> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.pagefly.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.pagefly.io/page-structure-and-elements/optimization/how-to-use-aeo-in-pagefly.md).
# How to use AEO in PageFly
Get your products found and cited by AI
## How to use AEO in PageFly
Get your products found and cited by AI
#### What is AEO?
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the practice of making a page easy for AI assistants to read, cite, and recommend.
Shoppers increasingly discover products **inside AI assistants** - they ask ChatGPT, Google AI, Perplexity, or Copilot "what's the best insulated water bottle for the gym?" and the assistant recommends specific products.
An AI assistant can only recommend and cite a page it can actually **read**. When AI can't read your page, it recommends someone else's.
#### Two AEO checks, and when to use each
PageFly gives you two different AEO checks. They share the same 0-100 scale and the same four bands, but they look at different things.
| | **AEO tool** (in the editor) | **AEO card** (on your Dashboard) |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Where | CRO Center > Optimize > AEO | **Your store today** > **AEO - Is this page agent ready?** |
| Works on | Your PageFly **product** pages | **Any public page**, including one that isn't yours |
| What it does | Scores the page **and applies one-click fixes** (product data, Q\&A) | Scores the page and points you at what to fix |
| Cost | Check is free; Q\&A generation costs credits | Scan uses no credits; some fixes do |
Use the **AEO tool** when you are working on a product page and want PageFly to fix things for you.
Use the **AEO card** when you want a quick read on any page - your home page, a collection, a landing page, or a competitor's page you want to learn from.
***
### The AEO tool (in the editor)
The **AEO tool** checks how ready each of your product pages is to be read, cited, and recommended by AI, and applies one-click fixes for the parts PageFly controls.
With the AEO tool you can:
* **Run a free readiness check** that scores a product page from 0 to 100.
* **Apply one-click fixes**: add the structured product data AI needs, and add an on-page Q\&A section.
* **Follow plain-language tips** for the things you edit yourself (product details, headings, image descriptions).
* **Test your page in real AI engines** and see whether you show up.
{% hint style="info" %}
You don't need a perfect score to get cited by AI. Even a few fixes make your page more likely to be surfaced and cited.
{% endhint %}
#### Before you start
* **The AEO tool works on product pages.** Open a PageFly product page (a page with a Shopify product assigned to it). If no product is assigned, the tool will ask you to assign one first.
* **Running the check is free.** See Credits and plans for what costs credits.
**Where to find the AEO tool**
Two ways in:
1. **From the page editor** - open the **CRO Center**, go to the **Optimize** section, and click the **"AEO - Agentic commerce"** card. This opens the AEO panel for the page you're editing.
2. **From the AEO dashboard** - the **CRO Center → Optimize → AEO** page lists all your product pages under **"Page AI-readiness"**, with each page's score, status (**Good** / **Needs work** / **Not checked yet**), and when it was last checked. Click **Open** or **Check** on any row to jump into the editor for that page.
#### Your AEO score
When you open the AEO tool for a page, PageFly analyzes it and shows an **AEO score** on a 0-100 gauge. The score is grouped into four bands:
| Band | Score | Meaning |
| ------------------- | ------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Not ready for AI | 0-39 | AI engines can't reliably read or cite this page yet. |
| Partly ready for AI | 40-69 | Some signals are in place; key fixes still missing. |
| Good | 70-89 | Most of what AI needs is present. |
| Excellent | 90-100 | The page is highly readable and citable by AI. |
The color reflects the band: green (Good/Excellent), amber (Partly ready), red (Not ready).
Below the gauge you'll see **One-click fixes** and **Tips** for this page.
**Re-checking your score**
After you make changes, click **"Re-check"** to recalculate the score.
Two rules decide when a change counts toward your score:
* **Product schema fixes go live when you Publish.** After you apply a schema fix, PageFly shows: *"Publish your page to make these fixes live on your store, then re-check.".* Re-check still works before publishing, but the score reflects what's live.
