Home / Check catalog / 6. Schema, Local, Trust, Deep Audit / 6.35 Technical SEO Foundations / Crawlability / Indexability / Sitemaps / Robots / AI-Crawl Signals

6.35 Technical SEO Foundations / Crawlability / Indexability / Sitemaps / Robots / AI-Crawl Signals

200 checks in Schema, Local, Trust, Deep Audit. Automated Its subsection has a live automated checker in the engine.

robots.txt — Control, Safety, AI-Friendliness

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.01Validate robots.txt accessible at /robots.txtAccessibleCriticalDeterministic
6.35.02Validate robots.txt returns HTTP 200200CriticalDeterministic
6.35.03Validate no global Disallow: / unless intentionalSafeCriticalDeterministic
6.35.04Validate correct User-agent blocksCorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.05Validate robots.txt includes sitemapsIncludedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.06Validate no conflicting rules across user agentsConsistentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.07Validate no deprecated syntax in robots.txtCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.08Validate robots.txt not blocking assets needed for renderingAllowedMediumDeterministic
6.35.09Validate no accidental disallow of staging foldersCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.10Validate AI-friendly agents not blocked (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)AllowedMediumDeterministic

Sitemap Hygiene — XML, Image, Video, News, Hreflang

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.11Validate sitemap.xml accessibleAccessibleCriticalDeterministic
6.35.12Validate sitemap.xml returns 200200CriticalDeterministic
6.35.13Validate no 404 URLs inside sitemapNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.14Validate only indexable URLs includedCorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.15Validate lastmod fields accurateAccurateHeavyDeterministic
6.35.16Validate image sitemaps correct (if present)CorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.17Validate video sitemaps correct (if present)CorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.18Validate hreflang sitemaps correctCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.19Validate sitemap index not missing childrenCompleteMediumDeterministic
6.35.20Validate sitemap file size within limitsWithin limitsMediumDeterministic

Indexability — Meta Robots, Canonicals, Directives, Status Integrity

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.21Validate noindex/nofollow rules correctCorrectCriticalDeterministic
6.35.22Validate canonical tag present & correctCorrectCriticalDeterministic
6.35.23Validate canonical not self-contradictingConsistentCriticalDeterministic
6.35.24Validate no duplicated canonical URLs across pagesUniqueHeavyDeterministic
6.35.25Validate hreflang tags correctCorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.26Validate x-default exists for multilingual sitesPresentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.27Validate meta robots matches robots.txt behaviorMatchedMediumDeterministic
6.35.28Validate pages return indexable HTTP 200IndexableMediumDeterministic
6.35.29Validate pagination markup (rel=next/prev) correctCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.30Validate canonical not pointing to redirectsCleanMediumDeterministic

HTTP Status Mapping — 200, 301, 302, 404, 410, 500

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.31Validate indexable URLs return 200200CriticalDeterministic
6.35.32Validate 404 pages return actual 404 status404CriticalDeterministic
6.35.33Validate 500 errors absentNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.34Validate redirects use 301 for permanent301HeavyDeterministic
6.35.35Validate no redirect loopsNoneHeavyDeterministic
6.35.36Validate no redirect chains > 2 hops<2HeavyDeterministic
6.35.37Validate 410 used for permanently removed contentCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.38Validate soft 404s not presentNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.39Validate 302 not used for permanent changesCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.40Validate no 200 served for missing pagesCorrectMediumDeterministic

Crawlability — Depth, Rendering, Loops, Faceted Navigation

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.41Validate crawl depth < 5 levels<5HeavyDeterministic
6.35.42Validate pages reachable via static linksReachableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.43Validate no infinite scroll without paginationSafeHeavyDeterministic
6.35.44Validate JS navigation crawlableCrawlableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.45Validate faceted navigation not creating infinite URLsSafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.46Validate URL parameters sanitizedCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.47Validate no dynamically generated sessionid URLs in sitemapNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.48Validate rendered HTML matches raw HTMLMatchedMediumDeterministic
6.35.49Validate hydration not preventing crawlers from reading contentAccessibleMediumDeterministic
6.35.50Compute partial Technical SEO score for Chunk 1CompleteCriticalDeterministic

