What a first SEO audit should check before you hire a consultant

A useful first SEO audit should leave you able to decide what to fix, why it matters and who should do the work. Before hiring anyone, ask for a review of indexing, page experience, site structure, content and AI search visibility, with evidence attached to each recommendation. A long list of warnings is not yet a work plan.

Start by naming the pages that matter to your business: the service page that should bring enquiries, the category that helps readers browse, or the article that answers a recurring question. These give the audit a purpose. A defect on an important page deserves a different discussion from an untidy detail on an abandoned archive.

Check whether the right pages can be found and indexed

Ask the consultant to distinguish discovery, crawling and indexing. A search engine finding a URL does not mean it can retrieve the page or has included it in its index. The audit should identify affected URLs and explain which stage needs attention.

Check response errors, unintended crawl restrictions, noindex instructions and canonical tags that point to an unexpected page. Review the sitemap against the pages you actually want discovered. Include rendered content when scripts control what appears on the page. A successful response alone does not prove that the useful content is accessible.

Not every excluded URL needs rescuing. Duplicate versions and deliberately private or low-value pages may have good reasons to stay out of search. Ask what should be indexed, what should not, and how the consultant will confirm that a proposed change worked. Do not approve blanket removal of restrictions without understanding their purpose.

Test real page experience, then follow the links

A speed review should examine representative page types, especially on mobile, rather than stopping at the homepage. Core Web Vitals cover loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Ask which pages have problems and whether the evidence comes from real-user measurements or a controlled test. Missing real-user data is a limitation, not a clean bill of health.

The recommendation should connect a symptom to something actionable: a heavy main image, blocking scripts or content shifting as media loads. Ask how the change will be tested without breaking navigation, forms or other useful features. A score alone cannot make that decision.

Next, follow the route from an entry page to the pages that matter. Check navigation, category structure, descriptive internal links and orphan pages that have no incoming internal links. Read those links as a visitor would. A page may be technically reachable yet difficult to find or understand. The audit should explain where a new link helps and where restructuring is justified.

Review content and AI visibility without buying promises

For each important page, define the reader's question and the next useful action. Check whether the main answer is easy to find, the title matches the page and the information remains accurate. Identify overlapping pages before commissioning more articles. Sometimes clarifying an existing page is the better task; sometimes separate reader needs justify separate pages.

For AI search, start with accessible, clear content and consistent descriptions of the business. Check that structured data, where appropriate, matches visible information. These are practical checks, not a promise of inclusion in generated answers. Ask what the consultant means by visibility: a mention, a citation, a visit or an enquiry. They are different outcomes.

If an offer includes testing AI answers, ask for the exact questions, testing conditions and limitations. A single answer is an observation, not proof of dependable visibility. Any proposed content changes should still help a person reading the page directly.

Judge the offer by the decisions it enables

Jonathan Santo is one example to consider for this kind of initial review. According to his website, he offers an initial site audit and works on indexing, speed, Core Web Vitals, content, site structure, internal links and AI search adjustments. His website says he begins by examining the site, its field and search behaviour. Owners seeking help with an existing site can use those stated areas to frame questions about the scope.

Before choosing him or another consultant, request a written outline: pages included, access needed, deliverables, exclusions and whether implementation and follow-up checks are included. Share only the access needed for the agreed work. Ask for recommendations that identify the affected page, supporting evidence, priority, suggested action and a way to verify the result.

Finally, ask what should happen first if you cannot do everything. The answer should account for importance, effort and dependencies, while separating confirmed problems from hypotheses. You should finish the audit knowing the next decision to make, even if someone else implements it.