* **Q\&A changes count when you Save.** After you insert, edit, or remove a Q\&A section, save the page and Re-check re-enables.
#### One-click fixes
The **One-click fixes** section lists the improvements PageFly can apply for you. Each fix shows a priority badge (**High** / **Medium** / **Low**), the points it's worth, and whether it's invisible to shoppers or changes your live page.
The two fixes PageFly applies directly are **Product schema** and **On-page Q\&A**.
**Product schema - "Help AI read your price and rating"**
**What it is:** Structured data (called Product JSON-LD) is a hidden, machine-readable summary of your product - name, price, availability, brand, rating - that AI engines and Google read to understand and cite your page. Shoppers never see it; AI does.
**How to apply it:**
1. On the **"Help AI read your price and rating"** fix, click **"Fix now"**.
2. **Publish your page** to make it live. The card badge changes from **Not published** to **Published**.
3. Click **"Re-check"** to update your score.
**If your theme or another app already adds product data.** PageFly detects existing product schema and won't create a duplicate by default (two competing blocks can confuse search engines). Depending on what it finds, you'll see:
* **"You're covered"** - your theme or an app already provides product data. You can **Keep theme's** or choose **Use PageFly's anyway**.
* A note that a provider *"already provides complete Product data - no action needed."*
**To undo.** Click **"Revert"** on an applied fix, then publish.
**On-page Q\&A - "Answer shoppers' buying questions"**
**What it is:** PageFly reads your page and writes a set of shopper-style questions and answers, adds them to your page as a Q\&A section, and attaches FAQ structured data so AI engines can cite the answers. Q\&A is one of the strongest signals for getting cited.
**Before you generate:** your page needs at least **50 words** of content. If it has less, PageFly shows *"Add more text content to your page (minimum 50 words)"* instead of the generate button.
**How to generate and add Q\&A:**
1. On the **"Answer shoppers' buying questions"** fix, click **"Generate Q\&A"**. PageFly analyzes your page and generates the pairs.
2. **Review the pairs.** Each pair has a checkbox. Fully answered pairs are pre-selected; **draft** pairs (common questions your page doesn't answer yet) start unchecked with an **"Add your answer"** link.
* Click a pair to expand its **Question** and **Answer** fields and edit them.
* Fill in a draft's answer and it selects itself automatically.
* Keep answers concise.
3. Click **"Insert answered pairs"** to add the selected Q\&A to your page. You'll see *"FAQ section added. Schema will be active on publish."*
4. **Save**, then **Re-check** to update your score. **Publish** to make the FAQ schema live.
**Language:** PageFly detects your page's language automatically and writes the Q\&A in that language, grounded in the product bound to the page.
**To regenerate:** Click **"Regenerate"** to get a fresh set.
**To edit later:** Re-open the AEO tool on the page; the inserted pairs show under *"Inserted to page. Edit or regenerate below."* Use **"Update FAQ section"** after edits.
**To remove:** Click **"Remove Q\&A from page"** to delete the inserted section.
#### Tips
Below the one-click fixes, the **Tips** section lists improvements you make yourself. PageFly detects the gap and tells you what to do; it doesn't change the content for you. Common tips:
* **"Add concrete product details"** - pages with specific facts (materials, dimensions, use cases) give AI more to cite.
* **"List your specs in a table"** - a spec table is easy for AI to parse.
* **"Describe your product images"** - add alt text so AI understands your images.
* **"Give the page clear headings"** - a clear heading structure helps AI find answers. See Heading structure below.
* **"Let AI crawlers read your page"** - make sure AI crawlers aren't blocked. If this tip appears, read [Your robots.txt is blocking AI bots from reading your pages](/page-structure-and-elements/optimization/robots-txt-blocking-ai-bots.md).
* **"Price & stock load fine for AI"** - shown with a green check when your page already loads price and stock in a way AI can read.
Once your product schema is live, you'll also see an **IndexNow** tip - a one-click way to *"Tell Bing and other engines to re-crawl after changes."* This helps Bing-powered assistants (ChatGPT Search, Copilot) pick up your changes faster. It does not affect Google.
