Guide · Agent skill
How to use the AI SEO agent skill: audit and optimize for AI citations
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The ai-seo skill gives an AI agent a structured playbook for getting your web pages cited as sources in AI-generated answers from tools such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini. It is useful if you want your blog, docs or product pages to appear in those answers, not only in classic search results. After reading this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to ask for help in plain language, and what to check before acting on its advice.
AI SEO Optimizersickn33/agentic-awesome-skills · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the skill. Get the ai-seo ZIP from this directory page and unzip it so you have a folder containing SKILL.md.
- 2Place it in a skills folder. Move the ai-seo folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or .claude/skills/ inside a project. Alternatively, upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
- 3Gather your queries. List 10 to 20 important queries and the pages you want cited for them.
- 4Ask for an audit. Describe your goal in plain language and name the queries, so the agent can start the citation audit.
- 5Answer the agent's questions. Provide context about your content types, goals and competitors. The agent asks for anything missing before recommending changes.
- 6Review changes before publishing. Check every recommendation, verify facts and sources, and get authorization before publishing or changing crawler rules.
- 7Re-test over time. Repeat the same query set later with the same settings to see whether citations change, bearing in mind results vary.
What does the AI SEO skill make the agent do?
Traditional SEO aims to rank pages in search results. This skill targets citation: whether an AI system names your page as a source in its answer. The skill's guidance is that AI systems extract passages rather than whole pages, so content should have clear answer blocks that work on their own.
Once active, the agent works from the skill's instructions to audit how your key queries appear across AI tools, check whether pages are structured for extraction, and review crawler access settings such as robots.txt. It asks about your goals and existing context before recommending changes.
- Audit how your important queries are answered across AI platforms
- Check each priority page for extractability (clear definitions, self-contained answers, comparison tables, FAQ sections, schema markup, freshness)
- Review AI bot access in robots.txt alongside CDN and WAF rules, indexing and preview directives
- Warn against inventing statistics, quotes, author credentials or review ratings
Install the AI SEO skill
Download the ZIP from the skill's page on this directory and unzip it. Skills are folders containing a SKILL.md file, so the folder named ai-seo should end up in one of the locations below.
For a personal install across projects, place the ai-seo folder in ~/.claude/skills/. To limit it to one project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/ai-seo
- Project only: .claude/skills/ai-seo inside your project folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. The skill's description tells the agent when to use it: when you are improving AI visibility, doing answer engine optimization, or working on citation readiness. Describe your goal in ordinary words and the agent can pick the skill up.
Mention your site, pages and queries where you can. The skill asks for missing context anyway, so a clear first message saves a round trip. If you have a product marketing context file at .agents/product-marketing-context.md, the skill is designed to read it first.
- "Check whether our pricing page is citable for the query 'best project management tool for agencies'."
- "Audit these 10 queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews and tell me where we're missing."
- "Review our robots.txt and tell me how AI search bots are treated. Don't change anything yet."
- "Make the 'what is X' definition on this docs page easier for AI systems to extract."
Run a citation audit on your key queries
The skill's audit starts by testing 10 to 20 of your most important queries across platforms. For each query it records whether you are cited, and who is cited instead. Query types to test include 'What is [your product category]?', 'Best [product category] for [use case]' and '[Your brand] vs [competitor]'.
Repeat the observations, because AI answers vary by query, date and location. Keep the query set, locale, product or mode, date and cited URLs so you can compare a baseline with later results.
- Use a fixed list of queries and record the same details each time
- Note when competitors are cited and you are not, then compare structure, freshness, schema and third-party mentions
Check AI bot access before changing crawler rules
The skill separates three kinds of bot activity: search crawling, training collection and user-triggered fetching. It notes that OpenAI documents separate controls: OAI-SearchBot for search, GPTBot for potential training and ChatGPT-User for user-triggered visits. Blocking GPTBot does not by itself opt out of search.
The skill requires authorization before publishing or changing crawler policies. Wrong robots.txt rules can hide a site from search, so review any proposed change with someone who owns the site before you deploy it.
- Read robots.txt together with CDN and WAF rules, indexing and preview directives
- Check each provider's current official bot documentation before recommending changes
- Do not allow crawlers broadly or publish private content just to earn citations
- A crawler rule is not authentication and does not guarantee inclusion
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /Optimize pages for extraction and citation
The optimization guidance rests on three pillars: structure (make content extractable), authority (make it citable) and presence (be where AI looks). Lead each section with a direct answer, use H2 and H3 headings that match how people phrase queries, use tables for comparisons and numbered lists for processes.
The skill's guidance also recommends that statistics and claims carry sources, and that authors be named. Only add figures and attributions you can verify. The skill's own reference notes that word counts are drafting heuristics rather than ranking requirements.
- Add a clear definition in the first paragraph of key pages
- Use FAQ blocks with natural-language questions
- Cite sources for every statistic and verify every quote before publication
- Keep answers self-contained so they work when lifted out of the page
What people use it for
- Auditing a blog's most important how-to and comparison posts for citation readiness
- Restructuring a documentation site so key definitions and steps can be extracted cleanly
- Reviewing whether robots.txt treats AI search bots the way the site owner intends
- Preparing FAQ blocks and comparison tables for product pages
Frequently asked questions
Is the AI SEO skill free?
The source does not state pricing or licence terms beyond the listed MIT licence for the repository. The skill's own guidance says to obtain authorization for paid tools, so check the repository's licence file before reuse.
What do I need to use the AI SEO skill?
The listing shows no required dependencies, no scripts run and no network use. You need an agent environment that supports skills, such as Claude, and a folder containing the skill files.
Where do I install the ai-seo skill?
Place the ai-seo folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps you can also upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does this skill guarantee my content will appear in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews?
No. The skill itself says results vary by query, date and location, and it does not assert a universal uplift. It is a playbook for improving citation readiness and measuring results over time.
Will the skill change my robots.txt automatically?
The skill requires authorization for crawler-policy changes and says to review them before publishing. Wrong rules can hide a site from search, so treat its suggestions as drafts for review.
How is AI SEO different from traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO aims to rank pages in search results. AI SEO aims to get content cited in AI-generated answers, and the skill notes that a well-structured page can be cited even if it ranks lower in classic results.
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Our verdict
Use the AI SEO skill if you are a marketer, content team or site owner who wants a structured, repeatable way to audit AI citations and check page structure and bot access. Skip it if you need guaranteed traffic or citations, or if you want an agent to change live crawler rules without your review.
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