📉 Losing Traffic? Your Site Might Be Invisible to AI (Fix It Before It’s Too Late)

If your site isn’t technically sound, your content may never be discovered—no matter how good it is.

In 2025, technical SEO isn't just foundational—it's mission-critical. AI search is reshaping how pages get discovered, parsed, and presented. Google and other answer engines are now selective about what they crawl, cite, and display.

This newsletter will take you deep into what matters most in technical SEO today—from optimizing crawl budget to enhancing AI extractability. Whether you're running a blog, SaaS site, or ecommerce platform, these principles apply.

Let’s get into it.

Crawlability Is SEO Infrastructure

Search engines can’t rank what they can’t find. Crawlability is the first gatekeeper of visibility.

1. Understand How Google Crawls

Google follows a crawl → index → serve pipeline. You must:

• Ensure key pages are linked and crawlable
  

• Prevent crawl waste on unimportant or repetitive URLs
  

• Feed Google prioritized content via XML sitemaps

Pro tip: Think of your XML sitemap as your editorial calendar—your way of saying, “Here’s what’s fresh, important, and worth indexing.”

2. Crawl Budget Isn’t Infinite

If your site is large, Google won’t crawl every page every day. Sites with bloated archives, infinite scrolls, faceted navigation, or broken pagination waste Googlebot’s time.

Fix it by:

• Blocking faceted URLs with robots.txt
  

• Auditing crawl logs to spot waste
  

• Pruning low-value or duplicate pages
  

• Using canonical tags and noindex precisely

Use the Crawl Stats report in Search Console. If 80% of your crawl hits go to pages you don’t care about, you’ve got a problem.

Site Architecture That Supports Discovery

3. Flat Sites Are a Myth—Go for Organized Depth

Google prefers accessible, not flat, architecture.

• Use clean folder structures for clarity
  

• Nest by topic, not just by date
  

• Group support docs under /support/, blogs under /blog/, etc.
  

• Avoid dumping everything into the root

Why this matters: Structured URLs enable better segmentation, analytics, and easier internal linking.

Example:
Bad: site.com/post-2738291
Better: site.com/blog/technical-seo/schema-basics

4. Make Key Pages Easy to Find

Your best pages shouldn’t get buried five clicks deep.

Use:

• HTML sitemaps
  

• Breadcrumbs
  

• Strategic cross-linking
  

• Hub-and-spoke models

JavaScript and Rendering

5. Don’t Hide Links in JavaScript

Search engines can render JavaScript—but that doesn’t mean they will render yours, especially not quickly.

• Avoid relying on JS for critical links
  

• Don’t bury FAQs or documentation behind search modals
  

• Use crawlable <a> tags, not JS events
  

• Check what Google sees using the URL Inspection tool

6. Render for LLMs Too

AI search engines (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini) don’t “click” or “type.” If your support content is hidden in an interactive experience, AI won’t cite it.

Pro tip: Keep an HTML-based version of any essential JS-rendered experience. Let LLMs crawl your docs, not Reddit.

Structured Data and Indexing

7. Use Structured Data—Correctly

Structured data helps Google and AI extract key facts. Use it for:

• Articles (Article schema)
  

• Products (Product schema)
  

• Events (Event schema)
  

• Videos (VideoObject schema)

Also add:

html

CopyEdit

<meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large" />

This lets Google show large images in Discover and can increase CTR.

8. Canonical Tags That Help

Use canonical tags to:

• Consolidate duplicate content
  

• Prevent pagination confusion
  

• Ensure correct URLs get indexed

Bad canonicals will confuse Google or get ignored.

Run a full crawl using Screaming Frog or Sitebulb. Spot pages that reference themselves, or multiple URLs pointing to the same destination.

Performance and Mobile Optimization

9. Page Speed = Crawl Speed

Fast-loading pages don’t just help UX—they reduce crawl overhead.

Use:

• PageSpeed Insights
  

• Core Web Vitals
  

• Lazy loading for media (but not critical content)

10. Mobile Is Default

Google now crawls and indexes using its mobile-first crawler.

Check:

• Font sizes and tap targets
  

• Content isn’t hidden or collapsed
  

• No interstitials blocking access
  

• Use responsive design (don’t redirect to m.site.com)

Index Management

11. Don’t Let Low-Quality Pages Clog the Index

Use noindex for:

• Paginated pages beyond page 1 (when not valuable)
  

• Internal search results
  

• Staging sites or development mirrors
  

• Low-value tag pages or archives

12. Remove What’s Outdated

Run quarterly audits to:

• Identify stale content
  

• Redirect old pages where possible
  

• Update or consolidate outdated information

Pagination, Parameters, and Crawl Traps

13. Fix Infinite Scroll

Infinite scroll kills SEO and AI citation. Instead:

• Implement paginated alternatives
  

• Use /page/2/, not ?page=2
  
  

• Avoid JS-only navigation

14. Eliminate Crawl Traps

Check for:

• Calendar URLs that generate thousands of useless pages
  

• Tag pages with no content
  

• Session IDs or UTM-tagged duplicates

Block or clean these up using:

• robots.txt
  

• Canonical tags
  

• Noindex rules

AI-Driven SEO: Visibility Beyond Google

15. Optimize for Extractability

LLMs don’t crawl like Google. They ingest chunks.

To be cited:

• Use clear headings
  

• Structure paragraphs for single ideas
  

• Include lists, bullet points, definitions
  

• Avoid popups, modal overlays, and complex DOMs

16. Use Semantic Signals

Phrases like these help LLMs find structure and relevance:

• “In summary”
  

• “Step 1”
  

• “Common mistake”
  

• “Key takeaway”

Maintenance and Monitoring

17. Use Search Console the Right Way

Check:

• Crawl Stats → Wasted budget
  

• Index Coverage → Errors and soft 404s
  

• Discover tab → Mobile CTR and impressions
  

• Core Web Vitals → Prioritize largest contentful paint (LCP)

18. Migrate Cleanly

If you're rebranding or moving to HTTPS:

• Use 301s, not 302s
  

• Submit updated sitemaps
  

🚀 Want to Fix This Without Lifting a Finger?

If all of this feels like a lot — that’s because it is. But it’s also fixable.

I help brands eliminate crawl issues, improve site structure, fix indexing problems, and future-proof their sites for AI-first search.

From advanced audits to full SEO implementation, I’ve got you covered.

What’s Happening This Week in Search

YouTube Monetization Update Targets Spam, Not Reaction Creators

This July 15, YouTube will update monetization enforcement—not the policy itself. The goal: crack down on auto-generated and repetitive content.

✅ Reaction and commentary creators with original input are safe
⚠️ Copy-paste or template-driven uploads may lose eligibility
📣 Renee Richie clarified creators “adding real value” won’t be penalized

Takeaway: Focus on original, thoughtful content—even if it’s based on trending formats.

Google Confirms Disavow Files Are Not Instantly Processed

SEOs recently learned that disavow files don’t take immediate effect.

🟡 Google waits until the next crawl of the linking site
📄 The order of URLs in the file doesn’t matter
⏱️ No way to “force” reprocessing

Takeaway: Don’t expect fast results from disavows. Focus on prevention and manual removal where possible.

🚀 Featured Tool of the Week:

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To your content marketing success,
Shane Barker