aiVIP · AI Visibility Improvement Programme
Your aiVIP Scanner Results — Explained
Your website may look perfectly good to a human visitor while still making life unnecessarily difficult for search engines, AI systems and other automated services trying to understand it.
Technical Health
Before search engines or AI systems can understand what your business does, they first need to be able to access and process your website reliably. Think of this as checking that the building itself is accessible and structurally sound before worrying about the signs on the doors.
Homepage Availability
What is it?
This checks whether your website's main page can be successfully reached and returns a usable response.
Why should I care?
Your homepage is often the main starting point for customers, search engines and automated systems trying to identify your business. If it cannot be reliably accessed, everything else becomes more difficult.
What does good look like?
Your homepage should load normally without errors, unexpected blocks or broken redirects.
What should I do if there is a problem?
Check your hosting, domain configuration, redirects and website application. A persistent availability problem should normally be treated as a high priority.
HTTPS Transport
What is it?
HTTPS creates an encrypted connection between your website and its visitors. It is normally indicated by an address beginning with https://.
Why should I care?
HTTPS protects information travelling between the visitor and your website and is now a basic expectation of a professional website. It also provides a stronger trust and security foundation for browsers, search engines and customers.
What does good look like?
Important pages should be available through HTTPS, and visitors using an old HTTP address should be redirected safely to the HTTPS version.
What should I do?
Check your SSL/TLS certificate and website configuration. HTTPS problems should generally be corrected promptly.
Security and Caching Headers
What is it?
Websites can send additional HTTP instructions when delivering a page. These can tell browsers how to handle security, privacy and caching.
Why should I care?
Appropriate headers can help protect visitors, reduce unnecessary security risks and improve how efficiently website content is delivered.
What does good look like?
A professionally configured website should use sensible security and caching policies appropriate to the application rather than simply relying on browser defaults.
What should I do?
Ask your developer or hosting provider to review the headers being returned. The correct solution should be chosen for your particular website rather than adding settings blindly.
Favicon Declaration
What is it?
A favicon is the small icon associated with your website that can appear in browser tabs, bookmarks and some search interfaces.
Why should I care?
It is a small detail, but it helps people recognise your business and contributes to a consistent, professional digital identity.
What does good look like?
Your website clearly declares an appropriate favicon that browsers can retrieve successfully.
What should I do?
Add or correctly reference your favicon within the website.
Responsive Viewport
What is it?
The responsive viewport setting helps browsers display your website correctly on different screen sizes, particularly smartphones and tablets.
Why should I care?
A website that works well on desktop but is difficult to use on a phone can lose visitors and create a poor customer experience.
What does good look like?
The page contains an appropriate viewport declaration and the website itself is designed responsively.
What should I do?
Ask your web developer to check the mobile configuration and responsive design of the site.
AI Access
AI-powered discovery creates an additional question for website owners: can the automated systems behind AI services actually access the information you want them to find? These checks help you understand the access signals your website currently provides.
robots.txt
What is it?
robots.txt is a small file, normally located at the root of your website, that gives automated crawlers instructions about which parts of the site they may or may not crawl.
Why should I care?
Incorrect instructions can unintentionally prevent important parts of your website from being accessed.
What does good look like?
Your robots.txt file should be accessible, intentional and consistent with the pages and automated services you want to allow.
What should I do?
Review the file carefully before changing it. A badly configured robots.txt file can accidentally block content you want people to find.
llms.txt
What is it?
llms.txt is a proposed website file intended to provide AI and language-model systems with useful information about a website and its content.
Why should I care?
It is an emerging and experimental convention rather than a universal AI visibility requirement. Its presence can demonstrate preparation for systems that choose to support it.
What does good look like?
If used, the file should contain accurate, useful information and point towards genuinely valuable website resources.
What if it is missing?
Do not panic. Consider it a supplementary AI-readiness measure, not a replacement for strong content, crawlability, structured information and genuine authority.
llms-full.txt
What is it?
llms-full.txt is another experimental approach intended to make a larger body of useful website information available in a format language-model systems could potentially consume.
Why should I care?
Adoption is not universal and its practical value depends on whether external systems choose to use it.
What does good look like?
