Blog GEO: AI Citation Optimization Audit

Scores blog posts for AI citation readiness across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Generates citation capsules and a 0-100 AI Citation Readiness score with platform-specific recommendations.

Cross-reference

This skill covers FLOW surface 3 (AI assistant citations: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, You.com) and contributes to surface 2 (SERP plus AI Overviews). Surface mapping: skills/blog/references/flow-alignment.md.

For directly relevant AI-citation prompts (AI-supporting-pages-rewrite-prompt, ai-detector-test, ChatGPT discovery, visibility prompts), see /blog flow optimize.

Key Research Data

Reference these benchmarks throughout the audit:

• Only 11% of domains cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity (Digital Bloom, domain-level)
• 80% of LLM citations don't rank in Google's top 100 (Ahrefs)
• Brands 6.5x more likely cited through third-party sources (AirOps)
• 120-180 word sections get 70% more ChatGPT citations (SE Ranking, Nov 2025)
• Comparison tables with <thead> achieve 47% higher AI citation rates (directional)
• Content freshness: 76.4% of top citations updated within 30 days (Ahrefs, ~17M citations)

Audit Process

Step 1: Read Content

Extract from the blog post:

• Full content text and word count
• Heading structure (H1, H2, H3 hierarchy)
• Individual paragraphs and their word counts
• FAQ sections (if present)
• Schema markup (JSON-LD, microdata, RDFa)
• robots.txt mentions or meta robots directives
• Any TL;DR or summary boxes
• Comparison tables and their HTML structure
• Numbered/ordered lists
• Definition-style formatting

Step 2: Passage-Level Citability (4 pts)

Check each section between headings for AI-extractable passages:

| Check | Criteria | |-------|----------| | Word count | Each section contains 120-180 word self-contained passages | | Context independence | Each passage makes sense extracted from surrounding context | | Claim structure | Passages contain: specific claim + supporting evidence + source attribution | | Completeness | Passage answers a question without requiring reader to read adjacent sections |

Scoring: Count passages meeting all criteria vs total sections.

• 4 pts: 80%+ sections have citable passages
• 3 pts: 60-79%
• 2 pts: 40-59%
• 1 pt: 20-39%
• 0 pts: <20%

Step 3: Q&A Formatting (3 pts)

Check heading format and answer structure:

| Check | Criteria | |-------|----------| | Question headings | 60-70% of H2s are phrased as questions | | Answer-first format | Opening paragraph under each H2 provides a direct answer | | FAQ section | Dedicated FAQ section with structured question-answer pairs |

Scoring:

• 3 pts: All three criteria met
• 2 pts: Two criteria met
• 1 pt: One criterion met
• 0 pts: None met

Step 4: Entity Clarity (3 pts)

Check topic consistency and disambiguation:

| Check | Criteria | |-------|----------| | Canonical topic | One unambiguous primary topic per page | | Consistent naming | Same entity name used throughout (no confusing synonyms) | | Intro statement | Clear topic statement in the introduction paragraph | | Title-content match | Title accurately reflects the content focus |

Scoring:

• 3 pts: All four criteria met
• 2 pts: Three criteria met
• 1 pt: One or two criteria met
• 0 pts: None met

Step 5: Content Structure for Extraction (3 pts)

Check for AI-extractable content patterns:

| Check | Criteria | |-------|----------| | TL;DR box | 40-60 word standalone summary present at top | | Comparison tables | Tables with proper HTML <thead> (47% higher citation rate) | | Ordered lists | Numbered lists for processes and step-by-step instructions | | Definition formatting | Key terms formatted with clear definition patterns | | Citation capsules | 40-60 word definitive statements in each major section |

Scoring:

• 3 pts: 4-5 elements present
• 2 pts: 3 elements present
• 1 pt: 1-2 elements present
• 0 pts: None present

Step 6: AI Crawler Accessibility (2 pts)

Check technical requirements for AI crawler indexing:

| Check | Criteria | |-------|----------| | Static HTML | Content rendered in static HTML, not behind JavaScript | | robots.txt | Allows AI crawlers: GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot | | Schema in HTML | Schema markup in static HTML, not JS-injected | | Page size | Reasonable page size within AI crawler limits |

