ChatGPT SEO Audit Framework

A proper SEO audit covers hundreds of checkpoints across technical infrastructure, on-page optimization, content quality, and off-page authority. Most audits either miss critical areas or produce a 50-page report nobody acts on.

This framework uses ChatGPT to structure each phase of the audit, produce prioritized findings, and generate action plans you can actually execute.

How This Framework Works

The audit is divided into four phases, each with specific prompts. Run them in order — each phase builds on findings from the previous one.

What you'll need before starting:

• Access to Google Search Console data
• Access to Google Analytics
• A crawl report (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or similar)
• Your target keyword list
• Competitor URLs (3-5)

Phase 1: Technical SEO Audit

Technical issues are the foundation. If search engines can't properly crawl and index your site, nothing else matters.

Prompt 1A: Crawlability Assessment

"I have a website on [platform/framework] with [X] pages. Here's a summary of my crawl report: [paste key metrics — pages crawled, status codes breakdown, redirect chains, orphan pages, crawl depth distribution]. Analyze this data and identify: critical crawlability issues, pages that may not be getting crawled, crawl budget waste, and redirect chain problems. Prioritize findings by impact."

Prompt 1B: Indexability Review

"Here's my Google Search Console indexing data: [paste — pages indexed, pages excluded with reasons, crawl errors]. My sitemap has [X] URLs but only [Y] are indexed. Diagnose: why pages aren't being indexed, which excluded pages are a problem vs. expected, and the specific actions to improve indexation rate."

Prompt 1C: Site Speed Analysis

"My Core Web Vitals scores are: LCP [X], INP [X], CLS [X] on mobile and LCP [X], INP [X], CLS [X] on desktop. My site uses [tech stack]. The largest page weight contributors are: [list from PageSpeed Insights]. Create a prioritized speed optimization plan. For each fix: expected impact on CWV, implementation difficulty (1-5), and specific technical steps for my stack."

Prompt 1D: Mobile and Rendering

"My site uses [describe rendering approach — SSR, CSR, SSG, ISR]. Here are mobile usability issues from Search Console: [paste if any]. Assess: are there rendering issues that could affect Googlebot, does our JavaScript-heavy content get properly indexed, and are there mobile-specific issues to address?"

Prompt 1E: Security and Infrastructure

"Review these technical SEO infrastructure items for my site: HTTPS implementation [describe], canonical tag setup [describe], hreflang [if applicable], robots.txt [paste], and XML sitemap structure [describe]. Identify misconfigurations and missing best practices."

Phase 1 Output

After running prompts 1A-1E, compile the findings:

"Summarize these technical SEO findings into a prioritized action plan: [paste outputs from 1A-1E]. Group actions by: critical (blocking indexing/ranking), high priority (significant impact), and medium priority (incremental improvement). For each action, estimate effort and expected impact."

Phase 2: On-Page SEO Audit

On-page optimization ensures your pages are properly targeting the right keywords with the right content structure.

Prompt 2A: Title Tag and Meta Description Audit

"Here are the title tags and meta descriptions for my top 20 pages by traffic: [paste in a table format — URL, title tag, meta description, target keyword]. Audit each for: keyword inclusion, length compliance, click-through appeal, uniqueness, and brand consistency. Flag issues and suggest rewrites for the worst offenders."

Prompt 2B: Heading Structure Audit

"Here are the heading structures for my 10 most important pages: [paste H1-H3 hierarchy for each page along with target keyword]. Audit for: H1 uniqueness and keyword inclusion, logical heading hierarchy, keyword usage in H2s, and missing subtopics that should have headings."

Prompt 2C: Internal Linking Audit

"My site has these main sections and pages: [list key pages with their target keywords]. Currently, the homepage links to [X], category pages link to [Y], and blog posts typically link to [Z]. Audit my internal linking: are important pages getting enough internal links? Are there orphan pages? Is link equity flowing to priority pages? Suggest 10 specific internal links to add."

