Guide · 7 min read
SEO checklist for apps built with AI coding tools
By MarketPup ·
AI coding tools can get an app working in an afternoon. Getting it found takes a few more checks, because the way many of these apps are built hides them from search engines and AI assistants. Here's the list we run on every AI-built app, in order.
1. Look at what crawlers actually receive
Many apps built with AI coding tools are single-page apps: the server sends a nearly empty HTML file, and JavaScript builds each screen in the browser. Google can run JavaScript, though it may take longer to process those pages. Many AI assistant crawlers read only the raw HTML and don't run JavaScript at all.
To see what they see, open your page and use View Page Source (not Inspect). If your headline, description and main text aren't in that source, crawlers that skip JavaScript see a blank page. From a terminal you can check the same thing:
curl -s https://your-app.com/ | grep -i "<h1"If nothing comes back, fix that first. Depending on your stack, the answer is server-side rendering (for example Next.js, which v0 projects often use), static prerendering of your public pages, or moving marketing pages to a simple static site and keeping the app behind sign-in.
2. Give every public page its own title and description
In single-page apps, every route often shares the title from one index.html, so search results show the same words for your home page, pricing and blog. Each public page needs a unique title of roughly 50 to 60 characters that says what the page offers, and a meta description of roughly 140 to 160 characters that gives someone a reason to click. Make sure both appear in the raw HTML from step 1.
3. One clear H1 per page
Each page should have one H1 that matches what the page is about. Generated layouts often use a logo as the H1, or none at all. Use H2 and H3 for the sections under it.
4. Pick one address and point everything at it
New apps are often reachable at several addresses at once: www and non-www, plus a preview or hosting subdomain from the tool or host you deploy with. Search engines can treat those as duplicate copies. Choose one main address, redirect the others to it with a 301, and add a canonical tag on every page pointing to its main URL. If a preview address can't redirect, mark it noindex.
5. Return real 404s
A common single-page app setting sends index.html with a 200 status for any URL, even ones that don't exist. Search engines then see endless "soft 404" pages. Make unknown URLs return a 404 status with a helpful not-found page.
6. Ship a robots.txt and a sitemap
Put a robots.txt at the root that allows your public pages, blocks private areas such as /app or /api, and names your sitemap. Then add a sitemap.xml that lists only your public, canonical URLs. Leave out sign-in pages, dashboards and redirects.
7. Use real links
Navigation built from buttons with click handlers looks fine to people but gives crawlers nothing to follow. Use normal <a href> links between public pages, and link your key pages from your home page and footer.
8. Add structured data
A short JSON-LD block helps search engines connect your app to your business. Organization (name, logo, website) belongs on the home page. SoftwareApplication or WebApplication can describe the app itself. Only mark up what's visible on the page, and never add ratings or reviews you don't have.
9. Write alt text and size your images
Describe each meaningful image in a few words, and leave decorative images with empty alt text. Set width and height on images and serve modern formats like WebP so pages load quickly on phones.
10. Tell Google and Bing you exist
Add your site to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, verify it, and submit your sitemap. Both show which pages are indexed and why others aren't, which is the fastest way to catch problems from the steps above.
A note on llms.txt
Some sites now add an llms.txt file that summarizes the site for AI tools. It's an emerging convention, not a standard that search engines have committed to, so treat it as a nice extra after the checks above, not a replacement for them.
The short version
- Make sure your words are in the raw HTML.
- Give each page its own title, description and H1.
- Use one address, real links, real 404s, a robots.txt and a sitemap.
- Verify the site in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
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