Deep Audit vs. Regular Audit: Which One Should You Run?

The SEO Score API gives you two very different audit modes, and using the right one saves you time, credits, and confusion. This guide lays out exactly when to reach for each — and shows the code for both.

The two modes at a glance

Regular audit (/audit) Deep Audit
Checks 83 14,000+
Output Score 0–100 + category breakdowns LAI 0–5 across 9 sections
Speed Seconds (synchronous) 1–3 minutes (async, poll)
Cost Counts against your plan quota One Deep Audit credit (or included on Pro/Ultra)
Best for High-frequency, automated checks Deep diagnosis and prioritization

Think of it as a thermometer vs. a full physical. The regular audit tells you fast whether something's wrong; the Deep Audit tells you exactly what, where, and in what order to fix it.

When to run a regular audit

Use /audit whenever you need a fast, repeatable pass/fail signal:

  • CI/CD gates — block a deploy if the score drops below a threshold (see our pre-deploy SEO gates guide).
  • Monitoring — check a page every day and alert on regressions.
  • Bulk scans — score hundreds of URLs from a sitemap.
  • Quick comparisons — you vs. a competitor's landing page.
curl "https://seoscoreapi.com/audit?url=https://example.com" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY"

It returns in seconds and gives you an overall score plus Meta, Technical, Social, Performance, and Accessibility breakdowns — everything you need for an automated tripwire.

When to run a Deep Audit

Reach for a Deep Audit when you need depth, not speed:

  • Before a redesign or migration — a full baseline across all nine sections.
  • Client pitches and hand-offs — a nine-section report is a deliverable, not a number.
  • Diagnosing a stubborn problem — when the regular score is mediocre and you don't know why.
  • Answer-engine readiness — the Deep Audit scores AI-readability and structured data far more thoroughly.
curl -X POST "https://engine.seoscoreapi.com/deep-audit" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'
# → returns a job id; poll it until status is "done"

Learn to interpret the result with our guide to reading a Deep Audit report.

The workflow that uses both

The strongest teams don't pick one — they layer them:

  1. Deep Audit once to build a prioritized backlog and understand the site.
  2. Fix the top findings.
  3. Regular audit on a schedule (CI + monitoring) to make sure the score never regresses again.
  4. Deep Audit quarterly to catch drift the fast checks can't see.

That's audit-driven development: a deep diagnosis to set direction, and fast automated checks to hold the line.

Get both modes in one plan. Subscribe — Pro ($39/mo) and Ultra ($99/mo) include unlimited Deep Audits plus the quota and rate limits for continuous /audit monitoring across every site you own. See plans and pricing →