Free field guide · worksheet included
Your 30-day search visibility plan
Improve discovery in Google and AI search with focused pages, useful evidence, relevant outreach and a measurement worksheet.
No signup required. The worksheet is a blank template. Examples are illustrative unless explicitly identified as observations.
Connect search intent, technical checks, original evidence and relevant outreach. This is a planning method, not a ranking forecast.
Start with five pages and a baseline.
For each URL, name the audience, main question and intended next step. Assign a primary page to each distinct intent. Avoid lightly rewritten pages for the same task.
Record Search Console’s reporting period, impressions, clicks and queries. Record confirmed signups or enquiries in analytics. Mark unavailable data as unknown, not zero. Separate your own test activity from audience behavior wherever possible.
Run six discovery checks.
| Layer | Check | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Public page returns useful HTML. | A normal request can retrieve it. |
| Robots | Review robots.txt, meta robots and X-Robots-Tag. | The checked rules allow the intended use. |
| Canonical | Preferred URL matches content and hostname. | A consistent preferred version is declared. |
| Discovery | Relevant internal links and sitemap inclusion. | There is a path to find the page. |
| Content | Clear answer, examples, sources and limitations. | Readers can assess and use it. |
| Measurement | Verify outcome events and reporting period. | A basis for later evaluation. |
Prepare for Google and AI search.
Google says ordinary SEO fundamentals apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. Supporting pages must be indexed and eligible for snippets. No special AI schema or text file is required.
ChatGPT Search uses OAI-SearchBot; search access is separate from GPTBot training controls. Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot and its published IP ranges. Permissive robots.txt does not prove your firewall admits real crawlers; verify logs when available.
Use Bing Webmaster Tools for verified sites. IndexNow notifies participating engines of changes. It is not a Google submission mechanism and does not guarantee indexing. Submit only public canonical URLs you control.
Create a reason to reference your work.
Publish a tested workflow, original comparison, calculator with transparent assumptions, or small study with a documented method. Keep fictional examples clearly labeled. Approach relevant educators, newsletters, associations or resource-page editors with a specific reader benefit.
Let editors choose whether to cite you. Avoid purchased ranking links, automated comment links and excessive link exchanges. A third-party authority score is not a Google ranking factor.
Work through the month.
| When | Work | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1–7 | Audit five pages and record baseline. | URLs, status and reporting dates |
| Days 8–14 | Improve answers and links; publish one resource. | Before/after content and release record |
| Days 15–21 | Research prospects and prepare five tailored pitches. | Sources, audience fit and drafts |
| Days 22–30 | Review early signals and choose the next iteration. | Comparable periods, unknowns and review date |
Interpret results carefully.
Track independent relevant referring sites, qualified visits and confirmed outcomes. For AI visibility, use a fixed set of realistic questions and record date, product, search setting, answer and cited URLs. A mention, citation and referral visit are different observations. One answer is not a stable rank.
Record other changes in the same period. Small samples limit causal claims. Thirty days can reveal technical problems and early signals; it cannot promise rankings.
Primary sources.
Choose the next page with evidence.
Use this order in your worksheet. Start with the earliest unresolved issue; do not assign a search-volume estimate without data.
- Blocked access: resolve an unintended noindex, broken response, wrong canonical or missing internal link on an important page.
- Existing demand: in verified Search Console data, look for relevant queries with impressions and a page that could answer them more completely.
- Visitor confusion: improve the example, scope, proof or next action when real feedback shows what is missing.
- Missing useful resource: create a worksheet, worked example or tool that answers a recurring audience question.
- Distribution: approach a small number of publications or communities whose readers would use that resource.
Record the page, query or audience question, evidence, proposed change, owner and review date. Compare a meaningful period after publication with the baseline, noting seasonality and other changes.
See a documented release across four owned sites for an example of publication checks. It reports availability and discovery paths, not ranking gains.