What this tab checks
The Authority tab looks at the machine-readable signals on the page that help AI systems classify, trust, and attribute it. These are signals that humans usually cannot see directly — structured data in JSON-LD format, metadata in the <head>, and structural indicators of page type and credibility.
This tab does not measure backlinks, domain authority, or brand reputation. Those are traditional SEO signals. This tab specifically measures whether the page’s own markup gives AI systems enough context to use it confidently.
Why it matters
Once a page is reachable and its content is visible, AI systems still need reasons to treat it as a trustworthy source worth summarising or citing. A page with thin or missing structured data is harder to attribute — the system may not know who wrote it, when it was published, what organisation it belongs to, or what type of page it is.
Weak authority signals do not always block retrieval, but they can reduce how confidently a page gets used. A page that clearly identifies itself as an article with a known author and publication date is easier to cite than one that looks like a generic content block.
How to read the results
The tab shows checks grouped into two tiers:
Required — These are foundational signals. A failure here means the page is missing something that most credible pages include. Examples: Organisation schema, a detectable page type, a canonical URL.
Supporting — These are additional signals that strengthen authority. A pass here is a positive signal, but a failure is less urgent. Examples: Article schema, FAQ schema, author metadata, Breadcrumb schema, publish and update dates.
Each check shows a pass, fail, or partial result along with a brief explanation of what was found (or not found).
Common issues and what to do
No structured data detected The page has no JSON-LD or other machine-readable schema markup. Adding Organisation schema is a good starting point for most sites. For articles or blog posts, add Article or BlogPosting schema. For product pages, add Product schema.
Page type could not be detected BeSeenByAI attempts to classify the page (article, product, FAQ, landing page, etc.) based on its content and structure. If the classification fails or looks wrong, it can distort the rest of the authority score. Check whether the page has clear signals about what type of content it is.
Missing author metadata
For articles and blog posts, author information helps AI systems attribute the content. Add an author field in your Article JSON-LD, or use rel="author" markup.
Missing publish or update dates
Dates matter for freshness signals. Add datePublished and dateModified to your Article schema.
Breadcrumb schema missing Breadcrumbs help AI systems understand where a page sits in the site hierarchy. They are especially useful for product and category pages.
Fix required checks first
If a Required check is failing, address that before polishing the Supporting items. A missing Organisation schema is more impactful to fix than adding FAQ schema on a page that already has solid foundational signals.
What this tab does not check
Authority checks are structural and directional. They are not a ranking predictor and do not measure the actual quality, accuracy, or completeness of your content. Strong authority signals only matter after Crawlability and Content Visibility are healthy.