The SEO Checklist for 2026: 40 Checks for Google and AI Answers

Quick quiz

Is SEO right for you, and how should you start?

Question 1 of 425%

Do people search Google for what you sell?

Yes, I think soNo, it is new or very nicheI don't know

This SEO checklist follows the order in which problems block results: a page that is not indexed gains nothing from a better title, and a perfect title brings little if the content does not answer the question. Each item links to a guide or a free tool when you need to go further. Google's own SEO Starter Guide remains the reference for the basics.

How to use this checklist

Go through it once for the whole site, then use the on-page section for every new page. Mark each item done, to do or not applicable. Priority 1 items block indexing or ranking; priority 2 items improve results; priority 3 items are refinements.

1. Setup checklist

1. Verify your site in Google Search Console (priority 1) and in Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. Install analytics (priority 1) and mark your key conversions.
3. Submit an XML sitemap in Search Console (priority 1); the free sitemap checker validates it.
4. Check robots.txt (priority 1): nothing important blocked; test it with the robots.txt checker.
5. Choose one preferred domain (with or without www, always HTTPS) and redirect the others with 301s (priority 1).

2. Technical SEO checklist

6. Indexing: no important page excluded in the Page indexing report (priority 1).
7. No accidental noindex on pages that should rank (priority 1).
8. HTTPS everywhere, no mixed content (priority 1).
9. Mobile-friendly pages: Google indexes the mobile version first (priority 1).
10. Core Web Vitals in the "good" range: LCP, INP and CLS, as defined on web.dev (priority 2; see Core Web Vitals).
11. No broken pages or redirect chains on internal links (priority 2).
12. Canonical tags on duplicate or filtered pages (priority 2).
13. Clean URL structure: short, readable, lowercase, hyphens (priority 2).
14. Logical architecture: every important page within three clicks of the home page (priority 2).
15. Structured data where relevant (Organization, Product, Article, FAQ, LocalBusiness), consistent with the visible text (priority 3).

3. On-page SEO checklist

16. One main keyword and its intent per page, no two pages targeting the same query (priority 1).
17. Title tag of 50 to 60 characters with the keyword near the start (priority 1).
18. Meta description of 120 to 160 characters that answers and invites the click (priority 2); the meta description generator drafts one.
19. One H1 and logical H2/H3 headings, phrased as questions when natural (priority 2; see HTML tags for SEO).
20. Keyword in the first 100 words and in at least one H2, written naturally (priority 2).
21. Images compressed, with descriptive alt text and explicit dimensions (priority 2; see image SEO).
22. Internal links to and from related pages, with descriptive anchors (priority 1; see internal linking).
23. Readable URL containing the topic (priority 3).

The free on-page audit checks most of these items on a single URL.

4. Content checklist

24. The page answers the query better than the current top results: more complete, more precise or more recent (priority 1).
25. A direct answer at the top of the page and of each section, in two to four sentences (priority 1).
26. Original information: data, examples, screenshots, experience that others do not have (priority 2), in line with Google's guidance on helpful, people-first content.
27. Sources cited for every figure, with links to the original (priority 2).
28. Tables and lists for comparisons and steps (priority 2).
29. Updated regularly: dates, prices and figures checked at least once a year (priority 2).

5. Links and authority checklist

30. Earn links from relevant sites: partners, industry media, directories of your field (priority 2; see how to get backlinks).
31. Avoid link spam: no bought links that pass ranking credit, no link farms, as listed in Google's spam policies (priority 1).
32. Monitor your referring domains each month with the free backlink analysis (priority 3).
33. Claim unlinked mentions of your brand (priority 3).

6. Local SEO checklist

34. Google Business Profile complete and verified: categories, hours, photos, services (priority 1 for local businesses).
35. Same name, address and phone everywhere online (priority 2).
36. One page per location or service area with real local content (priority 2; see local landing pages).

7. AI visibility (GEO) checklist

37. AI crawlers allowed in robots.txt (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended according to your choice) (priority 1).
38. Answer-first passages and tables on your key pages, so assistants can quote them (priority 2).
39. Consistent brand information across your site, profiles and directories (priority 2).
40. Track your brand in AI answers on a fixed list of buyer questions (priority 2), manually or with AI mention tracking. An llms.txt file is optional.

How to turn the checklist into a routine

Fix priority 1 items first, then work through priority 2 page by page, starting with the pages that already get impressions in Search Console. Repeat the technical section each quarter and the links and GEO sections each month. For the reasoning behind each item, read our guide to SEO best practices.

Most of the checklist is a one-time setup; the part that never ends is publishing useful pages and earning mentions. Sorank, SEO and GEO software that runs on autopilot, handles that part: it finds keywords, writes and publishes optimized articles with internal links, obtains natural backlinks automatically and tracks your brand in AI answers. See the Sorank plans, with a 3-day free trial.