AI SEO Alignment Score

AI SEO Alignment Score measures how well content matches AI Search citability criteria. It consists of six components: BLUF (high impact), FAQ/question headings (high), Information Density (high), Schema Markup (medium), content freshness (medium), competitor comparisons (high). The Competitive heuristic scores +1.61.

The key insight is that AI SEO Alignment Score > Domain Authority. A page with DA 20 but high Alignment Score will beat Forbes (DA 90) that has generic intro, no BLUF and no FAQ. The correlation between Google ranking and AI Search citation is only 0.65.

Optimization heuristics from a 52,000-product study: Competitive (+1.61), Clickable (+1.25), Storytelling (+1.22), FAQ (+1.20), Authoritative (+0.77), and Minimalist (-1.66 — the worst strategy).

In practice, start by adding BLUF and FAQ sections; these are the two highest-weighted components that can be implemented within an hour. AI SEO Alignment Score is the equivalent of Domain Authority for the AI Search era, but based on content structure, not link profile.