SEO and GEO scores explained

Each article shows two numbers out of 100. On the Articles grid they are labelled SEO and GEO; in the workspace, under Links and scores, they are SEO and AI search. Both are audits of the draft's structure. Neither is a prediction about rankings, traffic or whether an assistant will cite you.

What moves the SEO score

The score starts at 100. Every issue takes 10 points, every suggestion takes 5, and the floor is 0. Nothing else moves it.

• Meta title shorter than 30 characters or longer than 60: one issue either way.
• Meta description shorter than 120 or longer than 160: one issue either way.
• Fewer than two subheadings (H2 through H6 count): one issue.
• Word count below the minimum: one issue. The minimum is your target length clamped between 250 and 800 words, so a 1,200-word target has a floor of 800.
• A tracked keyword used more than 3 percent of the time: one issue per keyword.
• A tracked keyword used less than 0.5 percent of the time: one suggestion per keyword.

Tracked keywords are up to six of your focus keywords that share a meaningful word with the topic, plus any keywords attached to the idea, ten at most. Generic words such as guide, best or platform do not count as shared. Density is occurrences divided by total words.

What the GEO score looks at

The GEO score comes from the review pass that also produces the draft's quality report, and it measures how easy the article is for an answer engine to use. It rewards a first paragraph that answers the question in the heading, an FAQ block, plain-sentence definitions, statistics with a source behind them, a summary near the top, and sentences that stand alone well enough to be quoted. Comparison tables count where a comparison is the honest answer.

It does not count keywords. Repeating a phrase moves nothing. For the reasoning behind these signals see what GEO means. If the engine did not return a score, the article stores 0. A card whose two scores are both 0 reads Search scores are being prepared.

Colour bands

These bands apply to article scores. The Site Report uses its own thresholds for site-level readiness; see reading your Site Report.

A worked example

A draft comes back with a 74-character meta title, a 140-character description, a single H2, 1,150 words against a 1,200-word target, and the keyword "sourdough flour" appearing at 0.3 percent.

1. Meta title over 60: issue, minus 10.
2. Fewer than two subheadings: issue, minus 10.
3. Word count: the minimum for a 1,200 target is 800, so 1,150 passes.
4. Keyword under 0.5 percent: suggestion, minus 5.
5. Score: 100 minus 25 equals 75, shown in indigo.

Had the writer produced a 55-character title and three H2s, the same draft would score 95. Working the keyword into two more sentences would clear the suggestion and reach 100. Because the number is fixed at generation, making those edits improves the article without changing the stored score. Use the breakdown to fix the draft, then expect the next article on a similar brief to arrive closer to 100.

What the scores are not

• Not a forecast. Serpio never claims a score leads to a ranking, a visit or a citation.
• Not the quality check. A draft can score 100 on SEO and still be refused for an unsupported claim; see quality checks.
• Not a gate. Scores do not stop approval, export or delivery.
• Not a site score. The Site Report grades your existing pages; these grade one draft.