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The AI SEO launch checklist

40 checks that decide whether a new site gets found on Google and cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers. Each one says why it matters, and most link to a free tool that runs the check for you.

One email with every check and a link to a printable copy. No account needed.

What’s inside

  1. 01Indexing and crawling5 checks
  2. 02Titles, descriptions and headings4 checks
  3. 03Canonicals, sitemaps and redirects5 checks
  4. 04Structured data5 checks
  5. 05AI search7 checks
  6. 06Speed and Core Web Vitals4 checks
  7. 07Links and launch5 checks
  8. 08Content and Search Console5 checks

40 checks in all. Updated October 2026.

From the list

6 of the 40 checks, in full

Every check in the email looks like these: what to do, why it matters, and where to check it.

  1. Check 3 · Indexing and crawling

    Use noindex, not robots.txt, to keep a page out of Google

    Google can still index a URL that robots.txt blocks if other pages link to it, and it never sees the noindex on a page it isn't allowed to crawl.

    Check it: Meta tag checkerSource: Google: Block Search indexing with noindex

  2. Check 20 · AI search

    Allow AI search crawlers in robots.txt

    OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot fetch pages so ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can show and link them, and you can still block training crawlers such as GPTBot separately.

    Check it: AI crawler checkerSource: OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers

  3. Check 22 · AI search

    Put your main content in the HTML the server sends

    Many AI crawlers don't run JavaScript, so text that only appears after scripts run looks like an empty page to them.

    Check it: GEO checker

  4. Check 25 · AI search

    Add an llms.txt file (optional)

    It's a proposal for giving AI tools a short map of your key pages; no major AI search engine has said it uses it to choose citations, but it's cheap to add and some coding assistants read it.

    Check it: llms.txt generatorSource: llmstxt.org: The /llms.txt proposal

  5. Check 19 · Structured data

    Don't add FAQ markup expecting rich results

    Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in May 2026, after limiting them to government and health sites in 2023; the markup is still valid but won't change how your result looks.

    Source: Google: Search documentation updates (FAQ rich results, May 2026)

  6. Check 39 · Content and Search Console

    Improve pages that already show up but rarely get clicked

    Search Console's Performance report shows the queries you already appear for, and on our own product, rewriting titles on pages already on page one or two did more than new posts.

    Check it: AI title generatorSource: Search Console Help: Performance report

How we wrote it

Where the checks come from

Google’s own documentation.
Where a check depends on one of Google’s rules, the printable copy links the page that says so. We read each of them again in October 2026.
What we fixed on our own product.
Several of the content and Search Console checks come from growing Versely’s Google traffic, including the month we published too much and Google slowed down indexing.
Checks you can run for free.
31 of the checks link to a LaunchRanked tool that runs the check on your site. Only the AI visibility checker needs a free account.

Get it

All 40 checks, by email

With a printable copy that has a box to tick for each one.

FAQ

Questions about the checklist

What exactly do I get?

One email with all 40 checks: what to do, why it matters and, for 31 of them, a free tool that runs the check. It links to a printable copy with a box to tick for each check and the documentation behind each rule.

Will you add me to a mailing list?

Only if you tick the box under the form. Without it, you get the checklist and nothing else from this form. With it, we send occasional emails about SEO and AI search, each with an unsubscribe link.

Who is it for?

Founders and small teams with a new product site, or a site that isn't getting found yet. It assumes no SEO background: every check says why it matters before it says what to do.

How is it different from the launch checklist tool?

The launch checklist tool covers the whole launch: preparing the site, launch day and the follow-up, with progress saved in your browser. This checklist goes deeper on getting found: indexing, structured data, AI search, speed and Search Console.