audit-intake

SEO Audit Intake — Phase 0

Executive Summary

Phase 0 is the foundation of the entire 21-phase audit. The quality of intake data directly determines audit accuracy. Every subsequent phase reads {AUDIT_DIR}/intake-data.md — incomplete intake = cascading errors across all phases. In 2025–2026, intake has expanded beyond basic data collection: AI search now accounts for an estimated 25–40% of zero-click query resolution (Semrush 2025), meaning business goals must explicitly address AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini visibility — not just traditional organic rankings. GBP signals are confirmed as the #1 local ranking factor (Whitespark 2024), making GBP URL and review count collection at intake critical for Phase 11 benchmarks. Competitor landscape snapshot at intake saves 2–3 hours later by pre-populating Phase 1.

2025–2026 intake benchmarks:

• Average intake completion: 10–15 min (prepared client); 20–30 min (requires competitor research)
• TTFB threshold: <800ms Good; >1,800ms Critical — flag for Phase 10 immediately
• Minimum competitors to collect: 3 (local pack top-3); ideal 5 (3 local + 2 organic)
• GSC access impact: phases 6 (keyword gaps), 7 (topical gaps), 20 (penalty check) all degraded without GSC — flag clearly
• Domain age <6 months: automatically flag Phase 12 backlinks as "authority building" priority, not penalty recovery
• AI search context (2025): businesses without GBP presence, review velocity, or E-E-A-T content are excluded from AIO local pack citations

Numbered Action Plan:

Immediate (First 15 Minutes)

1. Present intake form — collect items 1–6 (required) before any other work. Missing even one required field = defer audit start. Effort: 5–10 min.
2. Run URL validation — python3 scripts/check_url.py --url [URL] --full. Captures HTTP status, SSL validity, redirect chain, TTFB, basic on-page signals (H1, title). Effort: 2 min. Flag if TTFB >800ms, SSL error, or 4xx/5xx.
3. Create project directory — python3 scripts/setup_project.py --name "..." --url "..." --location "...". Sets all path variables used by all 21 phases. Effort: 1 min. Priority: 25 (5×5).
4. Auto-identify competitors — if item 7 skipped: run 3-search protocol (service+city; best+service+city; service+city+reviews) → extract top-3 local pack + top-2 organic non-directories. Effort: 10–15 min.
5. Collect competitor intelligence — for each competitor: name, URL, GBP URL, star rating, review count, approximate DR from Ahrefs/Moz free check. Effort: 5 min (3–5 competitors).

Short-Term (Before Launching Phase 1)

1. Run initial business intelligence checks — site:[domain] indexed count; branded search Knowledge Panel check; BuiltWith.com for CMS detection. Effort: 5 min. Priority: 15 (3×5).
2. Pre-flag issues for downstream phases — note any flags in intake-data.md: TTFB, no Knowledge Panel, Wix/Squarespace CMS, domain <6 months, no GBP. Each flag fast-tracks a finding in the relevant phase. Effort: 5 min.
3. Confirm GSC/GA4 access status — GSC access unlocks accurate data in 5+ phases. If unavailable, note: Ahrefs/Semrush estimates will substitute (with lower confidence). Effort: 2 min.
4. Check for immediate penalty signals — quick scan: site:[domain] count dramatically lower than expected? Any manual actions visible in GSC? Rank for branded name? Flag for Phase 20. Effort: 3 min.
5. Write and confirm intake-data.md — write complete file to {AUDIT_DIR}/intake-data.md with YAML frontmatter. Display confirmation summary. Launch Phase 1. Effort: 5 min.

