Homepage title
Evidence required: Non-empty <title> of at least 3 characters
Source: Parsed homepage HTML
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 3/3 · Scored
If missing: Write a descriptive, unique homepage title.
CRITERIA · 03 · WEIGHT 15%
Search discoverability
Methodology 2.2. Each check records one status; only verified and requirement-not-met results are scored.
SRC-01
SRC-02
Meta description
Evidence required: <meta name="description"> with at least 20 characters
Source: Parsed homepage HTML
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 2/3 · Scored
If missing: Add a clear description of your business.
SRC-03
Primary heading
Evidence required: Non-empty <h1> on the homepage
Source: Parsed homepage HTML
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 2/3 · Scored
If missing: Use a clear primary heading.
SRC-04
Self-referencing, reachable canonical
Evidence required: rel=canonical naming this homepage (same host and path) whose destination is reachable HTML and not noindex
Source: Parsed homepage HTML
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 2/3 · Scored
If missing: Declare a self-referencing canonical URL on the homepage.
SRC-05
Indexable homepage
Evidence required: No noindex/none in meta robots, googlebot meta or X-Robots-Tag (generic or googlebot-targeted)
Source: Homepage HTML and response headers
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 3/3 · Scored
If missing: Remove unintended noindex directives from the homepage.
SRC-06
Retrievable XML sitemap
Evidence required: Sitemap declared in robots.txt (declared target fetched) or at /sitemap.xml, returning a urlset/sitemapindex document
Source: robots.txt and /sitemap.xml
Applies to: All companies · Severity: 1/3 · Scored
If missing: Publish an XML sitemap and reference it in robots.txt.
Google Business Profile & local discoverability (separate diagnostic)
These checks never change the overall score. Unknown or unexposed fields stay “Not tested”.
GBP-01 · Correct business/location identity: User confirmation of a search candidate
GBP-02 · Operational status: Returned businessStatus
GBP-03 · Website link present: Returned websiteUri
GBP-04 · Website link works and reaches this business: Safe fetch; other domains need confirmation
GBP-05 · Name consistency: Name similarity (brand/legal differences allowed)
GBP-06a · Phone consistency: Listing phone vs website tel: links
GBP-06b · Address consistency: Postal code/street number vs website structured address
GBP-07 · Categories describe the offering: Observed type only — accuracy not verified
GBP-08 · Hours information: Regular hours when returned
GBP-09 · Description/services completeness: Not verifiable from public data
GBP-10 · Useful imagery: Photo references only — usefulness not verified
GBP-11 · Review presence: Count/rating; zero differs from unavailable
GBP-12 · Review continuity: Owner-connected review creation dates
GBP-13 · Review engagement: Owner-connected replies
GBP-14 · Profile/website connection: Website link to this confirmed profile