SEO and GEO — get found on Google and in AI answers
In shortSEO helps people find your app on Google; GEO helps AI answer engines like ChatGPT read and quote it. Open SEO/GEO and click Auto SEO & GEO: MonstarX checks your settings, reads every page like a crawler, and has AI write better titles, descriptions and answers. You get two scores and a to-do list. Wording fixes are saved in a click with no build (your published app gets them when you next publish); the rest goes to the builder. Connect Google to see real searches and visitors.
An app nobody can find is an app nobody uses. There are now two ways people find apps:
- SEO (search engine optimisation) is about search engines like Google and Bing: they visit your pages, decide what each one is about and list it in their results.
- GEO (generative engine optimisation) is about AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers. They read your pages and quote sentences from them when someone asks a question.
The two need different things, so the SEO/GEO tab scores them separately and helps with both. Most of it is wording, and wording is a setting you can change in a click, without a build.
How do I check my app’s SEO and GEO?
Section titled “How do I check my app’s SEO and GEO?”-
Open your project and click SEO/GEO in the top bar.
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Click Auto SEO & GEO. It takes a minute or two, and carries on if you leave the tab.
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Read the results on Overview, then work through To do.
The check-up has three parts:
| Part | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Settings and code | Checks titles, descriptions, sharing cards, robots.txt, the sitemap, structured data, pictures without descriptions and placeholder text still on the pages. | Free |
| The live pages | Fetches every page the way a crawler does, with no browser and no waiting, so you see what search engines and answer engines actually receive: the title, headings, words, pictures, links and speed. | Free |
| AI review | An AI model reads your app and writes the titles, descriptions and answers it should use, the terms it should be found for, and the questions people ask. You accept them with one click. | Uses credits, like a Chat request |
It reads your published app when it is live, otherwise the preview. The header says which (live app or preview) and when it last checked. The tab’s badge in the top bar shows the number of open items, or a green dot when there are none.
What do the scores mean?
Section titled “What do the scores mean?”Overview shows two scores out of 100, each with a grade from A to F:
- Search engines: can Google find, read and show every page?
- AI answer engines: can ChatGPT and the others read your app and quote it correctly?
Each score starts at 100 and loses points for each open finding: 30 for a critical one, 12 for high, 5 for medium and 2 for low. Titles and descriptions, technical checks, content and structured data count for both scores. Links, sharing cards and picture descriptions count only for search. /llms.txt, AI crawlers, quotable answers and whether pages arrive with their text count only for AI answers.
Below the scores:
- What the review made of it: the AI review’s verdict in a few sentences, and what it cost.
- What it should be found for: the searches your app can win, each with a reason.
- Do these first: the five findings that cost your app most.
- What was checked: every check that ran.
How do I fix what it found?
Section titled “How do I fix what it found?”To do lists every finding. Filter it by area (such as Titles and descriptions, Content, Sharing or AI answer engines) and by severity. Click one to see what is wrong, why it matters, what to do and the evidence.
Every finding says how it gets fixed, on its button:
| Button | What happens |
|---|---|
| Use ”…” | The AI review wrote the wording, such as a page title. Applying it saves it straight away, with no build. |
| Allow crawlers, Publish /llms.txt, Publish 6 questions… | A setting. Saved straight away, with no build. |
| Ask the builder | The app’s code has to change (an h1 heading, picture descriptions, more text on a page). It becomes a task in your feature plan and part of one build request. |
| Write it in Pages, Fill in Who runs it, Publish the app first, Something only you can do… | Only you can do this. The button says where; you cannot tick these. |
Tick the findings you want and click Apply. When you pick a mix, the bar says what will happen before anything does:
Settings are saved at once: your preview has them a second later, and your published app the next time you publish. Code changes go to the chat as one build request, marked with an SEO badge, and wait their turn in the queue. When that build is done, the check-up runs again by itself.
If a finding does not matter for your app, open it and click Not a problem for this app. It stays set aside in later check-ups. Show set aside (with how many there are) brings them back into view.
What does each page actually show Google?
Section titled “What does each page actually show Google?”Pages lists what every page serves right now: the title, the description, how many words of text, the number of main headings (H1), how many pictures have descriptions (Alt), the structured data it publishes and how fast it answered.
A preview is never listed by search engines. Its pages always say noindex, whatever your settings, because a preview address is not your app’s home. Only your published app can be found.
What can I set in SEO/GEO Settings?
Section titled “What can I set in SEO/GEO Settings?”Settings has six sections. Click Save settings in the header (it appears once you change something). Your preview uses the new settings a second later, and your published app the next time you publish. They are also kept with your project’s files.
Basics
Section titled “Basics”- Address: where your app really lives, like
pawsandco.com. Canonical links (which address is the “real” one), the sitemap and sharing cards are built from it. When your app is published, MonstarX suggests its address with Use it. - App name, Default title and Title template. In the template,
%sstands for the page’s own title:%s · Paws & Coturns Book a walk into Book a walk · Paws & Co. - Default description: what a page says about itself when it has no description of its own.