URL Structure — Cleanliness, Parameters, Consistency

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.51Validate URLs clean, readable, hyphen‑separatedCleanHeavyDeterministic
6.35.52Validate no uppercase letters in URLsLowercaseHeavyDeterministic
6.35.53Validate no encoded characters (%20, %2F)CleanHeavyDeterministic
6.35.54Validate no irrelevant parameters (utm, ref) indexableSafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.55Validate URL slugs match page topicMatchedMediumDeterministic
6.35.56Validate trailing slash strategy consistentConsistentMediumDeterministic
6.35.57Validate URL hierarchy logicalLogicalMediumDeterministic
6.35.58Validate no duplicate URLs resolving same contentNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.59Validate pagination URLs structured (page/2/)StructuredMediumDeterministic
6.35.60Validate each URL has 1 canonical meaningSingularMediumDeterministic

Duplicate Handling — Canonicalization, Merging, Pruning

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.61Validate canonical points to preferred versionCorrectCriticalDeterministic
6.35.62Validate no duplicate indexable contentNoneHeavyDeterministic
6.35.63Validate HTTP/HTTPS duplicates consolidatedConsolidatedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.64Validate www/non‑www duplicates consolidatedConsolidatedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.65Validate session IDs stripped from URLsStrippedMediumDeterministic
6.35.66Validate print‑view or AMP or test pages not indexableProtectedMediumDeterministic
6.35.67Validate canonical not pointing to paginated pagesCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.68Validate query parameter duplicates handledManagedMediumDeterministic
6.35.69Validate faceted pages noindex unless curatedCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.70Validate URL merges/redirects documentedDocumentedMediumDeterministic

Rendered HTML — SSR, CSR, Hydration, Shadow Dom

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.71Validate page content appears in initial HTMLPresentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.72Validate JS-rendered elements accessible in <noscript> fallbackAccessibleHeavyDeterministic
6.35.73Validate CSR apps provide SSR/ISR for crawlersProvidedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.74Validate hydration not delaying content availabilityFastMediumDeterministic
6.35.75Validate shadow DOM elements crawled when neededCrawlableMediumDeterministic
6.35.76Validate React/Vue content not blank prehydrateVisibleMediumDeterministic
6.35.77Validate dynamic components predictable for crawlersPredictableMediumDeterministic
6.35.78Validate actual text present without JS executionPresentMediumDeterministic
6.35.79Validate lazy‑loaded components not hiding core contentVisibleMediumDeterministic
6.35.80Validate SSR & CSR output match content meaningMatchedMediumDeterministic

Crawl Budget Optimization — Pruning, Value Prioritization

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.81Validate no infinite categories/tags generating thousands of pagesControlledCriticalDeterministic
6.35.82Validate low‑value pages marked noindexNoindexHeavyDeterministic
6.35.83Validate paginated archives not bloating crawlMinimalHeavyDeterministic
6.35.84Validate search result pages noindexedNoindexHeavyDeterministic
6.35.85Validate tag pages used only when necessaryNecessaryMediumDeterministic
6.35.86Validate parameter pages not included in sitemapCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.87Validate “filter results” not indexableProtectedMediumDeterministic
6.35.88Validate archive pages pruned if thinPrunedMediumDeterministic
6.35.89Validate new pages discoverable within 1 click via hubsDiscoverableMediumDeterministic
6.35.90Validate crawl budget not wasted on parameter permutationsEfficientMediumDeterministic

Internal Link Structure — Graph Shape, Depth, Signal Flow

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.91Validate internal link graph supports crawl depth <4EfficientHeavyDeterministic
6.35.92Validate hubs link to spokes consistentlyConsistentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.93Validate spokes link back to hubsReturnHeavyDeterministic
6.35.94Validate no orphan pagesNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.95Validate important URLs receive enough internal linksSufficientMediumDeterministic
6.35.96Validate link anchors descriptiveDescriptiveMediumDeterministic
6.35.97Validate no excessive links in navigation barsBalancedMediumDeterministic
6.35.98Validate footer links not overwhelmingBalancedMediumDeterministic
6.35.99Validate contextual links present inside contentPresentMediumDeterministic
6.35.100Compute partial Technical SEO score for Chunk 2CompleteCriticalDeterministic

