AEO Decoded

A practical fifteen-point website checklist, whether you sell stuff or not. Gary Crossey walks through accessibility, privacy, payments, pricing, shipping, returns, reviews, and customer trust, with clear action items for your business.Get the printable checklist: The 15 Web Standards — printable checklistRead the companion blog post: The 15 Web Standards Every Website Should MeetStandards coveredAccessibilityTerms and conditionsPrivacy policyBusiness contact informationCookie policy and tracking consentCopyrightClear button labelsSecure payment and data protectionShipping and delivery policyRefund and return policyClear pricingIndustry-specific complianceLegal disclaimersPromotional disclosuresGenuine reviewsGetting your Google review link and QR code On a computer, open your Google Business Profile. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy your review link. Google also shows a QR code there: right-click it and choose Save image as. Test both before sharing. Google’s current stepsLinks mentionedYour Europe: How to use cookies on your websiteEuropean Commission: Who GDPR applies toGoogle: Tips to improve your local rankingW3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule Q&AGoogle: Prohibited and restricted content (reviews)General guidance, not legal advice. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, industry, audience, and business model.

In this episode, we're diving into AEO content auditing—finding the quick wins hiding in your existing pages. You don't need to start from scratch. Most sites are sitting on content that's already close to working in AI systems; it just needs tightening and smarter structure.We walk through a practical, six-step audit framework you can run in a spreadsheet:Step 1: Build your audit tracker with columns for URL, Page Title, Primary Topic, Word Count, and Last UpdatedStep 2: Add structural health checks—Schema Status, H1 Present, H2/H3 Structure, and Internal LinksStep 3: Run the "answer location test" to see if your best answer sits above or below the foldStep 4: Test AI citation behavior with columns for AI Citation Status, Summary Accuracy, Fact Extraction Quality, and What BrokeStep 5: Check RAG optimization—Will lifting your content in chunks preserve its meaning? Add columns for chunking status and reason.Step 6: Audit evidence and attribution—does your page give AI systems a reason to trust and cite you?This isn't glamorous work, but it's where the easiest wins are hiding. Fix the pages that are close but failing, and you'll start seeing citations, quotes, and visibility—without rewriting your entire site.Spreadsheet Labels Mentioned:URLPage TitlePrimary TopicWord CountLast UpdatedSchema StatusH1 PresentH2/H3 StructureInternal LinksAnswer LocationAI Citation StatusSummary AccuracyFact Extraction QualityWhat Broke?Chunking (Step 5 Result)Chunking Reason (Step 5 Reason)

Welcome back to AEO Decoded with Gary Crossey. In this episode, we're diving into the essential tech stack you need to execute an effective Answer Engine Optimization strategy.Key Topics Covered:Schema markup tools and validationAI visibility monitoring platformsContent management systems optimized for AEOAI testing playgrounds and prompt librariesAnalytics beyond click-through ratesDocumentation and knowledge managementThe minimum viable AEO tech stack for beginnersNo fluff, no sponsorships—just the practical toolkit you need to implement AEO effectively. Whether you're starting from scratch or scaling up your existing strategy, this episode gives you the technological foundation to make AEO work in practice.Related Episodes:Episode 2.1: Entity-First OptimizationEpisode 2.3: Conversation Design PrinciplesEpisode 2.10: Operating Cadence and Organizational ImplementationNext Episode: Episode 3.2 - Content Auditing for Quick AEO Wins

Season 2 Bonus Recap: Advanced AEO StrategiesWelcome to a special bonus recap of AEO Decoded Season 2. This episode pulls together all 10 advanced episodes into one actionable system you can start using today.What You'll Learn:The 20 core AEO principles from Season 2, distilled into three layers: foundational and maintenanceHow entity graphs, schema harmonization, and RAG patterns work togetherMultimodal evidence strategies and E-E-A-T signals tuned for AIOperating cadences and resilience engineering to keep your AEO system runningOne action you can complete this week to build your AEO foundationKey Topics Covered:Entity graphs in practiceSchema harmonization and vocabulary stackingRAG-aware content designPassage-level optimization and chunking strategiesMultimodal evidence and captions as claimsE-E-A-T for LLMsFreshness, versioning, and change logsRedirect hygiene and resilience engineeringIndustry adapters for compliance-sensitive fieldsShare of answers, accuracy QA, and AEO scorecardsOperating cadence and runbook creationThis episode is for you if:You listened to Season 2 and want a merged reference guideYou're new to AEO and want the advanced playbook in one placeYou're ready to move from theory to implementationWhat's Next:Season 3 launches next week! I'll be taking a new site and applying these 20 AEO principles in real time, reporting back on what works, what doesn't, and what changes we see.

In this Season 2 finale of AEO Decoded, Gary Crossey reveals the operating cadence that turns AEO from a one-time project into a sustainable competitive advantage.This episode covers:The quarterly audit framework: entity graph maintenance, schema harmonisation, multimodal evidence reviews, and conversation tree expansionMonthly analytics rhythms: What to track, how often, and what to do when the numbers shiftOwner roles and runbooks: Who does what, and how to make it repeatable without burning out your teamReal-world implementation: How to start small, build momentum, and scale your AEO operations sustainablyGary answers listener questions about convincing stakeholders, running AEO with lean teams, tracking the right metrics, and avoiding the biggest mistakes teams make when building their cadence.Your one action this week: Schedule your first quarterly AEO audit. Pick one audit type, block off two hours, create a simple runbook, and document what you find.Plus: A preview of next week's Season 2 recap and what's coming in Season 3.Related Episodes:Episode 8: AEO Analytics: Measuring Success in the Age of AI SearchEpisode 10: Measuring AEO Success: Beyond Traditional MetricsGot questions? Email [email protected] — Gary reads every message and features the best ones on the show.Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform to catch the Season 2 recap and be first to hear Season 3.