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The Next.js SEO, AEO & GEO Checklist for 2026

By Published 1 min read (or skim, I won't know)

To rank in search and get cited by AI engines, a Next.js site needs pre-rendered HTML, complete metadata, structured data, answer-first content, and machine-readable summaries such as llms.txt.

SEO: the technical foundation

  • Pre-render everything you can. Static HTML is fast and fully crawlable.
  • Use the Metadata API for unique titles, descriptions, and canonical URLs on every page.
  • Generate sitemap.xml and robots.txt from code so they never drift from your routes.
  • Ship dynamic Open Graph images with opengraph-image.tsx for every page.
  • Hit Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1.

AEO: be the answer

  • Lead with the answer. Put a one- or two-sentence direct answer at the top of each page.
  • Use question-shaped headings that match how people search.
  • Add FAQPage JSON-LD for genuine questions and answers.
  • Prefer lists and tables for steps and comparisons, which are easy to extract.

GEO: be citable by AI

  • Publish llms.txt with a summary and links to your key pages.
  • Build a strong entity. Consistent Person or Organization schema with sameAs links to your profiles.
  • Include specific numbers and sources. Concrete, verifiable claims are cited more often than vague ones.
  • Allow AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot in robots.txt if you want to be cited.
  • Show freshness with visible published and updated dates.

Key takeaway

Great SEO, AEO, and GEO share one principle: make the page easy for both people and machines to understand.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?

SEO (search engine optimisation) helps pages rank in traditional search results. AEO (answer engine optimisation) structures content so it is chosen as a direct answer or featured snippet. GEO (generative engine optimisation) makes content easy for AI models like ChatGPT and Perplexity to understand, trust, and cite.

Is Next.js good for SEO?

Yes. Next.js pre-renders pages to static HTML, has a built-in Metadata API for titles, canonical URLs and Open Graph tags, and generates sitemaps, robots.txt, and social images from code.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a plain-text Markdown file at the root of a website that summarises the site and links to its key pages, so large language models can understand it quickly without parsing complex HTML.