SEO Audit Checklist

AI-generated apps often look great but are invisible to search engines. Missing meta tags, broken structured data, and JavaScript rendering issues prevent your pages from being indexed. This checklist covers the technical SEO essentials that every web application needs.

Last updated: 2026-03-14

Meta Tags and Head Elements

Every page has a unique title tag

Verify each page has a descriptive title under 60 characters that includes the primary keyword for that page.

Meta descriptions are present and optimized

Check that every page has a meta description between 120-160 characters that accurately summarizes the content.

Canonical URLs are set correctly

Verify that each page has a canonical link element pointing to the preferred URL to prevent duplicate content issues.

Open Graph and Twitter card tags are present

Check that social sharing produces correct previews with images, titles, and descriptions on major platforms.

Crawlability and Indexing

Robots.txt allows search engine crawling

Verify robots.txt does not block important pages or the entire site from search engine crawlers.

XML sitemap exists and is accurate

Check that a sitemap.xml exists, contains all public pages, and is referenced in robots.txt.

Internal links connect all important pages

Verify that every important page is reachable through internal links and not orphaned from the site structure.

No broken internal links exist

Click every link on the site or run a crawler to verify all internal links resolve correctly.

JavaScript-rendered content is crawlable

View the page source and verify critical content is present in the HTML, not only rendered by JavaScript.

Content and Structure

Each page has one H1 heading

Verify that every page has exactly one H1 tag that describes the page content and includes the target keyword.

Heading hierarchy is logical

Check that headings follow a proper hierarchy from H1 to H6 without skipping levels.

Images have descriptive alt text

Verify every content image has alt text that describes the image and includes relevant keywords where natural.

URLs are clean and descriptive

Check that page URLs use readable slugs with hyphens, not numeric IDs or query parameters.

Performance and Technical

Core Web Vitals pass on all key pages

Run Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights on the homepage, landing pages, and high-traffic pages to verify they meet CWV thresholds.

Mobile usability passes Google's test

Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool to verify all pages pass mobile usability requirements.

HTTPS is used across the entire site

Verify all pages load over HTTPS and that HTTP URLs redirect to HTTPS with 301 status codes.

Structured data is valid

Test structured data markup with Google's Rich Results Test to verify it parses correctly and qualifies for rich snippets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do AI-generated apps typically have good SEO?

No. AI tools focus on functionality and visual design, not SEO. Missing meta tags, client-rendered content, absent sitemaps, and missing alt text are standard in vibecoded apps. Manual SEO optimization is almost always required.

How long does it take for SEO changes to take effect?

Search engines typically re-crawl and re-index pages within days to weeks. Significant ranking improvements may take 4-12 weeks as search engines process the changes and re-evaluate your pages.

Let human testers run through this checklist for you

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