> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cognerd.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Run an AEO Report to Audit Your Brand's AI Presence

> Trigger a full Answer Engine Optimization audit in CogNerd and get a scored readiness report with diagnostic checks, fix suggestions, and a PDF export.

An Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) report is a comprehensive audit of how well your brand's web presence is structured for AI discovery. It goes beyond your visibility score to examine the specific signals — structured data, schema markup, content coverage, and optimization gaps — that determine whether AI platforms can confidently represent your brand in their answers. Running an AEO report gives you a prioritized list of fixes, not just a diagnosis.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to Diagnostics">
    In the left sidebar, click **Diagnostics**, or navigate to `/dashboard/diagnostics`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the AEO audit">
    Click **Run AEO Report**. CogNerd will confirm the action since this operation costs **50 credits**.

    <Warning>
      The AEO report costs **50 credits** per run. This is the most credit-intensive operation in CogNerd because it performs a deep audit across multiple dimensions of your brand's web presence. Make sure you have sufficient credits before proceeding.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for the audit to complete">
    The audit runs for several minutes. During this time, CogNerd analyzes four areas of your brand's web presence:

    * **Structured content coverage** — whether your key pages have content AI can parse and cite
    * **Unstructured content coverage** — how well your general web content represents your brand's topics and entities
    * **Schema markup validity** — whether your JSON-LD and other structured data is correctly implemented and complete
    * **Optimization opportunities** — gaps where targeted improvements would have the highest visibility impact

    You don't need to stay on the page while the audit runs. Navigate away if you like and come back when it's done.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review your AEO readiness score">
    At the top of your report, you'll see your **AEO Readiness Score** — a number from 0 to 100 that represents how well-optimized your brand's web presence is for AI answer engines. Higher scores correlate with more consistent and accurate brand representation in AI-generated answers.

    Below the score, you'll find:

    * **Executive summary** — a plain-language overview of your brand's current AEO posture
    * **Diagnostic groups** — organized sections covering each audit area, each containing individual checks marked as pass, fail, or warning
    * **Fix suggestions** — specific, actionable recommendations attached to every failed or warning check

    <Note>
      Diagnostic groups make it easy to hand off specific areas to the right team member — for example, the schema markup section to a developer, and the content coverage section to a content writer.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export the report as PDF">
    Click **Export PDF** to download a formatted version of the full report. The PDF is formatted for sharing — suitable for presenting findings to a team, a client, or stakeholders who don't have CogNerd access.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Work through the failing checks before the warning checks. Failures represent missing or broken signals that AI platforms actively can't use; warnings represent opportunities to strengthen signals that are partially in place.
</Tip>

<Info>
  Run an AEO report again after you've addressed a batch of diagnostic items to see how your score changes. Most teams see score improvements within 2–4 weeks of acting on high-priority recommendations.
</Info>

## Common fixes after an AEO report

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Missing or invalid schema markup">
    If the schema checks fail, deploy the JSON-LD files generated by the [GEO Assets pipeline](/guides/generate-geo-files). CogNerd generates `organization.jsonld`, `website.jsonld`, and `site.jsonld` that are pre-validated and ready to embed.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Low structured content coverage">
    Add an FAQ section, feature descriptions, or a clearly structured About page to pages that are flagged. Structured content — headings, lists, defined terms — is easier for AI to parse and cite.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Low unstructured content coverage">
    Publish more content that links your brand to the topics and entities you want to be known for. Use [Content Studio](/guides/create-content) to generate optimized blog posts targeting those gaps.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Missing llms.txt">
    If `llms.txt` is flagged as absent, generate it via the [GEO Assets pipeline](/guides/generate-geo-files) and deploy it to your domain root. This is typically one of the highest-impact single fixes you can make.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>