The generative engine optimization library
Guides to generative engine optimization, from letting AI crawlers in to being the source an answer cites. Kept current as the engines change, and traced to vendor documentation, published standards and measured research, with the gaps marked where none exists.
Understanding AI search
2 guidesGetting AI crawlers in
4 guides- Robots.txt for AI crawlers Learn which AI bots to allow or block, and why access can still fail.
- Indexability: crawling vs indexing Understand the difference between being crawled and being indexed, and what blocks each.
- HTTPS for AI crawlers Learn how certificate problems block crawlers, and how to move to HTTPS cleanly.
- Page performance & crawl budget Learn what limits how much of your site gets fetched, and what wastes crawl budget.
Helping AI find your pages
4 guides- Canonical URLs & duplicate content Learn how to point engines at one version of a page, and when to redirect instead.
- XML sitemaps for AI crawlers Learn what belongs in a sitemap, what to leave out, and which engines actually use it.
- Language & international (hreflang) Understand how hreflang routes language versions, and which engines actually honor it.
- Internal linking: orphans & broken links Learn how links make pages findable, and how to catch orphans and dead ends.
Making your page readable to AI
8 guides- HTML for AI crawlers Understand the document basics that decide whether your page can be read at all.
- Title tags & meta descriptions Understand how engines use titles and descriptions, and how to write them well.
- Link previews for AI Learn what Open Graph controls, which surfaces read it, and how to get the card right.
- Headings for AI See how headings shape your outline, and why retrieval systems cut pages along them.
- Semantic HTML & landmarks Learn which elements mark your main content, and why that helps machines read it.
- Images for AI: alt text, text in images & charts Find out how machines actually read your images, and what to write alongside them.
- JavaScript rendering for AI See what a crawler gets when your content is built by JavaScript, and how to fix it.
- Content length & readability for AI Understand why word-count targets are wrong, and what to write instead.
Making AI understand what you are
5 guides- Schema foundations (JSON-LD) Understand what structured data does, which engines use it, and how to mark up correctly.
- FAQ, HowTo & Breadcrumb schema See which of these three still produces a rich result, and where each is worth adding.
- Organization schema for AI Learn how to state who your brand is in a form machines can match.
- Product pages for AI Understand what makes a product page easy to compare, and which detail matters most.
- One topic per page See why naming your subject and sticking to one topic makes a page easier to quote.
Earning AI citations and trust
6 guides- Writing for AI citation & extraction Learn how to write passages that still make sense when lifted out of the page.
- Facts & citations for AI Understand which content changes were actually measured, and which ones did nothing.
- FAQ sections for AI See why the question-and-answer shape still works, and how to write one well.
- Lists, tables & format diversity Learn when structure helps a machine read you, and when it starts to hurt.
- Author & trust signals for AI Understand what E-E-A-T is, what it isn't, and which trust signals are worth building.
- Content freshness & dates Understand when recency matters, and how to date and maintain a page honestly.