SEO Companion

Use this skill to deliver rigorous, implementation-focused SEO help without drifting into vague marketing advice.

Core operating rules

• Separate facts, strong heuristics, and situational suggestions.
• Prioritize technical blockers first, then metadata/on-page issues, then content depth, then internal links, then off-page opportunities.
• Prefer tool-native inspection in this environment:
  • Use web_fetch for quick HTML/text retrieval.
  • Use browser when rendered DOM, JS behavior, or screenshots matter.
  • Use the bundled audit script for repeatable extraction.
• Do not recommend black-hat tactics: no PBNs, bought reviews, cloaking, doorway pages, or spam link packages.
• Be explicit about uncertainty. Many SEO thresholds are heuristics, not laws.

Request triage

Classify the request before answering:

1. On-page SEO

   • Titles, meta descriptions, H1/H2/H3 structure, canonicals, alt text, internal links.
   • Read references/on-page.md.

2. Technical SEO

   • Indexing, robots.txt, sitemap, redirects, canonicalization, renderability, structured data, performance.
   • Read references/technical.md.

3. Content strategy / keyword work

   • Keyword targeting, clustering, cannibalization, content briefs, content gaps.
   • Read references/content-strategy.md.

4. Local SEO

   • GBP, NAP consistency, local landing pages, reviews, citations.
   • Read references/local-seo.md.

5. Link building / backlink evaluation

   • Link quality, outreach ideas, risk flags, sustainable acquisition.
   • Read references/link-building.md.

6. Full audit

   • Run the bundled script first, then deepen with browser/manual inspection if needed.
   • Read references/technical.md and references/on-page.md.

Runtime requirements and fallbacks

Preferred runtime for the bundled script:

• Python 3
• requests
• beautifulsoup4 (bs4)

If those Python dependencies are missing:

• do not fail silently
• ask before installing packages in environments where package installation changes the system/runtime state
• if package installs are not approved or not appropriate, fall back to web_fetch for raw HTML/text inspection and browser for rendered-page inspection

The script is optional support tooling, not a hard requirement for using this skill.

Target safety

Do not run the bundled script against private/internal targets unless the user explicitly intends that and the environment is trusted.

Treat these as blocked by default for routine SEO work:

• localhost
• loopback addresses
• private RFC1918 IP ranges
• link-local addresses
• obvious cloud metadata endpoints
• internal-only hostnames or intranet targets

For normal public-site SEO auditing, stick to public HTTP/HTTPS URLs.

Standard workflow for a URL audit

1. Run the bundled script:

python3 scripts/audit_page.py <URL>

2. Review the structured output for:

   • title/meta quality
   • canonical presence
   • robots directives
   • heading counts
   • internal/external links
   • image alt gaps
   • structured data presence
   • robots.txt / sitemap availability

3. If the page is JS-heavy or the HTML output looks incomplete, inspect with browser.

4. Produce findings in this order:

   • Critical blockers
   • High-impact improvements
   • Medium / nice-to-have fixes
   • What to do next

Output contracts

Quick page audit

Use when the user wants a fast diagnosis for one page.

Include:

• summary table
• top 3–7 issues
• exact rewrites if applicable

Full SEO teardown

Use when the user wants a deeper review.

Include:

• technical section
• on-page section
• content section
• internal linking / structure section
• local SEO section if relevant
• prioritized roadmap

Metadata rewrite pack

Use when the user asks for titles, descriptions, or heading rewrites.

Include:

• 3–5 title options
• 2–3 meta description options
• suggested H1
• reasoning briefly tied to query intent / CTR / relevance

Default thresholds

Treat these as strong heuristics, not absolute truths:

• Title tag: ideal ~50–60 chars
• Meta description: ideal ~120–156 chars
• H1 count: exactly 1 preferred
• Thin content risk: often under ~500–600 body words for pages intended to rank
• Strong content target: depends on intent and SERP, not a fixed word count

Reporting style

When reporting, always:

• cite exact numbers where useful
• distinguish page-specific vs site-wide issues
• explain why something matters
• avoid fake certainty
• prefer actionable fixes over generic theory

Reference map

Read only what you need:

• references/on-page.md
• references/technical.md
• references/content-strategy.md
• references/local-seo.md
• references/link-building.md
• references/platform-playbooks.md
• references/canada-local.md

Bundled script

Use scripts/audit_page.py for repeatable extraction. It is intentionally conservative and should be supplemented with rendered-page inspection when needed.

If the script cannot run because Python dependencies are unavailable, continue with a manual audit using web_fetch and browser rather than treating the skill as unusable.