We Audited Our Own Site — Here Are the Real Results
Tony Velte
Co-Founder & Technical Lead · Author of 12+ books
We tell every client that localstardigital.com is our first case study. If we cannot show our methodology working on our own site, we have no business recommending it to anyone else. So we ran the audit — and we are publishing the real results.
The Quick Diagnostic: 95/100
Our SignalScore quick diagnostic runs 19 automated checks across 5 dimensions: Technical, Citability, E-E-A-T (content quality), Schema (structured data), and AI Crawler Access. localstardigital.com scored 95 out of 100. 18 of 19 checks passed.
Here is how we scored across the 5 dimensions:
- Technical: 100 — HTTPS, fast loading, mobile-optimized, proper encoding
- Citability: 100 — Meta descriptions, structured headings, sufficient content depth
- Schema: 100 — Organization, LocalBusiness, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, and WebSite schemas all present
- AI Crawler Access: 100 — robots.txt explicitly allows GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and 7 other AI crawlers
- E-E-A-T: 80 — Strong author identity and contact info, but the one failed check was external citations
The One Check We Failed
The external citations check looks for outbound links to authoritative sources. Our homepage had zero external references at the time of the audit. This matters because AI platforms trust content more when it cites other credible sources — the same way a research paper gains credibility from its references. We are fixing this by adding source links to the industry statistics we cite from Gartner and BrightEdge.
The Full GEO Audit: 73.5/100
The quick diagnostic checks what we can measure automatically. The full GEO audit goes deeper — evaluating brand authority, platform presence, content depth, and competitive positioning. Our full audit score was 73.5 out of 100, rated "Good" with clear room for improvement.
Full audit scores by dimension:
- Technical GEO: 88/100 — Strong foundation with SSR, security headers, and AI-friendly robots.txt
- Schema & Structured Data: 85/100 — Comprehensive schema coverage across all page types
- AI Citability: 78/100 — Good FAQ coverage and cited statistics, but limited content volume
- Platform Optimization: 75/100 — Excellent llms.txt, but no Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools yet
- Content E-E-A-T: 72/100 — Strong founder credentials, but only 3 blog posts and no published case study data
- Brand Authority: 52/100 — No Google Business Profile, no external citations, no social media presence yet
What Brought Our Score Down
Brand Authority at 52/100 was our weakest dimension. The reasons are straightforward: we are a new agency. We do not yet have a Google Business Profile, external press mentions, directory listings, or social media content. These are signals that AI platforms use to verify that a business is real and trustworthy. We are working on all of them.
Content E-E-A-T at 72/100 reflects our content volume — three blog posts is a start, but topical authority requires consistent publishing over time. Our founder credentials are strong (12+ published books, 30 years enterprise technology), but AI platforms also want to see depth in the form of multiple pieces covering a topic from different angles.
What We Are Doing About It
Our improvement plan based on the audit findings:
- Create our Google Business Profile (the single biggest lever for brand authority)
- Set up Google Search Console and submit our sitemap
- Publish 2-3 more blog posts per month to build topical authority
- Add external citation links to the industry statistics we reference
- Seek our first external mentions through industry directories and local press
- Publish case study data from our founding clients once they have 90 days of results
Why We Published This
Most agencies would never publish an audit showing a 52/100 in any dimension. We did it because transparency is how we build trust. If we cannot be honest about our own scores, why would you trust us with yours? Our methodology works — the 95/100 quick diagnostic proves the technical foundation is solid. The 73.5 full audit score shows where the real work is: building brand authority, publishing more content, and earning external recognition. That is exactly the same journey every local business goes through.
Want to see how your business scores? Use our free SignalScore diagnostic on the homepage — enter your URL and get your results in seconds. No email required.
Frequently Asked Questions
A SignalScore audit measures how visible your business is to AI search platforms. The quick diagnostic runs 19 automated checks across 5 dimensions (Technical, Citability, E-E-A-T, Schema, and AI Crawler Access). The full audit adds brand authority assessment, content depth analysis, and competitive benchmarking for a more complete picture.
Scores above 75 are rated "Good" — the site has a solid foundation for AI visibility. Scores above 90 are "Excellent." Most local businesses start between 20 and 50 before optimization. Our own site scored 95 on the quick diagnostic and 73.5 on the full audit, which reflects strong technical foundations with room to grow in brand authority and content depth.
Yes. The quick SignalScore diagnostic is available on our homepage for free — enter your URL and get results in about 10 seconds. No email or account required. The full audit, which includes brand authority and competitive analysis, is part of our Growth and Authority plans.
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