Frequently asked questions
By the HowsMyGEO team · Published 2025-11-03 · Updated
What is a GEO score?
A GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) score measures how well a page is set up to be found and cited by AI answer engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. HowsMyGEO scores 7 factors out of 100: llms.txt presence, robots.txt access for five AI crawlers, content extractability, answer-shaped content, factual density, author and entity signals, and freshness signals.
Is my site visible to ChatGPT?
Run a free scan to find out. The two most common reasons a site is invisible to ChatGPT are a robots.txt rule blocking GPTBot (often added accidentally via a blanket bot-blocking plugin) and content that only renders via client-side JavaScript, which most AI crawlers never execute.
What's free and what's paid?
Free: both headline scores (SEO and GEO out of 100), the letter grade, the category breakdown chart, and the count of issues found. Paid ($5.99 USD, one-time): the full issue list with a fix for each item, 5–8 AI-generated recommendations specific to your page, and a simulation of how an AI engine currently summarises your page. The full report is also emailed to you with a permanent link.
How is the scan performed?
Our fetcher (HowsMyGEOBot) requests your page server-side with a 10-second timeout, then runs 21 deterministic checks on the raw HTML — the same view an AI crawler gets. We respect your robots.txt, never execute your JavaScript, and audit exactly one URL per scan. The full weighting of every check is published on our methodology page.
How do I fix a low GEO score?
In priority order: allow GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended and CCBot in robots.txt; server-render your main content; add an llms.txt file; restructure key pages with question-style headings and FAQPage schema; add concrete facts, dates, author bylines and Organization schema. The paid report tells you which of these apply to your specific page.
Does blocking AI crawlers protect my content?
Blocking AI crawlers keeps compliant bots from reading your site, but the trade-off has shifted: AI engines now drive real referral traffic through citations, and a blocked site cedes those citations to competitors. Many sites blocked GPTBot in 2023 by default and never revisited the decision — that's exactly what our scan flags.
Do you store my email or scan data?
We store the scanned URL, the check results and the email you provide, so we can email your report and keep its link working. Reports are accessible only via an unguessable 128-bit ID. We don't sell data or send marketing without consent.