A search visibility audit, end to end
The audit we run before any search work — indexing, entity consistency and AI citation — documented on a fictional business so the method is visible.
This is a self-initiated concept piece, not client work. No client names, results or metrics are claimed anywhere on this page.
The premise
This documents our audit method on a fictional business. Nothing here is a client, and no results are claimed — the point is to make the process legible before you pay for it.
Step one: can it be indexed at all?
Before anything else: is the content in the HTML, does the server respond quickly, is anything blocked, and how many pages does Search Console actually have. Every later step is wasted if this one fails.
Step two: the canonical record
One decision, written once: the exact company name, the domain, the description, the contact details. That record becomes the source of truth for the website, the structured data, every profile and every directory.
Until it exists, no entity work can start — which is why we ask for it first.
Step three: find every mention
Search the company name, the phone number and the domain, each in quotes. Every result is a record to check: directories, social profiles, old listings, aggregators, and the site's own footer and schema.
Step four: classify
- Correct — leave alone
- Claimable and wrong — claim, correct
- Unclaimable and wrong — request correction or removal
- Duplicate — request merge
Step five: fix the site itself
The site is the easiest to control and the most often wrong. Footer, contact page, About page and structured data all have to state the same thing.
Step six: the answer layer
Then the part most audits stop short of: whether a question a customer would ask gets a direct answer on the site, whether the facts are stated plainly enough to be quoted, and whether the entity is defined clearly enough for an assistant to attribute the answer correctly.
What this demonstrates
Method, not outcome. When we run this for a real business the deliverable is the audit sheet and the corrected records — and the reporting is against indexed pages, queries and enquiries, never a ranking screenshot.
The individual steps are written up as guides: why a site is not showing up on Google, getting cited in AI answers, and claiming and verifying a Google Business Profile. The ongoing version is our SEO service.
How this works in practice.
How to add your business to Google Maps, and get it verified
The whole process, in order: what to decide before you start, how to claim a listing that already exists, and how to pass video verification on the first attempt.
How to get cited in AI answers — AEO and GEO, without the hype
What actually changes when the answer is generated instead of listed, which crawlers matter, and the work that makes a page quotable.
How to change your business hours on Google
Regular hours, holiday hours, delivery hours and temporary closures — where each one lives, what the rules are, and why your edit keeps reverting.
Tell us what you are building.
Send us the problem — an idea, an existing product, a site that is not performing. We will tell you what is worth building, what is worth fixing, and what it costs, before anyone signs anything.