Key Takeaways
- Check the door before the rooms. Open yoursite.com/robots.txt first. If it tells the AI crawlers to stay out, nothing else on the site can be read by them, however good it is.
- Look at the page the way a crawler does. View the page source and search for one of your key sentences. If it is not in the source, a reader that does not run scripts never sees it.
- Say who, what and where in words at the top. The first screen of your home page should state who you help, what you do and where, in plain sentences, not inside an image or a slideshow.
- Turn proof into text. Testimonials in images, case studies in PDFs and reviews in widgets are hard or impossible for an assistant to quote. Put the words on the page.
- Fix the first failure, then run it again. Six checks, five minutes each. Do not try to fix everything at once. The earliest failure is usually the one blocking the others.
Most owners find out their website is hard for AI to read only after an assistant describes them wrongly, or not at all. You can find most of the reasons yourself, in half an hour, with a browser and nothing else.
This 30-minute AI readability audit is six checks of five minutes each. It does not measure whether assistants recommend you; it checks whether they could read you if they tried. The two are different, and the second has to be true before the first can be.
Below is the whole run in order: the door, the raw text, the first screen, services and prices, proof, and consistency, then what to do with what you find.
How do you audit your website for AI readability in 30 minutes?
Audit your website for AI readability with six five-minute checks: the robots.txt door, the raw page source, the first screen of your home page, your services and prices, whether proof is written as text, and whether your facts match elsewhere. Note each as pass or fail.
The figure lays the half hour out as a run sheet, with the result for one illustrative site so you can see what a finished sheet looks like.
-
0 to 5 min
1. The door
Look at yoursite.com/robots.txt
Pass if No Disallow for the AI crawlers
Pass
-
5 to 10 min
2. The raw text
Look at View page source, search a key sentence
Pass if The sentence is in the source
Fail
-
10 to 15 min
3. The first screen
Look at Home page, top of the page
Pass if Who, what, where in plain words
Fail
-
15 to 20 min
4. Services and prices
Look at Services page
Pass if Each service named, a price or range
Pass
-
20 to 25 min
5. Proof in text
Look at Testimonials, case studies
Pass if Written as text, not images or PDFs
Fail
-
25 to 30 min
6. Same facts everywhere
Look at Site, Google profile, one directory
Pass if Name, city, contact all match
Pass
3 of 6 checks pass. The first failure is at minutes 5 to 10: testimonials added by a script are missing from the page source. That is where the fixing starts.
The coach's site and its results are illustrative, not a real audit. It passes 3 of 6: the door is open, the services page names each service with a price, and the name, city and contact details match everywhere. It fails 3: the testimonials are added by a script and missing from the page source, the home page headline is part of a photo, and the case studies are PDFs.
Minutes 0 to 10: the door and the raw text
Spend the first ten minutes on two things: whether AI crawlers are allowed in, and whether your words arrive with the page. If either fails, the rest of the site barely matters to a machine reader.
Minutes 0 to 5, the door. Type your domain followed by /robots.txt into a browser. This small file tells crawlers where they may go, as Google's introduction to robots.txt explains. Look for lines naming AI crawlers followed by "Disallow: /". OpenAI's page on its crawlers explains that OAI-SearchBot is used for search in ChatGPT and GPTBot for training, and that they are controlled separately, so you can stay searchable without opting in to training.
If your site sits behind a service such as Cloudflare, check its settings too. Cloudflare's AI bot controls can block AI crawlers without anything appearing in your robots.txt, and from September 15, 2026 its defaults for new domains block training and agent bots on pages that display ads.
Minutes 5 to 10, the raw text. Open your home page, right-click and choose View Page Source, then use Find to search for a sentence you can see on the page, such as your opening line or a testimonial. If it is there, it arrives with the page. If it is not, a script adds it later, and a reader that does not run scripts never sees it.
Minutes 10 to 20: the first screen and your services
Use the middle ten minutes to read your two most important pages as a stranger would: the top of the home page and the services page. Both should state facts in sentences, not suggest them with design.
Minutes 10 to 15, the first screen. Without scrolling, does the home page say who you help, what you do and where you work, in words? A headline that is part of a photo, a rotating slideshow, or a line like "Unlock your potential" all fail. The fix is one plain paragraph, and how to write one an assistant will lift is in how to structure a page so one paragraph gets quoted.
