Agents use more than one interface
Automated systems may use rendered screenshots, DOM structure, raw HTML, accessibility trees, or direct HTTP retrieval. A site that only works after complex pointer interaction or client-side state can fail even when it looks polished to a person.
Use semantic and explicit actions
- Use real links for navigation and real buttons for actions.
- Give controls visible labels and programmatic names.
- Keep one descriptive H1 and a logical heading hierarchy.
- Expose important content in server-delivered HTML.
- Use progressive enhancement so the page remains readable before JavaScript.
Keep the interface stable
Reserve image dimensions, avoid layout shifts, use predictable navigation, keep dialogs keyboard-accessible, and do not move critical actions after hydration. Stable pages help users, accessibility technology, visual agents, and Core Web Vitals.
Make retrieval intentional
Provide crawlable internal links, accurate robots.txt rules, XML and human-readable sitemaps, canonical URLs, hreflang, descriptive metadata, and appropriate HTTP content types. Keep public assets needed to understand the page crawlable.
Write answerable content
Answer the user’s question early, define technical terms, show how to use the concept, explain limitations, cite primary sources, and connect the explanation to a next action. Do not create hidden AI-only text or mass-produce query variants.
Search and AI crawler access
OpenAI documents OAI-SearchBot for Search discovery and ChatGPT-User for user-requested retrieval. Anthropic documents ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, and Claude-User. robots.txt can express crawl preferences, but private information needs real access control.
What to test
- Navigate using keyboard only.
- Read the raw HTML without JavaScript.
- Inspect the accessibility tree and control names.
- Run mobile and desktop performance checks.
- Validate canonical, hreflang, schema, sitemap, and response headers.
- Verify that every technical term has an evergreen explanation.
Primary sources
- OpenAI publishers and developers FAQSource
- Anthropic crawler guidanceSource
- Google crawlable links guidanceSource
- WCAG 2.2 quick referenceSource
Apply the principles inside Search Console
GSC Pulse turns the same transparency, evidence, and next-action principles into a portfolio workflow.
Add to Chrome