Question 1

Is GoogleSiteScore really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every audit, tool, and guide on this site is free with no signup or credit card. We make money when small businesses hire us for done-for-you Website Rescue work, and even that's optional.

Question 2

What does the audit actually check?

Accepted Answer

16 of the most important Google ranking factors: crawlability, sitemap, robots.txt, title and meta tags, mobile-friendliness, speed, Core Web Vitals, contact info, local schema, privacy and terms pages, Google Business Profile readiness, broken links, calls-to-action, QR code presence, and chatbot readiness.

Question 3

How long does the audit take?

Accepted Answer

Under 60 seconds. You'll get a Google Readiness Score out of 100, plus a prioritized list of the top 5 fixes.

Question 4

Do I need to install anything?

Accepted Answer

No. The audit runs in your browser against any public URL. We never install code on your site and never ask for passwords.

Question 5

Is my website data safe?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We only read public pages — the same ones Google sees. Nothing is saved, shared, or used to train any model. You can re-run the audit as often as you want.

Question 6

Does the audit work for any platform?

Accepted Answer

Yes. WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, Webflow, Framer, Lovable, custom-built sites — the audit and recommendations work on any platform because we're testing the same public output Google sees.

Question 7

Will fixing the issues actually improve my Google rankings?

Accepted Answer

For small businesses, almost always — usually within 2–4 weeks for local searches. SEO is a checklist, not magic. We hand you the checklist.

Question 8

What's a Google Readiness Score?

Accepted Answer

A 0–100 grade for how prepared your website is to rank on Google. 80–100 is excellent. 60–79 is decent but losing traffic to fixable issues. Below 60 means Google is struggling to crawl, understand, or recommend your site.

Question 9

How is my score calculated?

Accepted Answer

Each of the 16 checks contributes to the total. Heavier weight goes to crawlability, mobile-friendliness, and Core Web Vitals because those have the biggest ranking impact. Lighter weight on things like cookie banners or chatbot readiness.

Question 10

Can I run the audit on competitors' sites?

Accepted Answer

Yes — any public URL works. Many of our users start by auditing two or three competitors to see what they're doing well.

Question 11

How often should I run the audit?

Accepted Answer

Every 30 days is a healthy cadence for an active site. After any major change (new theme, platform migration, plugin update), run it the same day to catch regressions.

Question 12

Do you offer a service to fix the issues for me?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Website Rescue. Flat-rate, done-in-under-a-week, fixes every red item from your audit. Reach out via the Contact page if you'd rather not DIY.

Question 13

How is GoogleSiteScore different from PageSpeed Insights?

Accepted Answer

PageSpeed Insights covers Core Web Vitals only. GoogleSiteScore covers Core Web Vitals plus 14 other ranking factors that affect whether your site shows up at all — crawlability, schema, contact info, sitemap, robots.txt, and more.

Question 14

What's the difference between SEO and a website audit?

Accepted Answer

An audit is a snapshot — what's broken right now. SEO is the ongoing practice of fixing what's broken plus building authority over time (content, backlinks, reviews). The audit is step one of any SEO effort.

Question 15

Do I need a Google Business Profile?

Accepted Answer

If you serve customers in a physical location or service area, yes — it's the single most important free SEO move you can make. We walk you through it in our GBP checklist.

Question 16

What is schema markup?

Accepted Answer

Schema is structured data that tells Google what your page is. It powers rich search results — star ratings, FAQs, business hours, prices. Most small business sites are missing it; adding it is usually a one-hour win.

Question 17

Can the audit help me get into AI search (ChatGPT, AI Overviews)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The same hygiene that wins Google search wins AI search — clean structure, schema markup, factual content, proper headings. The audit flags the issues that hurt AI visibility too.

Question 18

Why isn't my site indexed by Google?

Accepted Answer

Almost always one of three things: a stray noindex tag, a blocked robots.txt, or no internal links pointing to the page. The audit catches all three.

Question 19

Do you store the URLs I check?

Accepted Answer

We log the URL in our analytics for usage statistics, but we don't tie it to you personally, sell it to third parties, or use it to train any model.

Question 20

How do I contact a human if I'm stuck?

Accepted Answer

Email us at the address on the Contact page or use the live chatbot in the bottom-right corner. Real humans monitor both during business hours US Mountain Time.

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