#### Test your page in AI
The **"Test your page in AI"** card lets you search the way a real shopper would and check whether you show up.
1. If your page has more than one product, pick one under **"Preview for product"**.
2. Type a shopper question in **"What would a shopper ask?"** (PageFly seeds a realistic query for you), or use the quick-fill chips **Your product name** and **A need or use case**.
2. Under **"Open this search in:"**, click **ChatGPT**, **Google AI Mode**, or **Perplexity** to run the search in a new tab.
{% hint style="info" %}
Each AI answers differently, so try a few. Use an incognito tab for a more honest result. Not showing up right away is normal - many things affect when AI picks up your page.
{% endhint %}
#### Agentic Commerce
The **Agentic Commerce** section is about getting your products **listed for AI shopping agents** through Shopify (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini). This is set up in **Shopify**, but PageFly can show you the status and hands you off to the right settings.
* If PageFly needs permission to read your store policies and channels, click **"Grant access"**.
* The **"Shopify Catalog readiness"** card shows **Active** when your products are listed for AI shopping, or a to-do list and an **"Open Agentic settings"** button when there's setup left to do in Shopify.
**Give AI more store context.** The Q\&A you add covers a single page. To help AI answer broader questions - policies, brand, general store info - add those details in **Shopify's Knowledge Base** app so AI has more of your store to draw on.
***
### The AEO card (on your Dashboard)
On your PageFly Dashboard, the **Your store today** section has a card called **"AEO - Is this page agent ready?"**. It answers one question about any page: could an AI assistant read this and recommend it?
Running this scan does not use AI credits.
#### Choose what to scan
Open the card's **Choose what to scan** menu:
* **Paste URL** - any public page. It does not have to be yours, so you can scan a competitor's page and see what they do differently.
* **My page** - one of your published PageFly pages. If you have not published a PageFly page yet, this option is greyed out with **"Publish a PageFly page to use this"**.
Paste a full address starting with `https://`. If the page can't be reached you'll see **"We couldn't find this page online. Check the address for typos."**
The score uses the same four bands as the AEO tool: **Not ready for AI**, **Partly ready for AI**, **Good**, **Excellent**.
#### What the Dashboard scan checks
Seven checks. Each carries a different weight, and each is graded **Critical**, **Important** or **Minor** in the findings list.
| Check | Weight | Severity | Passes when |
| ------------------------------ | ------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **FAQ section and schema** | Highest | Critical | The page has a real FAQ block, it is marked up as FAQ structured data, and the questions in that markup also appear as visible text. |
| **Page content depth** | Highest | Critical | The page has at least **100 words** of visible content. |
| **Heading structure** | High | Important | Exactly one H1, and heading levels that don't skip. |
| **Structured data match** | Medium | Critical | The page carries the structured data AI expects for that page type (for example Product data on a product page). |
| **Internal links** | Medium | Minor | The page links to at least **3** other pages. |
| **Descriptive image alt text** | Medium | Minor | At least **half** the images have descriptive alt text. |
| **Spec table or list** | Medium | Minor | A product page has a specifications table or list. |
Two checks only apply to some pages. **Spec table or list** is graded on product and buy-box pages only. **Heading structure** is graded on PageFly pages only. Checks that don't apply to your page are left out, and the rest are rescaled so your score is still out of 100.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Why a page with only small problems can still score low.** A single Critical finding caps the score at 69, and several Critical findings cap it at 39. This is deliberate: a page AI cannot identify is not "nearly ready" just because the small things are in order. Clear the Critical items and the number moves a lot.
{% endhint %}
#### **Heading structure**
Headings are the outline AI follows through your page. Three things break that outline:
* **No H1.** The page has no main title for AI to anchor on.
* **More than one H1.** AI can't tell which one is the page's title.
* **A skipped level** - for example an H2 followed straight by an H4. The outline has a hole in it.
