A website brief for SEO, GEO and AEO
“Build a site that performs in search and gets recommended by AI” does not tell a developer what to deliver. A useful brief names the pages, information and actions the site must support, with a way to check each requirement. Search performance can then be measured after publication.
In this brief, SEO covers conventional search needs, GEO covers generative visibility goals and AEO covers clear, complete answers. These are working labels for overlapping tasks, not three independent technical standards.
Describe the starting point
Explain what you sell, who chooses it and what currently makes choosing difficult. Identify priority languages, markets and actions: an enquiry, a demo booking or a purchase. For an existing site, provide its URLs and known platform constraints.
List available evidence: analytics, search reports, sales questions and product documentation. Mark missing data honestly. “JavaScript is why we are not recommended” is a hypothesis to test, not an immediate instruction to replace the platform.
Explain how each requirement will be checked
| Requirement | Acceptance check | Who supplies or approves the information |
|---|---|---|
| Pages answer buying questions | Agreed answers and conditions can be found | Sales and service owner |
| The HTML returned by the server includes the main text | Check the agreed passages in the HTML of sample pages | Editor and developer |
| URLs and canonical tags are defined | Match the URL map to final HTML | SEO owner |
| Language versions connect correctly | Check URLs, language, hreflang and switching | Localisation and development |
| Structured data matches the offer | Compare fields with visible facts | Data owner |
| Enquiries reach the team | Controlled test with an agreed recipient | Person responsible for responding to enquiries |
| Content can be maintained | Editor completes an agreed update | Person who will maintain the site |
Including important text in the server’s HTML is a requirement you can choose for this project. It does not mean every search or AI service handles JavaScript in the same way. List the content that must be present, such as the offer, conditions and product details, so a page containing only its heading cannot pass the check.
Supply one reference page
Choose one priority service or product and prepare its facts, limits, links and intended customer action. Agree on the text, template and checks before creating the remaining pages. This lets you find missing fields before the same problem spreads across translations.
For a migration, add an old-to-new URL map, redirect rules and post-release checks of important journeys. A new site does not need that migration section. See the website rebuild decision guide and multilingual guide.
Assign responsibility for publication and future updates
Name who approves the facts, reviews the technical work and publishes the site. Agree where editable files will be stored, which corrections are included and who maintains the site after handover. When testing enquiry forms, agree on the recipient and identify the messages as tests.
Google’s AI search documentation does not require special AI markup or a dedicated AI file. Guaranteed citations cannot substitute for verifiable website requirements.
Before approving the brief, check that each important requirement names the pages, work, approver and verification steps. You can then discuss a specific implementation scope. If you do not yet know what the current platform can support, an audit can establish that first.
Published: · Reviewed by the geo-rank.ai editorial team · How we check