What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Audit?

A Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) audit examines your visibility in AI-driven search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews assessing factors like brand presence, content relevance, and structural elementsto identify areas for improvement in how your content is presented and interpreted by AI.

Here's a more detailed breakdown of what a GEO audit entails:

1. Brand Presence Audit

Directory Placement

Analyzes how effectively your brand is listed across trusted directories, aggregators, and third-party sources that LLMs and AI models frequently reference.

Sentiment & Credibility Analysis

Evaluates online reviews, mentions, and citations to assess the trustworthiness and tone of your brand’s digital footprint key signals for AI ranking and inclusion.

Contextual Relevance

Assesses whether your content addresses specific user needs and queries in a way that makes it useful and eligible for generative engines to cite.

2. Content & Semantic Audit

Structural Integrity

Examines content architecture headers, formatting, scannability, and readability to ensure it’s AI-friendly and optimized for summary extraction.

Semantic & Entity Alignment

Analyzes whether your content leverages entity-based language and terminology that align with how AI systems understand and retrieve information.

Topic & Keyword Relevance

Identifies high-potential, conversation-driven keywords and topics that AI platforms prioritize, ensuring your content speaks the language of LLMs.

3. Optimization for AI Discovery

Content Clarity & Depth

Audits for depth, directness, and natural language formatting ensuring your content delivers concise, high-value answers suited for AI-generated results.

AI-Optimized Content Creation

Assesses whether your existing or planned content is designed to be cited by LLMs, using techniques like structured responses, FAQ blocks, and schema-enhanced formatting.

Structured Data Implementation

Reviews the presence and accuracy of schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, Article, Product), which enhances AI interpretation and entity connection.

4. Competitor Benchmarking

Visibility Gap Analysis

Compares your performance against competitors already appearing in AI-generated outputs to identify strategic content or schema gaps.

Strategic Adaptation

Identifies winning formats and semantic patterns in competitor content, offering insights to strengthen your positioning across AI and answer engines.

Why It Matters

A GEO audit doesn’t just surface technical errors it reveals how your brand performs in the new AI-first search landscape. By analyzing everything from entity coverage to content clarity and discoverability, you gain a roadmap to ensure your content is not just indexed but preferred by generative engines.

10 Best GEO Audit Tools in 2025

The 10 best GEO audit tools at a glance:

Tool Best For GEO Application
1. InLinks Entity detection & schema validation Identifies entity gaps and suggests internal links and schema for AI comprehension
2. Frase Content audits & NLP formatting Highlights FAQ and summary formatting aligned with LLM preferences
3. MarketMuse Topical authority & content scoring Analyzes coverage depth and semantic alignment with AI ranking factors
4. Surfer SEO On-page SEO with NLP scoring Evaluates content structure and semantic signal strength for AI readability
5. Google Rich Results Test Schema markup validation Ensures structured data is valid for featured snippets and generative summaries
6. Infranodus Semantic network analysis Visualizes topic interconnections and identifies content depth gaps
7. Prompt Simulation (ChatGPT, Perplexity) Real-world generative testing Tests content visibility and citation in actual AI-generated answers
8. Ahrefs / SEMrush Visibility benchmarking Tracks who ranks in informational SERPs and featured snippet real estate
9. WordLift Schema and linked data generation Builds AI-readable data structures that enhance content discoverability
10. Keyword Insights Semantic clustering & intent mapping Groups related keywords into AI-aligned topic clusters

How to do a Generative Engine Optimization Audit

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) audit effectively in 2025:

1. Audit Your Brand’s Entity Presence

  • Search your brand name in tools like Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
  • Check if your entity (brand, product, people) is clearly identified.
  • Use InLinks or WordLift to verify how well your entity is connected in knowledge graphs and structured data.
  • Validate your schema using the Google Rich Results Test or Schema Validator.

2. Evaluate AI Citability

  • Prompt tools like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, or Perplexity with questions related to your niche.
  • See if your brand or content is referenced or cited.
  • Note which competitors appear instead and what type of content earns citations.

3. Analyze Content Structure & Semantic Strength

  • Run your top pages through Surfer SEO, Frase, or MarketMuse to audit:
    1. Headings
    2. FAQ blocks
    3. Entity usage
    4. Summary-ready formatting
  • Use Infranodus to map semantic relationships and identify gaps in content coverage.

4. Check for Schema Markup and Structured Data

  • Ensure your site uses:
  1. FAQPage, Article, Product, SoftwareApplication, HowTo, Review
  2. Confirm inclusion of properties like about, sameAs, author, publisher.
  • Tools: Schema Markup Validator, WordLift, RankRanger’s schema checker

5. Benchmark Against Competitors

  • Use Ahrefs or SEMrush to compare:
    1. Featured snippet ownership
    2. Top informational keywords
    3. Domain authority vs. citation frequency in AI tools
  • Manually test who’s appearing in LLM outputs for key questions in your space.

6. Score AEO Readiness

Create a custom scorecard using:

  1. Entity visibility (Does Google/ChatGPT recognize and associate your brand with core topics?)
  2. Schema accuracy (Are you using AI-friendly markup correctly?)
  3. Content structure (Are you writing for extraction and zero-click answers?)
  4. Citation likelihood (Does your content show up in generative results?)

Final Tip: Automate with Dashboards

Set up a Looker Studio dashboard pulling data from GSC, schema validators, and third-party SEO tools to monitor progress and changes post-audit.

Frequently Asked

Questions

Why is Exalt Growth a better choice than other SEO agencies?
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Most SEO agencies approach SEO from an audit mindset, focusing on the technical aspects of SEO and using outdated tactics. This doesn't create that step change in growth or generate revenue like promised.

Exalt Growth is the future of SEO for SaaS businesses. Taking a top-down approach to SEO we leverage your specific business model and competitive advantages to generate predictable, scalable, and attributable revenue growth.

What is a SaaS SEO agency?
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SaaS SEO agencies are digital marketing agencies that provide search marketing services specifically for Software-as-a-Service businesses. These agencies have SEO expertise specific to software companies and may act as SaaS SEO consultants for defined challenges.

How is SEO for SaaS companies different?
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SEO for SaaS companies reaches the entire customer journey by targeting keywords and creating content for the various stages of the potential buyer's journey from awareness to purchasing decision.

SaaS companies also can have different SEO levers compared to traditional businesses. An example of this is when a SaaS company's users are generating the content that is on the website by using the product.

What are the differences between B2C and B2B SaaS SEO strategies?
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The difference between B2B and B2C SEO for SaaS businesses are the goals and the SEO tactics used.

B2B SEO differs compared to B2C SEO due to the differences in:
- Target audience
- Sales cycle
- Product complexity
- Pricing model
- Marketing channels
- Buyer behavior
- Budget
- Customer support

Is Technical SEO for SaaS important?
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Technical SEO ensures that search engines can crawl and index your SaaS website and that it performs when a user visits. SaaS companies must emphasize their sitemaps and website architecture to ensure search engines and users can understand and navigate their website easily.

Technical SEO is more important for SaaS companies due to the SEO strategies and tactics used. For example, when a SaaS SEO strategy leverages user/inventory generated content. Or, when Programmatic SEO is utilized as an SEO tactic. In these scenarios, Technical SEO becomes a vital lever for ensuring success.

Is SEO Dead?
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Most certainly not, SEO drives 24% of all SaaS traffic, second only to direct traffic at 60%. With the rise of generative search, having a search presence is even more important for your SaaS growth.