The Ultimate GEO Checklist

You spent $5k on design. But content extractors (Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT tools) see this: your raw HTML.

You’re not “losing rankings” because of <div>s — but messy structure does hurt content extraction and AI citations.

🧠 AI / GEO-friendly page checklist

1️⃣ Core structure (non-negotiable)

• One clear <h1> that matches search intent
• Main content wrapped in:
  • <main>
  • <article> (for blog / docs)
• Logical heading order (h1 → h2 → h3)
• No skipped heading levels

✅ This helps: Screen readers, search engines, and AI extractors that chunk content by headings.

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2️⃣ Answer-first content layout (BLUF)

• In the first 1–3 paragraphs, include:
  • Direct answer
  • Definition
  • Key conclusion
• Avoid long “throat-clearing” intros
• Expand after the answer, not before

✅ This improves: Featured snippet eligibility, AI Overview summaries, and citation likelihood in RAG systems.

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3️⃣ Navigation hygiene

• Use <nav> for navigation
• Keep primary nav concise
• Move large link clusters to:
  • Footer
  • Sitemap pages
• Avoid injecting nav text into main content containers

✅ Goal: Make main content clearly separable, not invisible.

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4️⃣ Content chunking for AI reuse

• Short paragraphs (2–4 lines)
• Lists where appropriate
• Descriptive subheadings (not clever ones)
• Avoid walls of text

Bad	Good
"Some Things to Consider"	"How Semantic HTML Affects Content Extraction"

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5️⃣ Entity & clarity signals

• Explicitly name:
  • Brands
  • Products
  • Concepts
• Define acronyms on first use
• Don’t rely on implied context

LLMs prefer explicit clarity over clever writing.

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6️⃣ Tables, lists, and data blocks

• Use <table> for comparisons
• Use <ul> / <ol> for steps
• Avoid fake tables made from divs

Structured data is highly reusable in AI answers.

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7️⃣ JavaScript / React sanity checks

• Ensure content exists in View Source (not just DevTools)
• Server-render critical content (SSR or SSG)
• Avoid rendering the main answer only after interaction

If an AI scraper can’t see it, it can’t cite it.

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8️⃣ Still required: actual SEO fundamentals

This stuff does not replace:

• Topical authority
• Backlinks
• Original insights or data
• Search intent match
• Performance & accessibility

Structure helps amplification, not discovery.

One-sentence truth bomb

Semantic HTML and early answers don’t make you rank — they make your content easier to reuse, summarize, and cite once you already deserve visibility.

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🛠️ Test Your Site Now

Want to know if your site passes this checklist? The ViaMetric LLM Simulator will scan your site, check for semantic tags, and give you a readability score.

→ Run Free LLM Simulation