What is GEO and why does it matter?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It is the practice of making your site visible to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. These are where a growing share of people now search for services. If your site is not structured for GEO, you are invisible to that traffic. Most audit tools do not score for this. Canopy Guard does.

Answer Engine Optimization. It is the practice of structuring your content to directly answer questions. Voice search results, Google AI Overviews, and featured snippets all favor sites built for AEO. It overlaps with GEO but focuses on traditional answer engines and search result features rather than generative AI specifically.

Does scanning my site affect its performance or SEO?

No. Canopy Guard reads only publicly available information, the same data any search engine crawler sees. We do not touch your server, database, or code. Running a scan has zero impact on your site performance or rankings.

What does MITRE ATT&CK mean for my website?

MITRE ATT&CK is a globally recognized framework for understanding how attackers operate. For each security finding, Canopy Guard identifies the exposure condition associated with the relevant MITRE ATT&CK technique, so you get context for what the gap actually exposes you to, not just a number. This comes from Adam's CISSP background and 20 years in cybersecurity.

What does Canopy Guard's security scan check for?

Across nine security layers, Canopy Guard checks TLS and certificates, DNS, HTTP headers, HTML vulnerabilities, and exposed paths, plus four expanded capabilities: malware and reputation scanning against Google Safe Browsing and common blacklists (reported as Clean, Flagged, or Blacklisted); an expanded footprint covering Subresource Integrity on scripts and stylesheets, Secure and HttpOnly cookie flags, full TLS cipher-suite enumeration with weak-cipher warnings, and certificate transparency log presence; expanded DNS and email depth that parses SPF mechanisms and qualifiers, reports the DMARC policy as none, quarantine, or reject, and checks registrar lock and days until expiration (flagging domains expiring within 60 days as a hijacking risk); and exposed sensitive file detection for paths like /.env, /.git/config, /wp-config.php.bak, /.aws/credentials, and /admin, reporting any publicly accessible path as Critical. Every check is passive and read-only, and each finding identifies the exposure condition associated with a MITRE ATT&CK technique.

My score is low. What do I do next?

Your full report includes prioritized findings so you know exactly what to fix first. If you want to implement the recommendations yourself, the report gives you enough to work from. If you want it done for you, book a call with Adam. Canopy Guard customers receive a discount on all implementation services.

How is this different from other SEO tools?

Three things. First, GEO scoring is rare at this price point, which is free. Second, the security findings are mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, not flagged generically. Third, there is a real human behind this tool who can implement everything the audit finds. Most tools give you data. This one connects you to someone who fixes it.

Is my site data private?

Yes. Canopy Guard only scans publicly available data, the same information any search engine sees. We do not store your site's private content, login credentials, or analytics. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Do I need an account to get my full report?

No account required to run the scan. When you download your full report, basic contact information is collected so we can follow up if you have questions. That information is handled securely and never sold or shared with third parties.

How does Canopy Guard compare to hiring an SEO agency?

An agency charges a monthly retainer and often reports only on traditional SEO. Canopy Guard gives you the full picture for free across SEO, AEO, GEO, and security in 30 seconds, with findings mapped to MITRE ATT&CK. When you want the work implemented, you hire Adam directly. No retainer, no account managers, just the practitioner who built the tool.

What does a good overall score look like, and what should I do if mine is low?

Above 80 is strong, 50 to 80 means clear fixable gaps, and below 50 signals problems costing you visibility or trust right now. A low score is not a verdict, it is a roadmap. Your report ranks findings by impact so you fix what matters first, and Canopy Guard customers get a discount if you want it done for you.

How often should I re-scan my site?

Re-scan after any meaningful change: a redesign, new pages, a platform migration, or after applying fixes from a previous report. For an active site, a monthly scan catches regressions before they cost you traffic. Because the scan is free and takes 30 seconds, there is no reason to wait for a problem to show up in your analytics first.

Which search engines and AI assistants does Canopy Guard check for?

Canopy Guard evaluates your readiness for traditional search like Google and Bing, AI answer engines like Google AI Overviews and featured snippets, and generative assistants including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. It inspects your structured data, llms.txt, crawler access, and content structure to estimate how each of those systems can find, parse, and cite your pages.

Blog · 4 min read · 2026-06-22

How We Took a Local Electrician's AEO Score from 6 to 91

By Adam McClarin, CISSP · Meraki is Love (Soulful Tech) · Friendswood, Texas

Where this electrician started

A local electrician in Houston, Texas came to us with a website that looked fine and performed poorly. When we ran it through Canopy Guard, the numbers told the real story. SEO sat at 33. AEO, the score that measures how well a site answers questions for AI assistants and search, came in at 6. Security landed at 34.

That AEO score of 6 is the one we want you to notice. It means that when a homeowner in Houston asked an AI assistant for a trusted electrician, this business was nearly invisible. The site had skills, reviews, and years of work behind it, and none of that reached the tools people now use to decide who to call.

What the audit revealed

The free scan is direct about what is missing. For this electrician, three problems stood out. There was no structured schema telling search engines and AI what the business actually was. The content was written for browsing, not for answering. And the site was missing the security headers that protect visitors and signal trust.

Missing schema is the quiet killer. Without FAQ and LocalBusiness markup, a search engine has to guess at your hours, your service area, and what you do. AI assistants guess too, and they often guess wrong.

The answer formatting was the second gap. Pages explained services in long paragraphs, but never answered the plain questions a customer types or speaks. Security was the third. The site was missing headers that browsers and scanners look for, which dragged the score to 34 and left visitors less protected than they should be.

What we changed

We rebuilt the site around what the audit found, not around guesswork. First, we added FAQ schema and LocalBusiness schema so search engines and AI assistants could read the business clearly. Hours, service area, and services became machine readable instead of buried in text.

Next, we reformatted the content to answer questions directly. Each common question a Houston homeowner might ask got a clear, short answer near the top of the page. We kept the detail, but we led with the answer. This is what moves an AEO score, and it is what gets a business quoted by an AI assistant.

We then added the missing security headers and published an llms.txt file, a simple file that tells AI crawlers what the site is and how to use it. Small steps, taken in order, with each change tied to a finding in the scan.

The result

After the rebuild, we ran the same scan. SEO went from 33 to 94. AEO went from 6 to 91. Security went from 34 to 96. The site that was nearly invisible to AI assistants became one of the clearest answers in its area.

The numbers matter because of what followed them. In the weeks after, the client reported an increase in local search bookings and inbound calls. The phone rang more, and more of those calls came from people who found the business through search.

You can run the same free scan on your own site right now. It will show you your SEO, AEO, and Security scores, and it will tell you exactly what to fix. The work that moved this electrician from 6 to 91 started with one honest look at the numbers.

See where your own site stands across SEO, AEO, GEO, and security in about 30 seconds.

Run your free scan Book a call with Adam

Frequently asked questions

What is an AEO score?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It measures how well your site answers real questions for AI assistants and search. A low score means AI tools cannot find or quote your business when customers ask for help choosing a provider.

How long did the results take?

We do not promise a fixed timeline. For this Houston electrician, the client reported an increase in local search bookings and inbound calls in the weeks after we implemented the changes the audit identified.

Is the scan really free?

Yes. Canopy Guard is a free website audit tool. It checks your SEO, AEO, and Security scores and shows you exactly what to fix, so you can decide your next steps with real information.

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