# Site Structure

Review the analyzed page's links and headings alongside its root sitemap, breadcrumb, and canonical signals.

Canonical: https://docs.equalai.io/ai-visibility/site-structure
Markdown: https://docs.equalai.io/ai-visibility/site-structure.md

Site Structure inspects one page's initial HTML and the root `/sitemap.xml`. It does not crawl an entire website, measure click depth, or reconstruct a complete site hierarchy. In Optimization, the card is **Structure** and the action is **Check Site Structure**.

## Inspect the report

1. Confirm that the project URL is the page you intend to check.
2. Choose **GEO Optimization → Check Site Structure**.
3. Compare sitemap entries, internal and external link counts, and H1/H2/H3 counts.
4. Review breadcrumb, canonical, and heading checks before changing your templates or navigation.
5. Publish changes and rerun from Optimization for a new stored comparison.

## How the score is calculated

| Signal | Points |
| --- | --- |
| Recognizable sitemap XML | 25 |
| At least five internal links | 20 |
| Exactly one H1 | 10 |
| H1 and H2 headings present | 15 |
| Breadcrumb signal present | 15 |
| Canonical link present | 15 |

The heading-hierarchy check tests for H1 and H2 presence; it does not validate the full sequence of heading levels. Breadcrumb detection uses recognizable markup/text signals, not a test of every breadcrumb destination.

## Interpret counts carefully

Internal links are classified by hostname with a leading `www` normalized. Repeated links count more than once. Counts therefore do not establish how many unique pages are reachable or whether destinations return successful responses.

The sitemap check recognizes a `urlset` or `sitemapindex` and counts location entries in the retrieved file. In a sitemap index, entries refer to child sitemaps, not individual pages. EqualAI does not recursively open those child sitemaps in this check. A sitemap published somewhere other than the root path may not be detected.

## Turn findings into changes

- Check that important links exist in the server-returned HTML and use destinations appropriate for visitors.
- Keep headings descriptive and logically organized; a passing presence check alone does not prove good document structure.
- Verify canonical targets and breadcrumb destinations independently.
- If the sitemap signal is missing, inspect the file location and response before generating a replacement.

Do not add redundant links or misleading breadcrumbs just to reach a threshold. Pair this report with [Crawlability](https://docs.equalai.io/ai-visibility/crawlability) and [Discoverability](https://docs.equalai.io/ai-visibility/discoverability) when investigating missing pages.

## Export and rerun

**Export** downloads the displayed JSON analysis. **Share** copies the report URL without granting public access. **Refresh** changes the open view, not the saved report payload; run the check from Optimization when you need a new history entry.