Render Performance — Speed, Lighthouse, AI-Crawler Friendliness

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.101Validate FCP, LCP, CLS within recommended thresholdsOptimalCriticalDeterministic
6.35.102Validate server response time <200msFastHeavyDeterministic
6.35.103Validate image optimization with WebP/AVIFOptimizedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.104Validate critical CSS inlinedInlinedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.105Validate unused CSS removedCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.106Validate JS bundles minimizedMinimizedMediumDeterministic
6.35.107Validate no render‑blocking JSNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.108Validate lazy‑loading implemented correctlyCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.109Validate AI‑crawlers can load page without JSAccessibleMediumDeterministic
6.35.110Validate preconnect/dns‑prefetch in placePresentMediumDeterministic

Redirect Management — Chains, Loops, Clean Signals

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.111Validate no redirect loopsNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.112Validate redirect chain length ≤2≤2HeavyDeterministic
6.35.113Validate no mixed redirect signals (301/302 conflict)NoneHeavyDeterministic
6.35.114Validate redirect map documentedDocumentedMediumDeterministic
6.35.115Validate old URLs redirect to exact canonical targetCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.116Validate no chain from HTTP → HTTPS → WWW → canonicalSingle hopMediumDeterministic
6.35.117Validate redirect rules do not break assetsSafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.118Validate locale redirects correctCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.119Validate mobile/desktop redirects alignedAlignedMediumDeterministic
6.35.120Validate no legacy CMS URLs indexableProtectedMediumDeterministic

AI-Crawler Compatibility — Stability, Semantic Integrity

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.121Validate HTML deterministic across requestsDeterministicCriticalDeterministic
6.35.122Validate no random content variation on refreshStableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.123Validate no time‑based variance in HTMLStableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.124Validate AI‑agents can parse HTML treeParseableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.125Validate <main> tag wraps core contentCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.126Validate headings predictable for AI interpretationPredictableMediumDeterministic
6.35.127Validate structured data stable and consistentStableMediumDeterministic
6.35.128Validate HTML attribute ordering consistentConsistentMediumDeterministic
6.35.129Validate whitespace/casing does not break parsersSafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.130Validate server rendering not personalizedNeutralMediumDeterministic

Faceted Navigation — Safe Filters, Pruning, No Infinite URL Space

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.131Validate no infinite parameter‑generated URLsNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.132Validate filters append safe parametersSafeHeavyDeterministic
6.35.133Validate filtered URLs noindex unless curatedNoindexHeavyDeterministic
6.35.134Validate parameters order‑agnosticStandardizedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.135Validate category → filter → product path stableStableMediumDeterministic
6.35.136Validate price/size/color filters not indexableProtectedMediumDeterministic
6.35.137Validate multi‑filter combinations not crawlableProtectedMediumDeterministic
6.35.138Validate sort parameters neutralized (noindex)NeutralizedMediumDeterministic
6.35.139Validate pagination safe when filteredSafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.140Validate faceted pages excluded from sitemapExcludedMediumDeterministic

Indexation Health — Search Console, Logs, Coverage

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.141Validate Search Console Coverage errors absentNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.142Validate submitted vs indexed URLs alignedAlignedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.143Validate crawled‑but‑not‑indexed lowLowHeavyDeterministic
6.35.144Validate duplicate without user‑selected canonical lowLowHeavyDeterministic
6.35.145Validate excluded URLs intentionalIntentionalMediumDeterministic
6.35.146Validate page discovered via sitemapsDiscoverableMediumDeterministic
6.35.147Validate logs show even distribution of crawler hitsEvenMediumDeterministic
6.35.148Validate no access‑denied logs for indexable pagesNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.149Validate no drastic index volatilityStableMediumDeterministic
6.35.150Compute partial Technical SEO score for Chunk 3CompleteCriticalDeterministic

