What is GEO (generative engine optimisation)?

GEO (generative engine optimisation) is the discipline of getting your site read, referenced, and cited by the 5 AI search surfaces buyers now use: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Bing Copilot. It measures whether AI assistants can find your content, understand what you do, and recommend you when a buyer asks them a question. SEO answers "will Google rank me". GEO answers "will AI recommend me". In 2026 buyers ask both, so both scores matter.

What is SEO (search engine optimisation)?

SEO (search engine optimisation) is how you rank in Google. Technical crawlability, on-page signals, content depth, authority, and site speed. Done right, Google sends organic traffic for the queries that match your business. SEO has driven the bulk of qualified traffic for UK buyers for twenty years and still does. The shift in 2026 is that AI Overviews intercept some of those clicks before they reach your site, which is why SEO now has to sit next to GEO.

What is AEO (answer engine optimisation)?

AEO (answer engine optimisation) is the discipline of getting your site cited inside answer surfaces: Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask, and voice assistants. Where SEO measures rank and GEO measures whether AI engines like ChatGPT or Perplexity recommend you, AEO measures whether your content gets pulled into the answer the user actually reads. The technical floor (structured passages, FAQPage and HowTo schema, agent-readiness) overlaps with GEO, which is why Pulse covers AEO inside the same audit. 2 of the 7 Pulse categories (AI Citability and Platform Optimisation) pick it up directly. There is no separate AEO audit; if you run Pulse AI or Pulse Complete, AEO is included.

How much does a Pulse audit cost?

Pricing is quoted per buyer scope, not from a fixed menu. The catalogue is 9 SKUs (3 disciplines: Pulse SEO, Pulse AI, Pulse Complete; 3 tiers: Pulse Essentials, Pulse Growth, Pulse X) plus an ongoing retainer option. Use the contact form or email info@valux.uk for a quote. Most engagements scope in a 30-minute call so the proposal matches the actual site rather than a menu.

Why these seven categories? Why not five or ten?

Five misses what changed since 2024. The classic UK SEO audit covers six categories built before AI search existed. Pulse keeps the four that still earn their weight (Technical Foundations, Content Quality, Brand Authority, Structured Data) and adds three that have appeared since the AI-search shift (AI Citability, Platform Optimisation, Agent Readiness). Ten would over-fragment; Pulse already runs deep probes inside the seven categories, so the depth is there without splitting categories that share scoring inputs.

How is the AI Citability score actually calculated?

Five-component weighted scorer per page. Answer-block quality (30%) measures whether the page contains self-contained 50-200 word passages an AI engine can lift verbatim. Self-containment (25%) checks whether passages need surrounding context to make sense. Structural readability (20%) measures heading hierarchy and list/table density. Statistical density (15%) counts concrete numbers and named entities. Uniqueness signals (10%) flag generic copy that could be from any agency. Each page lands an A to F grade with the specific component that's dragging the score named.

Does our Pulse score change month to month even without us doing anything?

Slightly, yes. AI citation results vary across engines. Common Crawl backlinks update quarterly. Competitor moves shift the relative position. Within those bounds Pulse is reproducible: same site, same content, same week, same number, within normal API-response variance. When the score moves, the report names exactly which sub-signals shifted and by how much. Drift outside ±2 points without an action being taken triggers a methodology check on our side.

Does a Pulse score guarantee rankings or enquiries?

No. Pulse measures visibility readiness and the structural signals that lead to rankings, citations, and enquiries. The score moves when those signals improve. Whether that translates to enquiries depends on offer, conversion path, and market. None of that is what the score measures. The audit tells you the visibility ceiling has lifted; the sales floor is your team's domain.

What happens after the audit?

You get a composite score, per-category breakdown, finding inventory tagged by phase / impact / effort / time-to-see, and a 12-week implementation plan in five phases (Foundation, Quick Wins, Structural, Authority, Proof). Implementation can be your team, your existing agency, or a valUX retainer. The audit artefact stays yours regardless.

Pulse rubric

The seven-category rubric behind your Pulse Score.

Pulse measures the signals that decide whether your brand is found in Google, cited in AI answers, and trusted across the buying journey. One score. Seven categories. A roadmap your team can act on. Performance grading uses the 2.5-second threshold defined in web.dev's Largest Contentful Paint guidance.

See the seven categories Run a Pulse Check

Built for a market where buyers discover, compare, and shortlist brands across search engines, AI answers, and platform ecosystems.