Where implemented, it should contain useful, current and accurate information rather than simply duplicating large quantities of low-value content.
What if it is missing?
Treat it as an optional opportunity to investigate, not evidence that your website is fundamentally unprepared for AI search.
AI Crawler Access Matrix
What is it?
Different AI companies may operate different automated crawlers. The matrix provides a clearer picture of which identified crawlers appear to be permitted or restricted by your website.
Why should I care?
If your objective is to increase discovery through AI-powered services, unintentionally blocking relevant crawlers may work against that objective.
What does good look like?
There is no universal “allow everything” answer. Your crawler policy should reflect your commercial, privacy, content and AI-visibility objectives.
What should I do?
Review blocked crawlers individually and decide whether each restriction is intentional.
Discoverability
Creating good content is only useful if it can be found. Discoverability checks look for signals that help search engines and other automated systems find your pages, identify preferred versions and understand whether pages are intended to be indexed.
XML Sitemap
What is it?
An XML sitemap is a machine-readable list of important website URLs.
Why should I care?
It gives search engines a useful route to discovering pages, particularly on larger or frequently changing websites.
What does good look like?
Your sitemap should be accessible and contain the important, indexable pages you want discovered.
What should I do if it is missing?
Consider generating an XML sitemap and keeping it updated as your website changes.
Sitemap Index
What is it?
A sitemap index is a master file that points to multiple individual sitemap files.
Why should I care?
It can make larger or more complex websites easier to organise and crawl.
What does good look like?
If your site needs multiple sitemaps, the index should correctly reference them and remain current.
What if I don't have one?
Small websites may not need a sitemap index at all, so a missing index is not automatically a problem.
Sitemap Declared in robots.txt
What is it?
Your robots.txt file can tell crawlers where your XML sitemap is located.
Why should I care?
It provides another straightforward way for automated systems to find your sitemap.
What does good look like?
robots.txt contains the correct location of the site's sitemap where appropriate.
What should I do if it is missing?
Consider adding the sitemap location after confirming that the sitemap itself is correct.
Page Title
What is it?
The page title is the HTML title assigned to a webpage and can be used by browsers and search engines to identify what the page is about.
Why should I care?
A vague title such as “Home” tells both people and machines very little. A descriptive title helps establish the subject, business or purpose of the page.
What does good look like?
Each important page should have a concise, descriptive and relevant title.
Business benefit
Clearer titles can help potential visitors and automated systems understand the relevance of a page more quickly.
Meta Description
What is it?
A meta description is a short description of a webpage contained within its HTML.
Why should I care?
Search engines may use it when presenting your page in search results, although they can also generate their own description. A useful description helps potential visitors understand why the page may be relevant.
What does good look like?
It accurately and persuasively summarises the page without keyword stuffing or exaggerated claims.
What should I do?
Review important pages individually and write descriptions that accurately reflect their real content and purpose.
Canonical URL
What is it?
A canonical URL helps indicate which version of a page should be treated as the preferred version when similar or duplicate URLs exist.
Why should I care?
Without clear canonicalisation, multiple versions of similar content can create unnecessary ambiguity.
What does good look like?
Important pages identify the correct preferred URL where canonicalisation is appropriate.
Common misunderstanding
A missing canonical declaration does not automatically prevent a page from being indexed or discovered. Search engines can select a canonical themselves.
Indexing Directive
What is it?
Webpages can contain instructions telling search engines whether they should normally be indexed.
Why should I care?
A page containing a noindex instruction may be deliberately excluded from conventional search results. That is useful for some pages but potentially serious if applied accidentally to an important sales or information page.
What does good look like?
Pages you want discovered should normally be indexable, while deliberate exclusions should be intentional.
What should I do if an important page is blocked?
Investigate promptly and confirm whether the instruction is intentional before changing it.
Content & Entity
Being technically accessible is only the beginning. Search and AI systems still have to answer basic questions: Who are you? What do you do? Who do you help? Where do you operate? Clear information benefits machines — but more importantly, it benefits potential customers.
Primary Heading
What is it?
The primary heading, commonly an H1, identifies the main subject of a webpage.
Why should I care?
It provides an immediate clue about what the page is actually about.