Scoring:

• 2 pts: All criteria met
• 1 pt: Most criteria met but one issue
• 0 pts: Multiple issues blocking AI crawlers

Step 7: Platform-Specific Analysis

Evaluate the post for each AI platform's citation preferences:

ChatGPT

• Favors "Best X" listicles (43.8% of citations)
• Prefers well-cited, authoritative content
• Recency matters: recent updates get priority
• Domain authority influences citation likelihood

Perplexity

• Favors Reddit sources (6.6% of all citations)
• Rapid content decay: 2-3 day citation window
• Freshness is the most critical factor
• Community-validated content preferred

Google AI Overviews

• Favors Google properties (23% of citations)
• High Domain Rating strongly correlated with citation
• Present in 49% of SERPs
• Prefers content that already ranks well organically

For each platform, provide:

• Current citability rating (High / Medium / Low)
• Specific improvements to increase citation likelihood
• Content format recommendations

Step 8: Generate Citation Capsules

For each H2 section in the post, write a citation capsule:

• Length: 40-60 words, self-contained
• Structure: Specific claim + data point + source attribution
• Purpose: A passage AI could directly quote as a citation
• Format: Present as a suggested addition the author can embed

Example:

According to [Source], [specific claim with number]. This represents
[context/comparison], making it [significance]. [Supporting detail
that reinforces the claim].

Generate one capsule per H2 section. Label each with the section heading it belongs under.

Step 9: Calculate AI Citation Readiness Score (0-100)

Map the 15-point subcategory scores to a 0-100 display score:

| Category | Raw Points | Display Weight | Max Display Score | |----------|-----------|----------------|-------------------| | Passage-Level Citability | /4 | x6.75 | 27 | | Q&A Formatting | /3 | x6.67 | 20 | | Entity Clarity | /3 | x6.67 | 20 | | Content Structure | /3 | x6.67 | 20 | | AI Crawler Accessibility | /2 | x6.5 | 13 | | Total | /15 | | 100 |

Rating thresholds:

• 90-100: Excellent: highly citable by AI systems
• 70-89: Good: citable with minor improvements
• 50-69: Needs Work: significant gaps in citability
• Below 50: Poor: major restructuring needed

Step 10: Generate Report

Output the following report:

## AI Citation Readiness Report: [Title]

**AI Citation Readiness Score: [X]/100**: [Rating]

### Score Breakdown
| Category | Raw | Display | Max |
|----------|-----|---------|-----|
| Passage-Level Citability | X/4 | X | 27 |
| Q&A Formatting | X/3 | X | 20 |
| Entity Clarity | X/3 | X | 20 |
| Content Structure | X/3 | X | 20 |
| AI Crawler Accessibility | X/2 | X | 13 |
| **Total** | **X/15** | **X** | **100** |

### Per-Section Citability Analysis
| Section (H2) | Word Count | Self-Contained | Claim+Evidence | Citable |
|---------------|-----------|----------------|----------------|---------|
| [heading] | [N] | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No |

### Platform-Specific Optimization
#### ChatGPT
- [specific recommendations]

#### Perplexity
- [specific recommendations]

#### Google AI Overviews
- [specific recommendations]

### Generated Citation Capsules

#### [H2 Section 1]
> [40-60 word citation capsule]

#### [H2 Section 2]
> [40-60 word citation capsule]

### Technical Recommendations
- [ ] [Technical fix with specifics]

### Priority Action Items
1. [Most impactful improvement]
2. [Second most impactful]
3. [Third most impactful]

Run `/blog analyze <file>` for full content quality scoring.

Optional: Search Performance Context (blog-google)

If blog-google credentials include Tier 1 (GSC) and the post has a published URL:

1. Query GSC: python3 skills/blog-google/scripts/run.py gsc_query --property <property> --filter-page <url> --json
2. Add to platform-specific analysis:
   • Current impressions, clicks, CTR, average position
   • Search queries driving traffic to this URL
3. Check indexation: python3 skills/blog-google/scripts/run.py gsc_inspect <url> --json
4. Report indexation status, canonical selection, mobile usability.
5. Falls back silently if not configured.