Fix it by giving the page exactly one H1, putting it near the top, and stepping heading levels down one at a time (H1, then H2, then H3). In the PageFly editor, select a Heading element and set its tag in the inspector.
On your own PageFly pages, the finding offers a **Fix headings** button that does this for you.
#### **AI crawler access (robots.txt)**
Under the score you may see a line that reads **"Your robots.txt is blocking some AI bots from reading this page."** This is a warning, not a deduction - it does not change your score. It also cannot be fixed from inside PageFly, because the rule lives in your theme.
It matters more than its weight suggests: everything else on this page is wasted on a page an assistant is not allowed to open.
See [Your robots.txt is blocking AI bots from reading your pages](/page-structure-and-elements/optimization/robots-txt-blocking-ai-bots.md) for what it means and how to fix it.
#### Acting on a finding
Open the findings list and each finding offers one action that fits it - PageFly applying the fix for you, handing it to FlyMate, or opening the page in the editor so you can do it yourself. Findings on a page that isn't yours are read-only.
Some actions use AI credits. The button tells you before you commit, and your remaining credits are always on screen.
***
#### Credits and plans
| Action | Cost |
| -------------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Run the readiness check / score / Re-check | **Free** |
| Scan a page from the Dashboard AEO card | **Free** |
| Product schema fix ("Fix now") and Revert | **Free** |
| Generate or Regenerate Q\&A | **5 credits** each |
| Test in AI, Agentic hand-off, Knowledge Base | **Free** |
**Free and Builder plans** get a one-time **AEO trial of 10 credits, valid for 7 days**. The trial starts when you first open the AEO tool, and each Q\&A generation uses 5 credits from it (enough for two generations).
When your trial credits run out or the 7 days end, the AEO panel is replaced by an upgrade screen:
* **"Upgrade to keep using AEO"** with an **"Upgrade plan"** button.
* The message tells you why - trial ended, trial credits used up, or a higher plan is required.
**Optimize plan and higher** don't use the trial pool - Q\&A generation draws 5 credits from your main AI credit balance, and the AEO tool is never gated. Running the readiness check and applying the free Product schema fix stay free on every plan.
#### FAQ and troubleshooting
**What's the difference between the AEO tool and the Dashboard AEO card?**
The **AEO tool** works on one of your PageFly product pages and can fix things for you - it adds product data and writes a Q\&A section. The **Dashboard AEO card** scores any public page, including pages that aren't yours, and tells you what to fix. Both use the same 0-100 scale and the same four bands. Neither replaces the other.
**Why is "Re-check" greyed out?**
Only when you have an unsaved Q\&A change. PageFly shows *"Save your page, then Re-check to update your score."* Save the page and Re-check re-enables.
**I applied a Product schema fix but my score didn't move.**
The fix goes live only when you **Publish**. Until then the card reads **Not published** and you'll see *"Publish your page to make these fixes live on your store, then re-check."* Publish, then Re-check.
**My page has several products. Which one gets checked?**
The score is for the page, not a single product. Structured data isn't locked to one product - it automatically fills in the details of whichever product the page is showing, so each product still gets accurate data for AI and Google. To preview this, use the product picker in Test in AI and the "What AI & Google read" preview to switch between products.
**My Dashboard score is low but the findings look minor.**
Check whether any finding is marked **Critical**. One Critical finding caps the score at 69 and several cap it at 39, however good the rest of the page is. Clear those first.
**I published everything but I still don't show up in ChatGPT / Google.**
AI re-reads pages on its own schedule (days to weeks), personalizes answers, and varies between sessions. The AEO tool improves your odds; it's not instant or guaranteed. Make sure the page is published and publicly readable, and use the **IndexNow** tip to prompt a faster re-crawl on Bing-powered assistants.
**What's the difference between the AEO tool and Agentic Commerce?**
PageFly's AEO tool scores and fixes how readable your page is for AI on the open web. Agentic Commerce is a hand-off to Shopify's own settings for listing products with AI shopping agents - PageFly doesn't score or change that, it points you to the right place.
---
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