Server & Hosting Configuration — Security, Headers, Protocols

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.151Validate HTTPS enforced sitewideEnforcedCriticalDeterministic
6.35.152Validate HSTS header presentPresentCriticalDeterministic
6.35.153Validate HTTP → HTTPS redirect single‑hopSingleHeavyDeterministic
6.35.154Validate TLS version ≥1.2SecureHeavyDeterministic
6.35.155Validate GZip/Brotli compression enabledEnabledMediumDeterministic
6.35.156Validate security headers (X‑Frame, X‑Content‑Type)PresentMediumDeterministic
6.35.157Validate no mixed contentNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.158Validate CDN caching rules correctCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.159Validate server compression ratio efficientEfficientMediumDeterministic
6.35.160Validate HTTP keep‑alive enabledEnabledMediumDeterministic

International Signaling — Hreflang, X-Default, GEO-Targeting

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.161Validate all language versions linked via hreflangLinkedHeavyDeterministic
6.35.162Validate all hreflang URLs return 200200HeavyDeterministic
6.35.163Validate country‑specific pages mapped correctlyCorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.164Validate x‑default exists for global pagesPresentMediumDeterministic
6.35.165Validate hreflang reciprocal linksReciprocalMediumDeterministic
6.35.166Validate no conflicting region vs language tagsCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.167Validate international sitemaps mappedMappedMediumDeterministic
6.35.168Validate geo‑targeting aligns with URLsAlignedMediumDeterministic
6.35.169Validate hreflang cluster completenessCompleteMediumDeterministic
6.35.170Validate no hreflang errors in Search ConsoleNoneMediumDeterministic

Site-Wide HTML Sanity — Consistency, Validation, Structure

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.171Validate HTML passes W3C validationValidHeavyDeterministic
6.35.172Validate <title> present on every pagePresentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.173Validate <meta charset> correct (UTF‑8)CorrectHeavyDeterministic
6.35.174Validate <html lang=""> correctCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.175Validate no duplicated <main> tagsNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.176Validate ARIA roles used correctlyCorrectMediumDeterministic
6.35.177Validate semantic tags (<article>, <section>) consistentConsistentMediumDeterministic
6.35.178Validate no malformed HTML blocksCleanMediumDeterministic
6.35.179Validate no duplicate IDsNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.180Validate iframes sandboxedSafeMediumDeterministic

Advanced Crawlability — Log Analysis, Behavior, Bot Patterns

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.181Validate logs show consistent crawl behaviorConsistentCriticalDeterministic
6.35.182Validate crawl spikes not caused by duplicate trapsCleanHeavyDeterministic
6.35.183Validate indexable pages receiving sufficient crawl hitsSufficientHeavyDeterministic
6.35.184Validate anomalies in bot activity identifiedIdentifiedMediumDeterministic
6.35.185Validate crawl-delay not requiredNot requiredMediumDeterministic
6.35.186Validate no large dead zones in site crawlNoneMediumDeterministic
6.35.187Validate JS‑heavy pages crawled efficientlyEfficientMediumDeterministic
6.35.188Validate sitemaps discovered via logsDiscoveredMediumDeterministic
6.35.189Validate crawl frequency aligned with content updatesAlignedMediumDeterministic
6.35.190Validate no blocked paths hit frequentlyControlledMediumDeterministic

Full Technical SEO Validation — Holistic Check & Final Scoring

IDCheckPasses whenWeightRuns
6.35.191Validate no major crawlability blockersNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.192Validate no major indexability blockersNoneCriticalDeterministic
6.35.193Validate consistent signals across robots + sitemaps + canonicalsConsistentHeavyDeterministic
6.35.194Validate server behavior predictable for crawlersPredictableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.195Validate URL structure stable across sessionsStableHeavyDeterministic
6.35.196Validate technical signals match structured dataMatchedMediumDeterministic
6.35.197Validate page discoverability highHighMediumDeterministic
6.35.198Validate dynamic pages treated safelySafeMediumDeterministic
6.35.199Identify remaining technical gapsIdentifiedMediumDeterministic
6.35.200Compute full TECHNICAL SEO composite scoreFinalizedCriticalDeterministic

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