Weighted categories: 7
Composite score: 1
Reproducibility: ±2
Public source: 100%

AUDIT • ROADMAP • READOUT7 CATEGORIES • 1 SCORE

Pulse Score

74+12 vs last audit

CitabilityAuthorityContentTechnicalDataPlatformsAgents

Most of the web fails on accessibility. Pulse measures it, names the gap, hands you the fix.

“Across one million home pages, 56,114,377 distinct accessibility errors were detected. That is an average of 56.1 errors per page.”

WebAIMThe WebAIM Million · 2026 annual accessibility analysiswebaim.org/projects/million

Why seven, not six

Why does Pulse score on seven categories, not the classic six?

Pulse scores seven categories because three signals decisive for AI search did not exist when the classic six-category SEO audit was designed. Pulse keeps the four that still earn their weight (technical foundations, content quality, brand authority, structured data) and adds the three that appeared after Google launched AI Overviews and buyers started asking ChatGPT and Perplexity for shortlists (AI citability, platform optimisation, agent readiness).

Search changed

Traditional SEO reports show how AI systems discover, interpret and cite content across engines and answers.

Buyers changed

Buyers move across search, AI answers and cited results. Visibility and trust must travel with them.

Measurement changed

We need a modern rubric that reflects what actually drives visibility and trust today.

Pulse measures the full visibility system, not just rankings. The structured-data layer follows the vocabulary documented at MDN's microdata reference, and usability scoring leans on Nielsen Norman Group's ten usability heuristics.

The seven categories

Seven pillars. One composite score. Every audit.

The seven categories are AI citability, brand authority, content quality and E-E-A-T, technical foundations, structured data, platform optimisation, and agent readiness. Each is independently scored, weighted, then combined. Click any pillar for the weighted components, what we score, and the agency-gap most audits leave out.

Seven categories. One composite score.

The seven categories.

Hover, tap, or focus a strip to see what it covers and why it carries the weight it does.

What drives each category

Which structural drivers move the score the most?

Six structural drivers move a Pulse Score more than any other input: site age and crawl depth, content shape, schema coverage per page, brand presence across non-Google platforms, AI crawler access, and llms.txt with agent-readiness exposure. Each driver is checked at audit time. Click for what we measure, why it matters, and the evidence trail.

Site age and crawl depth
The structural ceiling on visibility. New domains start at the floor regardless of content quality.
What we check
Domain registration date, indexed page count, crawl-depth distribution, healthy-crawl ratio.
Why it matters
The structural ceiling on visibility. New domains start at the floor regardless of content quality.
Evidence
Ahrefs ranking-age study, GSC indexed page counts, crawl logs.
Content shape, not just length
AI engines extract passages, not pages. Shape decides whether you get cited or skipped.
What we check
Answer-block density, passage self-containment, heading hierarchy, statistical claims per paragraph.
Why it matters
AI engines extract passages, not pages. Shape decides whether you get cited or skipped.
Evidence
Per-page citability scorer, passage extraction trial across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini.
Schema per page, not homepage only
Schema is read before prose. Inner-page schema gaps cap citation eligibility on every page that lacks it.
What we check
JSON-LD presence and validity per URL, type coverage versus the seven AI-weighted types, speakable annotations.
Why it matters
Schema is read before prose. Inner-page schema gaps cap citation eligibility on every page that lacks it.
Evidence
2024 Web Almanac, per-URL schema validator, AI-weighted type checklist.
Brand presence across non-Google platforms
Cross-platform entity signals decide whether AI models treat your brand as real and citable.
What we check
Wikipedia / Wikidata / Crunchbase / LinkedIn / Trustpilot / G2 / Hacker News / Reddit / Common Crawl.
Why it matters
Cross-platform entity signals decide whether AI models treat your brand as real and citable.
Evidence
Brand mentions probe across the platforms above, Common Crawl backlink graph.
AI crawler access
If GPTBot or ClaudeBot can't crawl you, you can't be cited. WordPress SEO plugins block by default.
What we check
robots.txt, meta robots, X-Robots-Tag header for 19 named AI user-agents.
Why it matters
If GPTBot or ClaudeBot can't crawl you, you can't be cited. WordPress SEO plugins block by default.
Evidence
Live HEAD probes across robots.txt, meta robots, and HTTP headers.
llms.txt and agent-readiness exposure
The early-mover surface. Sites with valid agent infrastructure are findable to AI agents that can't read regular pages.
What we check
llms.txt at root and /.well-known, MCP server card, 12 emerging agent-protocol standards.
Why it matters
The early-mover surface. Sites with valid agent infrastructure are findable to AI agents that can't read regular pages.
Evidence
llms.txt validator, MCP discovery probe, 12-standard checklist.

