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 to Check If AI Can Find Your Business Online

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

Why this matters right now

Your customers have changed how they search. They used to type a few words into Google and scroll. Now they ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity full questions and trust the answer they get back.

If those tools do not know your business exists, you are invisible to a growing share of buyers. Not ranked low. Invisible. The good news is you can find out where you stand in about ten minutes, with no special tools and no budget.

Here is the plain truth. AI visibility is the new search visibility, and most small businesses have never checked it once. Run the steps below and you will know exactly where you stand.

Step one, ask the AI tools directly

Open ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity in three tabs. Ask each one the same three questions. First, ask about your business by name. Second, ask for the best provider in your category and city, the way a real customer would. Third, ask your brand plus your main service, such as your name and bookkeeping.

Watch for one thing. Are you named, are you described correctly, and are you recommended next to your competitors. If the tool invents details or skips you entirely, that is your answer.

Do this from a logged out or private window when you can. You want the answer a stranger gets, not the one shaped by your own history.

Step two, check what you are blocking

Many sites quietly block the AI crawlers without knowing it. Open your site and add slash robots.txt to the end of your address, like yoursite.com/robots.txt. Read what is there.

Look for lines that disallow GPTBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot, or PerplexityBot. If you see those bots blocked, the AI tools cannot read your pages, learn what you do, or cite you. That is a setting, not a verdict, and it can be fixed.

While you are looking at files, check for an llms.txt file at yoursite.com/llms.txt. This is a simple plain text guide that tells AI tools what your site offers and where the important pages live. Most sites do not have one yet, which means having one puts you ahead.

Step three, confirm AI can understand your pages

AI tools read your site faster when your pages carry structured data. This is hidden code that labels your business name, your services, your location, and your hours in a format machines trust. Think of it as a clean name tag instead of asking a stranger to guess who you are.

To check, open your homepage, view the page source, and search the text for the word schema or for application slash ld plus json. If you find it, you likely have structured data in place. If you find nothing, that is a real gap worth closing.

Round it out with a brand search. Type your name into a normal search engine and see what comes back. AI tools pull from the same public picture, so a thin or messy result there usually means a thin result inside the AI answers too.

What to do with what you find

Run all three steps and you will have a clear scorecard. You will know if the AI tools name you, if your robots file is helping or hurting, if you have an llms.txt file, and if your pages carry structured data.

This is exactly the check Canopy Guard runs for you, for free. It asks the AI tools, reads your robots.txt, looks for your llms.txt, and scans for structured data, then hands you a plain report with the gaps spelled out.

Whether you run the checklist by hand or let Canopy Guard do it in seconds, the goal is the same. Make sure that when a customer asks an AI tool who to hire, your business is the one it names.

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

How often should I check my AI visibility?

Check once a quarter, and again after any major site change or rebrand. AI tools update their knowledge over time, so a result you get today can improve or slip within a few months. Regular checks keep you from going invisible without noticing.

Will unblocking AI bots hurt my SEO or security?

No. Allowing GPTBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot lets AI tools read your public pages, the same pages anyone can already see. It does not expose private data and does not lower your search rankings. It simply lets AI describe and recommend you accurately.

Do I really need an llms.txt file?

You do not strictly need one, but it helps. An llms.txt file points AI tools to your most important pages and explains what you offer in plain language. Few small businesses have one yet, so adding it is a low effort way to stand out.

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