Prompt 2D: Schema Markup Review

"My site currently has this structured data: [list schema types implemented and where]. My page types include: [list — homepage, category pages, product pages, blog posts, etc.]. Audit: which schema types are missing that should be implemented, are existing implementations correct, and what new schema opportunities exist for rich results?"

Phase 2 Output

"Compile these on-page audit findings into a page-by-page action plan: [paste outputs from 2A-2D]. For each page that needs changes, list all actions in implementation order. Group pages by priority based on traffic and ranking potential."

Phase 3: Content Audit

Content quality and coverage determine whether you rank for your target keywords.

Prompt 3A: Content Coverage Analysis

"My target keywords are: [list top 20-30 keywords]. My existing content covers: [list pages and their target keywords]. Identify: keywords without dedicated content (content gaps), keywords where existing content doesn't match search intent, and topics where we have thin content that needs expansion."

Prompt 3B: Content Quality Assessment

"Evaluate these 10 pieces of content against current SEO quality standards: [for each, provide title, word count, target keyword, and a brief description of what it covers]. For each piece, rate: depth of coverage, search intent match, freshness, uniqueness, and E-E-A-T signals. Prioritize which to rewrite, refresh, or consolidate."

Prompt 3C: Keyword Cannibalization Check

"Here are pages that may be competing for the same keywords: [list pages with their target keywords, especially any that share similar keywords]. Identify keyword cannibalization issues: which pages target overlapping keywords, which page should be the primary target for each keyword, and how to resolve conflicts (consolidate, differentiate, redirect)."

Prompt 3D: Content Freshness Audit

"Here are my blog posts with publish dates and last updated dates: [list]. Our industry is [describe — how quickly does information change?]. Identify: content that's outdated and needs refreshing, evergreen content that's still accurate, and content that should be removed or redirected. Prioritize the refresh list."

Phase 3 Output

"Create a content action plan from these findings: [paste outputs from 3A-3D]. Include: new content to create (with target keywords), existing content to refresh (with specific changes needed), content to consolidate or redirect, and a recommended publishing schedule."

Phase 4: Off-Page and Authority Audit

Prompt 4A: Backlink Profile Assessment

"My domain has [X] referring domains. Top referring domains include: [list top 10-15]. My competitors have: [competitor 1: X domains], [competitor 2: X domains]. Assess: how does my link profile compare to competitors, what types of links am I missing, are there toxic or low-quality links to address, and what's my link velocity compared to competitors?"

Prompt 4B: Link Gap Analysis

"Compare my backlink sources to my competitors. I have links from: [list main categories of linking sites]. Competitors have links from: [list what you know about their link sources]. Identify: types of sites linking to competitors but not to us, specific link building tactics competitors are using, and the 5 highest-opportunity link types to pursue."

Phase 4 Output

"Create a link building action plan from these findings: [paste outputs from 4A-4B]. Include: immediate cleanup actions, 3-month link building strategy, specific tactics with estimated effort and impact, and metrics to track progress."

Final Audit Report

After completing all four phases, run one final prompt:

"Compile this full SEO audit into an executive summary. Phases covered: Technical [paste summary], On-Page [paste summary], Content [paste summary], Off-Page [paste summary]. Create: a 5-sentence executive summary, a top 10 priority actions list ranked by impact, an estimated timeline for implementation, and the KPIs to track improvement over the next 6 months."

Tips for Running This Audit

1. Gather data first. The quality of this audit depends entirely on the data you feed into the prompts. Spend time pulling accurate data from GSC, GA, and your crawl tool before starting.

2. Run phases in order. Technical issues can cause symptoms that look like content or on-page problems. Fix the foundation first.

3. Be specific with numbers. "Our traffic dropped" is less useful than "Organic traffic dropped 23% from January to February, primarily on /blog/ pages."

4. Validate AI recommendations. Cross-reference suggestions against your actual data. AI may suggest fixing issues that don't exist on your site.

5. Focus on the top 10. Every audit produces more findings than any team can address. Pick the 10 highest-impact actions and execute those before moving to the rest.

For pre-built SEO audit prompts you can use immediately, explore PromptRepo's SEO category.