Minutes 15 to 20, services and prices. Does each service have its own heading and a sentence saying who it is for? Is there a price, a range or a starting point in text? "Contact us for pricing" fails, because a buyer asking an assistant what you cost gets nothing back. For the full treatment, see how to write a services page AI can quote.
Minutes 20 to 30: proof and consistency
Spend the last ten minutes on whether your proof can be read and whether your basic facts agree. Proof locked in images or files, and facts that differ from one listing to the next, both make an assistant less willing to repeat you.
Minutes 20 to 25, proof in text. Find your testimonials and case studies. If a testimonial is a screenshot, a case study is a PDF, or reviews appear in a widget whose words are missing from the page source, mark it a fail. The words need to be on the page as text, with a name and a result where the client agrees.
Minutes 25 to 30, same facts everywhere. Put your website, your Google Business Profile and one directory listing side by side. Business name, city or service area, phone and email should match exactly. Small differences, an old address or a previous business name, are the kind of thing that makes an assistant hedge.
| Minutes | Check | Where to look | Pass if | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | The door | yoursite.com/robots.txt, plus any AI bot setting at your host | AI search crawlers are not disallowed | Remove the Disallow for the crawlers you want to let in |
| 5 to 10 | The raw text | View Page Source, search for a key sentence | The sentence is in the source | Move key text out of scripts, widgets and embeds |
| 10 to 15 | The first screen | Top of the home page | Who, what and where in plain sentences | Add one plain opening paragraph as text |
| 15 to 20 | Services and prices | Services page | Each service named, with a price or range | Give each service a heading, a sentence and a number |
| 20 to 25 | Proof in text | Testimonials, case studies, reviews | Written as text on the page | Retype image and PDF proof as page text |
| 25 to 30 | Same facts everywhere | Website, Google profile, one directory | Name, city, phone and email match | Correct the listing that differs |
What to do with the result
Fix the earliest failure first, then run the whole sheet again. A closed door or missing raw text blocks everything after it, so there is no point polishing a services page that no crawler can reach.
Be clear about what the audit does not tell you. A site that passes all six can still go unmentioned, because being readable makes you eligible, and being named depends on what else the assistants find about you and your competitors. That is the damaging admission, and it is why readability is a floor, not a result.
To measure the result side, pair this with a test of the answers themselves: the 15-minute test of whether AI recommends you, or the free check, which asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails a plain-English readout: your score, who got named in your place, and the one fix to start with. It runs as soon as you ask for it, and the report lands within the hour between 7am and 5pm Central, or by 10am the next morning outside those hours.
Questions we hear the most
How do I check if AI can read my website?
Run six checks: open your robots.txt, search your page source for a key sentence, read the top of your home page, check your services page for prices, check that proof is text, and confirm your facts match your Google profile. It takes about 30 minutes.
What should my robots.txt say for AI crawlers?
If you want to be found in AI answers, it should not disallow the crawlers the assistants use to search, such as OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT. OpenAI documents its crawlers and what each one does, and you can allow search while blocking training if you prefer.
Why does it matter whether my text is in the page source?
Because some readers only see the page as it arrives, before any scripts run. If your key sentences are added later by a script, a reader that does not run scripts gets a page without them.
Is a website builder like Squarespace or Wix readable by AI?
Usually the basic text is, but individual features vary: slideshows, tabs, pop-ups and embedded widgets can hide text. The page source test settles it for your own site in a minute, whichever builder you use.
Do I need structured data to pass this audit?
No. Structured data can confirm facts the page already states, but it cannot rescue a page whose words are missing. Get the plain text right first; structured data is a later, optional step.
Does the free check test my website?
It tests the result rather than the site. The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails your score, who got named in your place, and the one fix to start with. Use it alongside this audit.
What does the $500 audit look at that this one does not?
It measures what five assistants actually say. The audit runs 125 checks across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, shows who is named and which sources the answers lean on, and lands by this time tomorrow.
Your buyers are already asking. Find out what AI tells them.
The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions about your niche and sends you the report within the hour, at $0. If it shows you are already getting named everywhere, we will say so in plain words.
Get my free check →