Evaluation & Governance

AI Citation Self-Check Checklist: 20 Items

A single table consolidating the criteria scattered across chapters: 20 items in five groups—content, structure, evidence, freshness, and technical. Check each item off to see which level you are stuck at.

AI Citation Self-Check Checklist: 20 Items

Bottom line first: this checklist is for judging "whether this page can be used by AI." Five groups, 20 items. Missing three or fewer counts as a pass; missing five or more means it will basically not be cited. We recommend taking the page you most want cited and checking off each item one by one.

A. Content (4 items)

#Check itemCriteria
1One-sentence definitionThe first paragraph can independently state "what it is and who it is for"
2Conclusion up frontThe first 120 characters can directly answer the question in the title
3Applicable and not applicableClearly state when it is not recommended
4DifferentiationContains data, cases, or methods that others cannot write

B. Structure (4 items)

#Check itemCriteria
5Heading hierarchyEvery H2/H3 has a clear function, not just a transition sentence
6One point per paragraphAny paragraph still stands if removed
7Comparisons in tablesComparisons, steps, and checklists are written as tables or lists
8Definitions not buriedKey concepts appear in the first third

C. Evidence (4 items)

#Check itemCriteria
9Author and organizationByline visible on the page, not only copyright in the footer
10Data sourcesEvery number can be traced to a source or definition
11Real casesSpecific to scenario and result, not "many customers"
12Boundary statementApplicable conditions and prerequisites are clearly stated

D. Updates (4 items)

#Check itemCriteria
13Update timeMost recent update date visible on the page
14Factual validityPrices, specifications, and policies are still correct
15Version traceabilityRule-based content has a version or effective date
16Consistent definitionsConsistent with statements on other pages of the site

E. Technical (4 items)

#Check itemCriteria
17Crawlablerobots is not blocking by mistake, and the page HTML can be fetched directly
18Structured dataHas schema matching the page type
19Text not in imagesKey information is text, not images
20SitemapSubmitted and includes the page

How to use this checklist

First score the current state, and fix only items 1, 2, 9, 13, and 17 — they have the greatest impact on "whether it can be used." Add the remaining items gradually according to page importance.

Related reading: Structured data, llms.txt, and content chunking, Product page optimization: which four blocks AI reads first.