- Language, Theme colour (the browser bar on a phone) and Terms to be found for (what the pages are checked against).
- Open to search engines: Let search engines and AI answer engines find this app. Keep it off while you are still building; with it off, every page says noindex and robots.txt asks crawlers to stay away.
A live preview shows how your result will look in a search.
A Title and Description for each page, What an AI answer could quote (two or three plain sentences, published in /llms.txt), a Social picture, How often it changes, Importance (0 to 1), Keep this page out of search results (for thank-you pages, dashboards and anything behind sign-in) and Questions this page answers. Search results show roughly 15–70 characters of a title and 70–165 of a description, and the check-up flags wording outside those lengths. New pages the builder adds appear here by themselves.
Sharing
Section titled “Sharing”What a link looks like when someone posts it in a chat or on social media: the Social picture (1200 × 630 works everywhere), What the picture shows, your X / Twitter account and the Card size (Large picture or Small square).
Crawlers & sitemap
Section titled “Crawlers & sitemap”- robots.txt, the first file every crawler reads: Allow crawlers (recommended), Block every crawler or Write it myself, plus Paths to keep crawlers out of.
- AI answer engines: Let them read the app or Keep them out. This names ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google’s AI answers and the rest, one by one.
- Sitemap, the list of pages search engines read first, built from your app’s pages and served at
/sitemap.xml. You can leave pages out and add extra addresses. - Prove the app is yours: paste the token Google, Bing, Yandex or Pinterest gives you, and it is published on every page.
AI answers
Section titled “AI answers”- Publish /llms.txt: a short file that tells ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity what your app is, which page answers what, and what they may quote. It is the cheapest thing you can do for AI answers, and most apps do not have one.
- The app in a paragraph, written so a model that has never seen your app could describe it correctly, and Anything else worth knowing: prices, who it is for, where it works, what it does not do. Facts, not adjectives.
- Questions the app answers, with real answers. They are published as FAQ data on every page, the format search results and answer engines read.
Who runs it
Section titled “Who runs it”The organisation behind the app: Name, What kind of thing it is (such as LocalBusiness, Store, Restaurant or SoftwareApplication), Logo, Contact email, Phone, Address and Profiles that are the same organisation (LinkedIn, X, GitHub, a company listing). This is published as structured data, and helps search engines and answer engines trust that your app belongs to someone real.
What does Apply to the app do?
Section titled “What does Apply to the app do?”Apps built before the SEO/GEO tab existed write their own page titles. Apply to the app (in the header) writes your settings into the app and makes its pages use them, with no build. If it cannot change the app safely, it says why, and the check-up offers the same change to the builder instead. For an app that already uses the settings, it says so.
How do I connect Google Search Console and Analytics?
Section titled “How do I connect Google Search Console and Analytics?”Open Numbers and click Connect Google. Sign in with the Google account that owns your app’s Search Console property and its Analytics.
Then choose a Search Console property and an Analytics property, and a period of 7, 28 or 90 days. You see:
- Search: clicks, impressions (how often you appeared in results), click-through and average position, each compared with the period before, then clicks over time, What people searched and Pages they landed on. Search Console is about three days behind. Submit sitemap at the top of this section hands Google your sitemap so new pages are found sooner.
- What Google has done with the app: the sitemaps Google holds, and whether it has actually indexed your main pages.
- Visitors: people, visits, pages seen, average visit, people over time, Most-read pages and Where they came from.
The connection belongs to your MonstarX account and is shared by your projects. It only reads, and never posts, publishes or changes anything except the sitemap you ask it to submit. Disconnect removes it.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Do SEO settings need a build?
No. Titles, descriptions, sharing cards, robots.txt, the sitemap, structured data and /llms.txt are settings. Saving them updates your preview a second later; publish again to put them on your live app. Only changes to the app's code, like adding a heading or more text, go to the builder.
Why does the check-up say my preview is noindex?
A preview is always kept out of search results, whatever your settings. Publish your app and switch on Let search engines and AI answer engines find this app to be found.
Does Auto SEO & GEO cost credits?
Only its AI review, like a Chat request; the results show what it cost. The settings and live-page checks are free. Fixes sent to the builder use credits like any build.
What is llms.txt?
A short Markdown file at /llms.txt that tells AI answer engines what your app is, which page answers what and what they may quote. MonstarX writes it from your AI answers settings.
Can I block AI crawlers but stay on Google?
Yes. In Crawlers & sitemap, set AI answer engines to Keep them out and leave the rules on Allow crawlers.
Does this work for an app I imported?
The check-up runs and your settings are saved, but MonstarX does not write them into imported code. Fixes that change the app are sent to the builder to make in the app's own code, and Apply to the app is not offered.