What does good look like?
The main heading clearly describes the subject, service, product or purpose of the page rather than relying entirely on clever or ambiguous marketing language.
What should I do?
Rewrite unclear headings so someone arriving for the first time can quickly understand the page.
Document Language
What is it?
A webpage can explicitly declare the language in which its content is written.
Why should I care?
This helps browsers, accessibility technologies and automated systems interpret the page correctly.
What does good look like?
The declared language matches the primary language of the page.
What should I do?
Check that each language version of your website declares the appropriate language.
Business and Contact Signals
What is it?
Visible clues identifying the organisation behind the website, such as its business name, location, contact information and other identifying details.
Why should I care?
Customers and automated systems both benefit from being able to answer a very basic question: “Who is actually behind this website?” Clear and consistent information can reduce ambiguity and improve confidence.
What does good look like?
Important business details are easy to find, accurate and consistent across relevant pages.
What should I do if signals are weak?
Strengthen About, Contact and relevant service pages with clear factual information about the organisation.
Open Graph Metadata
What is it?
Open Graph metadata provides information that social networks and other services can use when a webpage is shared, including title, description and preview image.
Why should I care?
Correct metadata can make shared links look more professional, recognisable and useful.
What does good look like?
Important pages provide accurate titles, descriptions, URLs and appropriate images where relevant.
Business benefit
Better link presentation can make your content easier for people to recognise and understand when it is shared.
Structured Data
Humans can often work out that a name is a company, another piece of text is an address and another section describes a service. Machines sometimes benefit from more explicit clues. Structured data adds machine-readable information that helps eligible systems understand what particular information represents.
JSON-LD Structured Data
What is it?
JSON-LD is a commonly used method of adding structured, machine-readable information to webpages. It can describe appropriate information about organisations, webpages, products, services, articles and other entities.
Why should I care?
Correct structured data can reduce ambiguity and make important information more explicitly understandable to compatible systems.
What does good look like?
The markup is valid, relevant and consistent with the information customers can actually see on the page.
What should I do if it is missing?
First determine which structured information is genuinely appropriate. Do not add schema simply to “tick a box”. Correct, truthful implementation is more important than quantity.
Accessibility
A good website should work for as many people as reasonably possible. Accessibility measures help visitors who use screen readers, keyboards or other assistive technologies, and frequently encourage clearer, better-structured websites for everyone.
Image Alternative Text
What is it?
Alternative text — usually called alt text — provides a written description or alternative for an image when appropriate.
Why should I care?
People using screen readers may not be able to see an image. Useful alternative text can communicate information that would otherwise be unavailable. It can also help automated systems understand the purpose of meaningful images.
What does good look like?
Informative images have useful, concise alternative text appropriate to their purpose. Purely decorative images may correctly use empty alternative text.
What should I do?
Review important images individually rather than filling every alt attribute with keywords. Ask: “If someone could not see this image, what useful information would they be missing?”
Form Labels
What is it?
Form labels identify what information a form field is asking the visitor to enter, such as Name, Email Address, Telephone Number or Company.
Why should I care?
Clear labels make forms easier for everyone to understand and are particularly important for people using assistive technologies. Poorly labelled forms can create unnecessary friction at exactly the point where a visitor is trying to contact you or become a customer.
What does good look like?
Important form fields have clear, properly associated labels rather than relying only on placeholder text or visual position.
What should I do?
Ask your developer or form provider to review the form's accessibility and ensure fields are correctly labelled.
How to Interpret Your Results
Do not judge your website simply by counting green ticks and red crosses. Some findings are much more important than others.
For example, an inaccessible homepage or an accidental noindex instruction can be significantly more important than a missing favicon or an experimental AI-related file.
PASS does not mean “you are AI visible”.
FAIL does not mean “you are invisible”.
aiVIP measures observable evidence. It does not claim to predict the decisions of opaque AI systems.
From Evidence to Action
The objective is not a perfect technical score.
It is to create a website that is easy to access, easy to discover, easy to understand, easy to trust, easy to use — and easy for the right customer to choose.
Your scan identifies observable opportunities. You can use the guidance above to investigate improvements yourself, or choose the level of aiVIP support that suits you.
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