Your words are in the HTML

What this is

When someone visits your site, your server sends a file called HTML. That file is the page. A browser then runs small programs (JavaScript) that can add more to it, like menus, animations, or in some cases all of the words.

Most AI crawlers do not run those programs. They read the HTML file as it arrived and stop there. If your words only show up after the programs run, AI sees an empty box.

Why it matters to you

This is one of the biggest checks in the scan, worth 10 points. Everything else on this list assumes AI can read your page. If it cannot, your name, your services and your town are all invisible, no matter how good they look on screen.

This is rare on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix or Shopify. It shows up most often on sites built by a developer with a modern framework, or with a page builder that draws the page in the browser.

What we look for

We count the readable words in your homepage HTML, exactly as your server sent it, before any script runs.

• Pass: 300 words or more. Full points.
• Warn: 150 to 299 words. You get 7 of 10 points.
• Fail: under 150 words. 50 to 149 words earns 4 points. Under 50 words earns 0.

If the count is low and the page also looks like an app shell (an empty <div id="root"> or <div id="app">, or a Next.js or Nuxt data blob), we say so in the result. That is the strongest sign the words are being drawn in the browser.

Whether you can fix this yourself

Probably not without a web person. This is a change to how the site is built, not a setting you can tick. If you are on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix or Shopify and still got a low count, it may just be a thin homepage with very few words. That part you can fix yourself by writing more. If you would rather not, Setup ($350, 3 business days) does it for you.

How to fix it

If your homepage is just short

Add real words. Say what you do, who for, and where. Three or four plain paragraphs will pass this check.

WordPress

The words are normally in the HTML already. If not, the cause is usually a page-builder plugin rendering in the browser, or a caching plugin serving a blank shell. Ask your web person to check the page source.

Squarespace or Wix

Both send text in the HTML. A low count means the homepage is mostly images with little text. Add text blocks.

Shopify

Same as above. Theme text is in the HTML. Add text sections to the homepage.

Your own site or a developer

Tell your developer: “Serve the page content in the HTML itself.” In Next.js, Astro, Nuxt or SvelteKit that means server rendering or static generation for this route. It is a normal, well-understood request.

How to check it worked

In Chrome, right-click your homepage and choose “View page source”. Search (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for a sentence from your page. If you find it in the source, AI can find it too. Then run the free check again.

Do not worry about

Menus, footers and buttons that load with JavaScript are fine. This check is about the body text: your description, your services, your location. Those are what need to be in the HTML.