Methodology
How we calculate your scores
Every scan produces three numbers from 0 to 100. Below you will find exactly what they measure, how much each check weighs and how to read the result. No jargon.
The weights make more sense on a real report: run a scan, then read this page again with your own numbers in front of you.
Check your siteSEO score
Optimisation for Google
How ready the page is to be found and shown well in search results.
GEO score
Visibility on AI engines
How readable and quotable you are for ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini.
Overall
The two combined
Combines SEO and GEO into a single number, weighting GEO more when it is low.
How we read your site
- 1 We read the real page. We download the HTML the way Google would and analyse it element by element: title, description, headings, images, links, structured data.
- 2 We do not run the site's JavaScript. We analyse the code exactly as it arrives. If a page only shows its content after scripts have run, we tell you, because many bots struggle to read it too.
- 3 One page or more, depending on the plan. Free analyses the main page; higher plans scan more pages (up to 10 on Solo, 50 on Pro, more on Agency) and calculate a weighted average: the most important pages and the worst performing ones count for more.
- 4 We also look at robots.txt and llms.txt for the domain, useful to understand whether search engines and AI engines can read you.
SEO score, check by check
The SEO score starts at 100 and loses points for every check that fails. The more serious a problem, the more points it costs. The main ones:
- Page title (title)Present and the right lengthup to 14 pts
- Meta descriptionPresent and well sizedup to 12 pts
- Main heading (H1)Present and unique on the pageup to 12 pts
- Colour contrastText readable against the backgroundup to 12 pts
- IndexabilityNo noindex blocking the enginesup to 8 pts
- Heading structure (H2), enough text, images with alternative textup to 8 pts each
- Canonical URL, HTTPS, server speedup to 6 pts each
- Mobile viewport, internal links, Open Graph and structured dataup to 5 pts
- Declared language (4 pts) and favicon (2 pts)minor checks
Upper limits. If a critical element is missing, the score cannot be high anyway: without a title, SEO does not go above 50; without HTTPS or without an H1, it does not go above 60; a nearly empty page does not go above 50. That way a serious flaw does not stay hidden behind a lot of small ticks.
The thresholds, stated plainly
A check either passes or it does not, and the threshold decides where the line sits. These four explain most of the points a page loses:
- Images without alt text: the check passes if at most one in five is missing it. A few decorative icons cost nothing, a whole gallery with no descriptions does.
- Internal links: at least three are needed. Below that the page stays cut off from the rest of the site, and the reader has nowhere to go.
- Amount of text: at least 300 words. Pages that are short by nature, such as contact pages, are not judged on this.
- Main heading (H1): one per page. None at all is a serious problem, more than one leaves search engines guessing which is the real title.
The same thresholds inside WordPress. The Trovavio plugin gives you a score as you write, with no account needed: it uses these same numbers, so what you read in the editor and what you read in the report describe the same site in the same way.
GEO score, check by check
GEO too starts at 100 and loses points for every missing signal. It measures how well an AI engine understands who you are, what you talk about and whether it can quote you as a reliable source:
- AI engines not blockedIn robots.txt, GPTBot and similar are allowedup to 12 pts
- Business schemaProfessionalService, LocalBusiness or a subtype such as Attorney, Physician, Restaurantup to 12 pts
- Identity schemaOrganization, Person or LocalBusinessup to 12 pts
- Conversational languageThe page answers the questions people really askup to 10 pts
- Identifiable author and E-E-A-TWho wrote it, and with what expertiseup to 8 pts each
- Verifiable contact details (phone, address) and structured FAQsup to 7 pts each
- Semantic structure, local reference, sector queriesup to 6 pts each
- llms.txt file, visible date, breadcrumb trail, sentences in direct formup to 5 pts
Many signals depend on the content, not on the code. That is why adding only schema and FAQs raises the score but does not take it to the top on its own: you also need a clear author, verifiable contact details and text that answers the real questions.
How the overall score is built
The overall score combines SEO and GEO, giving more weight to GEO when it is low, so a weak GEO does not stay hidden behind a good SEO:
- High GEO (70+)75% SEO + 25% GEO
- Medium GEO (50-69)60% SEO + 40% GEO
- Low GEO (below 50)50% SEO + 50% GEO
The bands and the colours
- Excellent85 - 100
- Good70 - 84
- Needs work50 - 69
- Critical0 - 49
Honesty about the numbers
- The comparison with the sector is an indicative reference, not the actual average of the sites Trovavio has analysed.
- The scores update with every new scan: once you have applied some improvements, run the analysis again to see them reflected.
- We analyse the HTML as it is, without running the site's JavaScript: on sites built entirely in JavaScript the results can be less precise, and in that case we tell you.
- When we suggest a title, a description or rewritten text, the AI uses only what is already on your site: it does not add cities, numbers or services you do not have.
- The visibility test queries a single assistant, which searches the web and cites its sources the way ChatGPT or Perplexity do: we show you which ones it cited and whether your site is among them. We do not query every engine one by one, and anyone who promises that should tell you by what method. What holds for every engine is the GEO score, which measures how your site is built, not what a model happens to remember.
Frequently asked questions
What do the SEO and GEO scores mean?
The SEO score measures how well the page is optimised for Google (title, description, headings, images, structured data, speed). The GEO score measures how readable and quotable it is for AI engines such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini. The overall score combines the two, giving more weight to GEO when it is low.
How are the checks carried out?
We download the real HTML of the page the way a search engine would and analyse it. We do not run the site's JavaScript. Depending on the plan we analyse a single page or several pages, with a weighted average across the most important pages.
Why does GEO stay low even after adding schema?
Schema and FAQs cover only some of the roughly fifteen GEO signals. Many others depend on the content: an identifiable author, verifiable contact details, a visible date, language that answers the real questions. To rise significantly you need work on both the markup and the content.
And on a real sector, what does it come to? We ran 49 Italian dental practice websites through this engine: median 46 out of 100, SEO 60 and GEO 35. The method, the numbers and the recurring flaws are in SEO for dentists, 49 sites measured.
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