Tools for This Phase

| Tool | Purpose | Cost | |------|---------|------| | python3 scripts/setup_project.py | Create project directory + project.json | Free (local) | | python3 scripts/check_url.py --full | Validate URL: HTTP status, SSL, redirect chain, TTFB | Free (local) | | Google Search | Identify competitors if not provided | Free | | Google Maps | Find GBP listing URL, star rating, review count | Free | | Semrush / Ahrefs | Quick traffic estimate + domain rating for competitors | Paid | | BuiltWith | CMS detection, hosting stack, tech stack | Free |

Step 1: Present the Intake Form

When an audit is triggered, present this structured form:

==============================================
  LOCAL BUSINESS SEO AUDIT — INTAKE FORM
==============================================

1. Business Name:      [Required]
2. Website URL:        [Required — full URL with https://]
3. Target Location(s): [Required — City, State, Country. All service areas.]
4. Primary Services:   [Required — list all services offered]
5. Business Category:  [Required — primary industry/niche]
6. Business Goals:     [Select one or more:]
   • Increase local visibility & foot traffic
   • Generate more leads/calls/form submissions
   • Outrank specific competitors
   • Expand to new service areas
   • Improve online reputation & reviews
   • Dominate AI search (AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini)
   • Build topical authority
   • Improve conversion rate
   • Launch/optimize Google Business Profile
   • Recover from traffic drop or penalty
   • Other: [specify]
7. Competitors:        [3-5 competitors — URLs preferred. Skip → auto-research.]
8. GBP URL:            [Optional — Google Business Profile link]
9. Social Media URLs:  [Optional — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok]
10. Analytics Access:  [Optional — GA4 + GSC available? Critical for Phase 6 keyword data]
11. Previous SEO Work: [Optional — agency/in-house history, any known penalties?]
12. Budget Range:      [Optional — helps calibrate effort estimates throughout audit]

Intake Rules:

• Items 1–6 required. Do NOT begin audit without them.
• Item 7: If skipped, auto-research and identify top 3–5 competitors. Never ask twice.
• Items 8–12 optional. Note which are missing in output file but proceed without blocking.
• GSC access (item 10): Critical for Phase 6 keyword gaps — flag if unavailable; estimate traffic from Ahrefs/Semrush instead.

Step 2: Validate URL Accessibility

Once URL is provided, run validation:

python3 scripts/check_url.py --url [WEBSITE_URL] --full

Interpret results — thresholds:

| HTTP Status | Action | |------------|--------| | 200 | Accessible — proceed | | 301/302 | Note redirect destination; use final URL for all phases | | 403/429 | May block crawlers — note for Phase 2 Technical SEO | | 4xx/5xx | Alert user, confirm URL — DO NOT proceed until accessible | | SSL error | Flag as CRITICAL — add to Phase 2 Technical findings immediately |

TTFB benchmarks:

• < 800ms → Good
• 800ms–1.8s → Needs improvement (flag for Phase 10 Speed audit)
• > 1.8s → Critical speed issue (flag immediately in intake notes)

Additional checks during URL validation:

• Missing title tag → flag as immediate on-page issue
• Missing H1 → flag for Phase 3 On-Page SEO
• No HTTPS redirect (HTTP accessible) → Critical Technical flag

Step 3: Create Project Directory

IMMEDIATELY after collecting required fields, create the project directory:

python3 scripts/setup_project.py \
  --name "[Business Name]" \
  --url "[Website URL]" \
  --location "[City, State]" \
  --json

This creates:

projects/[business-slug]/
  project.json          ← Business metadata (name, URL, location, slug, created date)
  audit/                ← All 21 phase finding .md files
  reports/              ← All HTML + PDF reports
  data/crawl/           ← site_crawler.py output (CSV + JSON)
  data/serp/            ← SERP snapshot data
  data/scores/          ← LOCAL-IMPACT + SERP-TRUST YAML scoring data

Set these variables for all subsequent phases:

PROJECT_SLUG  = [returned by script — e.g., acme-plumbing-chicago]
PROJECT_DIR   = projects/[slug]
AUDIT_DIR     = projects/[slug]/audit
REPORTS_DIR   = projects/[slug]/reports
DATA_DIR      = projects/[slug]/data

Slug generation rules:

• Business