Check reference
Every check in the audit, and the rule behind it.
A Suede Audit report runs 28 weighted checks against one public homepage and three root discovery files. This reference documents each one: the signal it reads, the exact rule the scanner applies, why search engines and AI crawlers care, and how to clear a failure. Every rule is read from the open scoring code.
How the weights add up
Each check carries a severity. High counts 5 points, medium 3 and low 1. The 28 checks add up to 90 points: 10 high checks worth 50, 11 medium checks worth 33, and 7 low checks worth 7. The readiness score is the share of those points a page earns, rounded to a whole number. One failed high check costs about 5.6 points of the score, a medium check about 3.3, and a low check about 1.1.
Checks roll up into three pillars, scored the same way: Discoverability (13 checks, 49 points), Entity evidence (3 checks, 13 points) and Content clarity (12 checks, 28 points). Grades use the same bands everywhere: A from 90, B from 80, C from 70, D from 55, and F below 55. The method page covers what the audit fetches and how results are cached.
Discoverability: 13 checks, 49 points
| Check | Lane | Severity, points | Passes when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page returns a successful response | Access | High, 5 | Final response is 2xx |
| Page is served over HTTPS | Access | High, 5 | Final URL uses https |
| Page can be indexed | Access | High, 5 | Robots meta has no noindex |
| Document language is declared | Access | Low, 1 | html tag has a lang attribute |
| Canonical link is declared | Technical | Medium, 3 | A rel="canonical" link exists |
| Mobile viewport is declared | Technical | High, 5 | A viewport meta tag exists |
| robots.txt is available | Technical | Low, 1 | /robots.txt returns 2xx |
| XML sitemap is available | Technical | Medium, 3 | /sitemap.xml returns 2xx |
| OpenAI search crawler can access the homepage | AI discovery | High, 5 | OAI-SearchBot not blocked from / |
| Claude search crawler can access the homepage | AI discovery | High, 5 | Claude-SearchBot not blocked from / |
| Perplexity crawler can access the homepage | AI discovery | High, 5 | PerplexityBot not blocked from / |
| Google discovery crawler can access the homepage | AI discovery | High, 5 | Googlebot not blocked from / |
| llms.txt evidence index is available | AI discovery | Low, 1 | /llms.txt returns 2xx with text |
Entity evidence: 3 checks, 13 points
| Check | Lane | Severity, points | Passes when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valid JSON-LD is present | Entity | High, 5 | One JSON-LD block parses |
| A primary entity type is declared | Entity | High, 5 | Organization, Corporation, LocalBusiness, OnlineBusiness or Person declared |
| Entity identity links are declared | Entity | Medium, 3 | A node declares sameAs |
Content clarity: 12 checks, 28 points
| Check | Lane | Severity, points | Passes when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title is specific and scannable | Metadata | Medium, 3 | Title is 15 to 60 characters |
| Meta description explains the page | Metadata | Medium, 3 | Description is 50 to 160 characters |
| Open Graph title and image are present | Metadata | Low, 1 | og:title and og:image present |
| X card metadata is present | Metadata | Low, 1 | twitter:card present |
| A favicon is declared | Metadata | Low, 1 | icon or shortcut icon link present |
| Page has exactly one H1 | Content | Medium, 3 | Exactly one H1 |
| Images declare alt attributes | Content | Low, 1 | No img without an alt attribute |
| Page has substantive readable content | Content | Medium, 3 | 300 words or more |
| Page uses explanatory H2 sections | Content | Medium, 3 | Two or more H2 |
| Page sections fit one retrieval chunk | Content | Medium, 3 | No heading section over 375 words |
| Page points to supporting internal evidence | Content | Medium, 3 | Three or more same-host links |
| HTML response stays under 300 KB | Performance | Medium, 3 | HTML is 300 KB or less |
Reported beside the score
Three crawler tokens that control model training or AI use, GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended, are read from the same robots.txt with the same rule and shown in their own panel. They never change the score; the crawler access page explains why. The evidence summary, which lists the title, description, language, canonical, schema types, image alt counts and sitemap entries the audit found, is reported without scoring too.
Reference pages
- Page access and indexing: Status code, HTTPS, noindex, canonical, viewport, language and HTML weight.
- Crawler access: How robots.txt is read for OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Googlebot.
- Discovery files: Whether robots.txt, sitemap.xml and llms.txt answer at the site root.
- Structured data and entity: Valid JSON-LD, a primary entity type, and sameAs identity links.
- Titles, descriptions and share metadata: Title and description length, Open Graph, X card and favicon.
- Headings, content and links: One H1, two H2 sections, 300 words, three internal links and image alt attributes.
- Retrieval chunk size: Whether every heading section fits in one 375-word retrieval chunk.
Related Suede guides
- Scoring and lanes, Suede Signal Docs: the Suede Signal methodology: five weighted lanes, 26 deterministic checks, and A to F grade bands.
- Technical SEO Services: Fix Crawl and Indexing Gaps: Suede AI fixes crawlability, indexing, canonicals, internal links and performance in your CMS or codebase.