Free SEO Audit Evidence Checker Skill

A sitemap can list a page that never actually shipped. Worse, the URL can return HTTP 200 while the response is the homepage. A download button can make the same mistake: a .csv link that serves HTML looks successful in a basic status check, but gives the visitor no usable file.

This free skill asks an AI assistant to test the response and the page identity together. It is a read-only way to find the mismatch before treating a sitemap, template, or launch as done.

What it checks

• Whether a sitemap URL serves the intended title, H1, canonical and HTML body, not just HTTP 200.
• Whether a missing path returns a real 404 or a homepage fallback.
• Whether a nested page's relative links resolve to the right destination.
• Whether CSV and Markdown downloads contain the advertised file, not homepage HTML.
• Which issues are repeated across a page family and should be fixed in the source template.

Why this is different from a checklist

A typical SEO audit checklist tells you to inspect canonical tags and broken links. This skill requires a homepage control, a deliberately missing URL, and response evidence for each finding. It calls homepage copies soft-404 candidates, not working pages, and treats a staged fix as staged until the production URL is fetched again.

A small example

A fictional demo sitemap lists a guide at /guides/seo-check/. The response is HTTP 200, but its title and canonical belong to the homepage. A CSV link also responds 200 with text/html and begins with <html>. The result is two findings, not two passes: restore the distinct guide or return 404 and remove it from the sitemap; publish and parse the actual CSV.

How to use it

1. Download the Markdown skill and give it to an assistant that can read files and fetch public URLs.
2. Give it the site and sitemap URL. If there is no sitemap, choose a small set of important pages and say it is a sample.
3. Ask: "Check whether these URLs and downloads really serve the intended content. Show response evidence and affected counts. Do not change the site."
4. Review the issue table, make fixes in the current source, then run the checks again against production.

Limits

The skill does not log into Search Console, decide that a URL is indexed, or promise a ranking gain. A 200 status is not proof that a file or page exists. If a crawl is sampled or times out, the report must say so.

If you also need a broad audit plan, see Moz's checklist and Sitebulb's technical audit template. For more free resources, browse the templates and Marketing.