AI SEO Checklist: 12 Things Every Founder Should Fix in 2026

SEO in 2026 is not just about Google anymore. Your site also needs to work for AI search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. Here is the full list of what to check, grouped into 12 areas.

1. On-page SEO basics

Title tags under 60 characters, meta descriptions under 155 characters, one clear H1 per page, and alt text on every image. This is the foundation, don't skip it even if it feels basic.

2 and 3. llms.txt and llms-full.txt

A short summary file and a full content file that help compatible AI systems understand your site. Covered in detail in our llms.txt guide.

4. robots.txt for AI crawlers

Decide which AI bots can access your site, and understand the difference between training use and citation use.

5. AI crawl optimization

Write in direct, plain sentences. Add FAQ sections. Structure content so AI tools can quote it accurately when relevant.

6, 7, 8. Sitemap, feed, and auto-indexing

Make sure your sitemap.xml is submitted to Search Console and Bing, your RSS feed works, and new pages get indexed quickly using IndexNow where supported.

9. Blog SEO

Research keywords before writing, answer the reader's question in the first few lines, and link related posts internally.

10. Audit tracking

Track every fix with before and after scores. This is what makes SEO work repeatable instead of a one-time scramble.

11. GEO/AEO prompts

Use AI tools to speed up the work, but keep every fact honest. Never instruct AI to hide real information or fake reviews, it hurts trust signals long term.

12. Page speed

Check Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS), compress images, and audit third-party scripts. Slow sites get crawled less and rank lower.

All 12 areas, with checklists and 40+ ready-to-use AI prompts for each, are built into the AI SEO Mastery Notion template.