Where most sites land

First-audit ranges by archetype.

First-audit Pulse Scores cluster by business archetype: local service 35 to 55, regional growth business 40 to 65, national brand 45 to 70, global B2B 50 to 75. These are not targets, they are clusters used to calibrate expectation.

Local service
35 to 55
Plumbers, dentists, accountants, local trades. GBP-driven, NAP-driven, less brand authority by design.
Regional growth business
40 to 65
Multi-location operators and growing UK SMEs. Stronger schema, more content depth, mid-strength brand presence.
National brand
45 to 70
National D2C, professional services, mid-market SaaS. Decent infra, real content team, gaps usually in AI categories.
Global B2B
50 to 75
International agencies, enterprise SaaS, listed companies. Stronger floor, ceiling capped by AI platform readiness.

What the number means

Four bands. Each implies a different shape of work.

A Pulse Score falls into one of four bands that name the shape of work needed: Hidden (below 40), Fragmented (40 to 55), Competitive (55 to 70), Citable (70 and above). Each band carries a different time-to-results.

Below 40
Hidden
Foundation work blocks anything else. Crawler access, schema, technical hygiene, basic content rebuild. Eight to twelve weeks of focused work before the score moves.
40 to 55
Fragmented
Most sites land here on first audit. Real gaps in two or three categories. Quick wins available alongside structural work. Twelve weeks lifts most sites by ten to fifteen points.
55 to 70
Competitive
Foundation is solid. Work shifts to AI surfaces, brand entity signals, content shape. Smaller gains per week, compounding over a quarter.
70 and above
Citable
Site is in the top decile. The work is defending the score against algorithm shifts and competitor moves, not chasing new ground.

How the composite works

How does Pulse turn seven category scores into one number?

Each category is scored independently, weighted, then combined into one composite score. The score is useful only because it leads to a prioritised roadmap.

01
Local service scores
Seven category scores are calculated independently.
02
Weighted scoring
Each category is weighted by impact.
03
Pulse Score
One composite number. Easy to track.
04
Action plan
Roadmap and priorities tailored to your gaps.

Categories that cannot be scored for a given run (for example, no Google Search Console connection means no platform-optimisation signal) are skipped, not zeroed. Weights renormalise over the remaining categories so a partial run still produces an honest weighted average over what was measured.

How we keep the score repeatable

Same rubric. Logged evidence. Real-time checks. Human review.

Same site plus same content plus same week equals same score, within normal API-response variance.

Same rubric for every audit
Consistent methodology. No moving goalposts.
Evidence logged against each score
Data sources and pages recorded for transparency.
Search and AI checks at audit time
Real-time tests across search and AI surfaces.
Human review before scoring
Analysts review exceptions and apply judgement.
Changes tracked in next audit
Progress measured and trends surfaced.

How we run a Pulse audit

How do we actually run a Pulse audit?

A Pulse audit runs in seven steps: discovery and access, site crawl and technical scan, AI surface probing, content citability scoring, competitor benchmarking, synthesis and rubric scoring, and deliverable assembly with readout. Turnaround is 48 hours on Pulse Essentials, 5 working days on Pulse Growth, 7 working days on Pulse X. Every step has a named deliverable and a calendar slot.

