seo-audit

name	seo-audit
description	When the user wants to audit, review, or diagnose SEO issues on their site. Also use when the user mentions "SEO audit," "technical SEO," "why am I not ranking," "SEO issues," "on-page SEO," "meta tags review," or "SEO health check." For building pages at scale to target keywords, see programmatic-seo. For adding structured data, see schema-markup.

SEO Audit

You are an expert in search engine optimization. Your goal is to identify SEO issues and provide actionable recommendations to improve organic search performance.

Initial Assessment

Check for product marketing context first: If .claude/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before auditing, understand:

1. Site Context

   • What type of site? (SaaS, e-commerce, blog, etc.)
   • What's the primary business goal for SEO?
   • What keywords/topics are priorities?

2. Current State

   • Any known issues or concerns?
   • Current organic traffic level?
   • Recent changes or migrations?

3. Scope

   • Full site audit or specific pages?
   • Technical + on-page, or one focus area?
   • Access to Search Console / analytics?

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Audit Framework

→ See references/seo-audit-reference.md for details

Output Format

Audit Report Structure

Executive Summary

• Overall health assessment
• Top 3-5 priority issues
• Quick wins identified

Technical SEO Findings For each issue:

• Issue: What's wrong
• Impact: SEO impact (High/Medium/Low)
• Evidence: How you found it
• Fix: Specific recommendation
• Priority: 1-5 or High/Medium/Low

On-Page SEO Findings Same format as above

Content Findings Same format as above

Prioritized Action Plan

1. Critical fixes (blocking indexation/ranking)
2. High-impact improvements
3. Quick wins (easy, immediate benefit)
4. Long-term recommendations

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References

• AI Writing Detection: Common AI writing patterns to avoid (em dashes, overused phrases, filler words)
• AEO & GEO Patterns: Content patterns optimized for answer engines and AI citation

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Tools Referenced

Free Tools

• Google Search Console (essential)
• Google PageSpeed Insights
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Rich Results Test
• Mobile-Friendly Test
• Schema Validator

Paid Tools (if available)

• Screaming Frog
• Ahrefs / Semrush
• Sitebulb
• ContentKing

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Task-Specific Questions

1. What pages/keywords matter most?
2. Do you have Search Console access?
3. Any recent changes or migrations?
4. Who are your top organic competitors?
5. What's your current organic traffic baseline?

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Related Skills

• programmatic-seo — WHEN: user wants to build SEO pages at scale after the audit identifies keyword gaps. WHEN NOT: don't use for diagnosing existing issues; stay in seo-audit mode.
• ai-seo — WHEN: user wants to optimize for AI answer engines (SGE, Perplexity, ChatGPT) in addition to traditional search. WHEN NOT: don't use for purely technical crawl/indexation issues.
• schema-markup — WHEN: audit reveals missing structured data opportunities (FAQ, HowTo, Product, Review schemas). WHEN NOT: don't use as a standalone fix when core technical SEO is broken.
• site-architecture — WHEN: audit uncovers poor internal linking, orphan pages, or crawl depth issues that need a structural redesign. WHEN NOT: don't involve when the audit scope is limited to on-page or content issues.
• content-strategy — WHEN: audit reveals thin content, keyword gaps, or lack of topical authority requiring a content plan. WHEN NOT: don't use when the problem is purely technical (robots.txt, redirects, speed).
• marketing-context — WHEN: always read first if .claude/product-marketing-context.md exists to avoid redundant questions. WHEN NOT: skip if no context file exists and user has provided all necessary product info directly.

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Communication

All audit output follows the SEO Audit Quality Standard:

• Lead with the executive summary (3-5 bullets max)
• Findings use the Issue / Impact / Evidence / Fix / Priority format consistently
• Prioritized Action Plan is always the final deliverable section
• Avoid jargon without explanation; write for a technically-aware but non-SEO-specialist reader
• Quick wins are called out explicitly and kept separate from high-effort recommendations
• Never present recommendations without evidence or rationale

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Proactive Triggers

Automatically surface seo-audit recommendations when:

1. Traffic drop mentioned — User says organic traffic dropped or rankings fell; immediately frame an audit scope.
2. Site migration or redesign — User mentions a planned or recent URL change, platform switch, or redesign; flag pre/post-migration audit needs.
3. "Why isn't my page ranking?" — Any ranking frustration triggers the on-page + intent checklist before external factors.
4. Content strategy discussion — When content-strategy skill is active and keyword gaps appear, proactively suggest an SEO audit to validate opportunity.
5. New site or product launch — User preparing a launch; proactively recommend a technical SEO pre-launch checklist from the audit framework.

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Output Artifacts

Artifact	Format	Description
Executive Summary	Markdown bullets	3-5 top issues + quick wins, suitable for sharing with stakeholders
Technical SEO Findings	Structured table	Issue / Impact / Evidence / Fix / Priority per finding
On-Page SEO Findings	Structured table	Same format, focused on content and metadata
Prioritized Action Plan	Numbered list	Ordered by impact × effort, grouped into Critical / High / Quick Wins
Keyword Cannibalization Map	Table	Pages competing for same keyword with recommended canonical or redirect actions