what a page is (business, address, hours, FAQ), which helps search results and any AI that reads your page.
docsIntro to how structured data markup works (Google)
Explains the JSON-LD approach Google prefers and which result features it unlocks.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsLocalBusiness structured data (Google)
The exact fields for a local business: hours, departments, reviews.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsschema.org Getting Started
The vocabulary itself and how to mark up a page.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
toolRich Results Test
Paste a URL or code to see whether your markup qualifies for enhanced results.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
Local SEO and Google Business Profile
For a local business the Business Profile often matters more than the website; get it claimed, accurate and compliant first.
docsAdd or claim your Business Profile
How to create a new profile or take ownership of an existing listing.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsTips to improve your local ranking on Google
Google's own list of what affects local ranking: relevance, distance and prominence, reviews and complete info.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsGuidelines for representing your business on Google
The rules on names, addresses and categories; breaking them can get a profile suspended.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsEdit your Business Profile
How to keep hours, photos and contact details current.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
AI Overviews, chat assistants and llms.txt: what is actually required
Read the primary source first. Google says AI Overviews need no special files or markup; llms.txt is a proposal, not a standard that any major engine has promised to use.
docsAI features and your website (Google Search Central)
Google states there are no extra requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond being indexed and snippet-eligible; AI traffic shows in Search Console's Web report.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsThe /llms.txt file (proposal)
The proposal for a Markdown file that points AI agents to clean versions of your pages; cheap to add but treat any ranking benefit as unproven.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
Control and understand AI crawlers
Each AI company publishes which bots it runs. Knowing the names lets you allow the search bots you want and block training bots you do not, in robots.txt.
docsOverview of OpenAI crawlers
Documents OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, ChatGPT-User and OAI-AdsBot and what each is for.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsDoes Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?
Names ClaudeBot, Claude-User and Claude-SearchBot and how to manage them.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
docsPerplexity crawlers
Lists PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User.
- Cost / access
- free · Service usage, hosting, or model access may be separate.
- Setup
- Follow the linked provider’s current instructions; check account and runtime requirements.
You have made a start when…
- Search Console is connected and your sitemap is submitted.
- Every key page answers one clear question.
- Your business shows up correctly in structured data.
Take this into your assistant.
Additional curriculum comes from the supplied AI Frontiers playbooks. Resource descriptions and cost labels are source guidance, not a fresh verification of pricing, compatibility, or results. Open the official instructions before using a tool. Checklist marks are your own progress notes.