01
Discovery and access
Day 1
We align on scope, goals and access.
More
Scoping call. We map your sitemap, confirm the audit tier and discipline (SEO, GEO, or Complete), and request read access to Google Search Console where applicable. No code or content changes; this is permission and pointers.
Deliverable
Signed scope, GSC connection log, target-page list.
02
Site crawl and technical scan
Days 2 to 3
Comprehensive crawl and technical checks.
More
SiteOne crawler walks every public URL. PageSpeed Insights runs against the homepage and three deep pages. Schema, canonicals, hreflang, robots, sitemap, security headers, AI-bot allowlist all captured.
Deliverable
Technical scan JSON, Core Web Vitals report, schema-coverage map.
03
AI surface probing
Day 3
Test visibility across AI answers and interfaces.
More
Citation probe across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini for ten queries derived from your services and competitors. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) surfaces, including AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask, and voice answers, are scored under this category and Platform Optimisation. Eighteen AI crawlers checked for access. llms.txt validated against the emerging spec. Twelve Agent Readiness standards verified.
Deliverable
Per-engine citation results, crawler-access matrix, llms.txt validation report.
04
Content quality and citability scoring
Days 3 to 5
Score content for quality, E-E-A-T, and citability.
More
Five-component AI Citability scorer runs on every commercial page. E-E-A-T scored across the content corpus with chunked map-reduce for long pages. Each page lands an A to F grade with the specific gap named.
Deliverable
Per-page citability grades with rewrite suggestions, E-E-A-T scorecard.
05
Competitor benchmarking
Days 4 to 5
Benchmark against top competitors and market.
More
Four named competitors run on the same rubric. Backlink-gap analysis grounded in Common Crawl, ranked by coverage and authority. Money-page equity ranks your commercial URLs by inbound-link shortfall versus the site median.
Deliverable
Competitor side-by-side scorecard, backlink-gap target list, money-page priority order.
06
Synthesis and rubric scoring
Days 5 to 6
Independent category scores and composite calculated.
More
Seven-category weighted composite. Every finding gets phase, impact, effort, and time-to-see tags. The five-phase delivery doctrine (Foundation, Quick Wins, Structural, Authority, Proof) maps each fix to a week in the twelve-week plan.
Deliverable
Composite score, per-category breakdown, phase-tagged action plan.
07
Deliverable assembly and handover
Day 7
Readout, roadmap, and next steps delivered.
More
Operator-facing audit summary, client-facing PDF (Standard or Deep depending on tier), email report, and live dashboard. Every tier ends with a one on one to discuss the findings and next steps: 30 minutes on Pulse Essentials, 60 minutes on Pulse Growth and Pulse X.
Deliverable
AUDIT_SUMMARY.md, client PDF, dashboard URL, readout call (30 or 60 minutes).

What this score does not measure

Honest limits. If your problem is on this list, Pulse is the wrong product.

Pulse measures visibility readiness and discoverability. It does not replace media strategy, sales process, brand creative, or conversion testing.

Paid media
Ad spend, campaign performance or media ROI. Different discipline, different team, different budget line. We don't price audits against it.
Conversion rate optimisation
On-site UX, CRO testing or conversion improvements. Heatmaps, A/B tests, funnel analysis, checkout repair belong with Hotjar, VWO, or Optimizely. Pulse scores whether AI search and Google can find your site. CRO scores what happens after the visitor lands.
Sales enablement and lifecycle
Sales processes, tools and CRM outcomes. Email automation, CRM sequencing, customer onboarding. Outside scope.
Brand strategy and creative
Positioning, messaging and creative execution. Logo, tone of voice, campaign creative belong to a brand-strategy partner. Pulse's Brand Authority axis (18%) scores entity-signal strength across LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Wikidata, Reddit, Hacker News, and Common Crawl.

Scoring questions

Questions about the rubric, answered.

Full list on the FAQ page.

See what your score is built on.

Run a Pulse Check and get your score, category breakdown and roadmap.

Run a Pulse Check Enquire about Pulse

PULSE CHECK

AI Visibility Scan

74/100

AI Visibility Score

FIND
Your content can be discovered
PASS
READ
Your content is clear and understandable
PASS
CITE
Your content is referenced but needs improvement
REVIEW

Better visibility. Stronger mentions. Smarter AI presence.

The seven-category rubric behind your Pulse Score.

Why does Pulse score on seven categories, not the classic six?

Search changed

Buyers changed

Measurement changed

Seven pillars. One composite score. Every audit.

The seven categories.

Which structural drivers move the score the most?

Site age and crawl depth

Content shape, not just length

Schema per page, not homepage only

Brand presence across non-Google platforms

AI crawler access

llms.txt and agent-readiness exposure

First-audit ranges by archetype.

Local service

Regional growth business

National brand

Global B2B

Four bands. Each implies a different shape of work.

How does Pulse turn seven category scores into one number?

Local service scores

Weighted scoring

Pulse Score

Action plan

Same rubric. Logged evidence. Real-time checks. Human review.

Same rubric for every audit

Evidence logged against each score

Search and AI checks at audit time

Human review before scoring

Changes tracked in next audit

How do we actually run a Pulse audit?

Discovery and access

Site crawl and technical scan

AI surface probing

Content quality and citability scoring

Competitor benchmarking

Synthesis and rubric scoring

Deliverable assembly and handover

Honest limits. If your problem is on this list, Pulse is the wrong product.

Paid media

Conversion rate optimisation

Sales enablement and lifecycle

Brand strategy and creative