What is SearchScore?

Understanding Your AI Visibility Score

SearchScore (searchscore.io) is a free AI visibility audit tool and optimisation consultancy based in London. The SearchScore audit measures how well a website is found by AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, alongside its Google ranking signals and conversion rate. SearchScore is the only audit that covers all three disciplines in one scan, with 250+ signals benchmarked against 850,000+ websites.

What Does SearchScore Measure?

SearchScore produces three scores - AI Search (GEO), SEO and Conversion (CRO) - across 23 categories and 250+ signals. Your AI Search visibility is scored across these eight weighted categories:

EEAT Content (24%)

Does your content demonstrate genuine expertise? Named authors, bylines, credentials, expert endorsements, comparison pages and buyer-decision guidance.

AI Citability (18%)

Can AI extract citable answers from your content? FAQ sections, answer-first formatting, direct definitions, original data points and content freshness.

AI Platform Readiness (12%)

Are AI crawlers explicitly permitted? GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended and Bing/IndexNow access, plus AI-friendly structured data.

Structured Data (12%)

Is JSON-LD schema present and correctly implemented? Organisation, Article, Person, FAQ, HowTo, Speakable and brand entity definition.

Technical SEO (12%)

Are the technical fundamentals in place? HTTPS, crawlability, mobile performance, page rendering, canonical tags and indexability.

Brand Authority (10%)

Does your brand exist as a recognised entity online? Press coverage, Wikipedia/Wikidata presence, YouTube, podcasts, backlinks and mentions.

Topical Authority (8%)

Does your site demonstrate depth on its subject? Topic cluster structure, semantic breadth, internal linking and content hub signals.

Platform Optimisation (4%)

Local business signals: name, address and phone consistency across directories, Google Business Profile, reviews and testimonials.

SEO and Conversion are scored across their own categories (8 and 7 respectively). See the full breakdown on our methodology page.

How the Score Works

Your SearchScore ranges from 0 to 100, calculated by weighting these eight categories. A higher score means your website is more likely to be discovered and cited by AI search engines when users ask questions related to your industry or content.

The score is calculated by analysing:

  • Your website's technical setup and crawlability
  • Content quality and structure
  • Brand mentions across the web
  • Structured data implementation
  • Social signals and platform presence
  • Citation patterns in AI-accessible sources

Scoring Tiers

SearchScore uses five tiers to help you understand where you stand:

AI-Ready (80-100)

Your website is optimised for AI discovery and citation. AI search engines can easily find, understand, and cite your content. You're well-positioned for the AI search era.

Strong (60-79)

Your site has good AI visibility with solid fundamentals. Minor improvements in structured data, content structure, or brand signals could push you to AI-Ready.

Emerging (40-59)

Your website has some AI visibility but needs work. Focus on EEAT signals, technical improvements, and content structure to improve your score.

Low Visibility (20-39)

AI search engines struggle to discover or cite your content. Significant improvements needed in technical foundations, content quality, and brand presence.

Invisible (0-19)

Your website is essentially invisible to AI search engines. Immediate action required on technical setup, content strategy, and basic SEO fundamentals.

What is AI Visibility?

AI visibility refers to how well AI-powered search systems can:

  • Discover your content through crawling and indexing
  • Understand your content's meaning and context
  • Evaluate your credibility and expertise
  • Cite your content as a source in AI responses

As AI search becomes more prevalent, AI visibility is becoming as important as traditional SEO. Websites that rank well in Google may still be invisible to AI systems that use different ranking signals.

How to Improve Your SearchScore

Improving your SearchScore involves addressing the eight categories measured:

  1. Optimise for AI citation - Use clear headings, quotable passages, proper attribution, and structured data
  2. Build brand authority - Increase mentions on authoritative sites, earn media coverage, and establish thought leadership
  3. Demonstrate EEAT - Show expertise through author bios, credentials, citations, and first-hand experience
  4. Fix technical issues - Ensure fast load times, mobile optimisation, SSL, and clean code
  5. Add structured data - Implement Schema.org markup for organisations, articles, products, and services
  6. Open up to AI crawlers - Permit GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended in robots.txt, and publish an llms.txt
  7. Build topical authority - Cover your subject in depth with clustered, internally-linked content hubs
  8. Optimise platform signals - Keep name, address and phone consistent across directories, Google Business Profile and reviews

Check your SearchScore free to see your current rating and get specific recommendations for improvement.

Related Resources

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