How we measure a website
The rules behind every check, diagnostic and report we send. If a number can’t be traced to a source and a date, it doesn’t go in.
Last reviewed 2026-09-30.
Four kinds of evidence, never blended
Lab tests
PageSpeed Insights loads your page on a simulated phone with a set connection speed. It’s repeatable and good for spotting causes, but it varies from run to run and isn’t what your visitors experience. We always show the date, time, page and device.
Real-visitor data
The Chrome UX Report collects how real Chrome users experienced your site over a rolling 28 days. It’s the closest thing to the truth, but sites with little traffic have none. When it’s missing, we say so instead of estimating.
Search Console
With your permission, we read Google’s own record of your impressions, clicks, indexing and, where your property has it, the report on Google’s AI features.[3] It covers Google only.
Your server
With access, we measure response times, cache hit rates and what each plugin costs. This is where most causes of a slow WordPress site are found.
How the Website Growth Score works
The score on your check is a weighted average of five measured areas. It describes your site. It doesn’t predict rankings, traffic or AI citations.
| Area | Weight | Measured from |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile speed | 35% | Lab test, PageSpeed Insights |
| Search foundations | 25% | Page HTML, robots rules, sitemap |
| Contact and conversion | 20% | Page HTML |
| Local signals | 10% | Structured data |
| Best practices | 10% | Lab test, PageSpeed Insights |
How we record AI answers
AI answers change from day to day and person to person. We treat them as observations, not measurements.
- We agree ten questions your buyers would realistically ask
- We ask each one in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode on a stated date, logged out where possible
- We record whether your business, your pages or a competitor appear, with screenshots
- We repeat the same questions 60 days later and show both side by side
- We never present a change as caused by our work unless the evidence shows it
What we refuse to do
- Blend lab and real-visitor data into one grade
- Quote a finding we couldn’t verify
- Invent an “AI visibility score”
- Show you a before-and-after taken with different tools or devices
- Call valid structured data a guarantee of rich results. Google decides which types are eligible and when to show them.
What Google says
Google’s guidance for its AI features is that the same fundamentals apply as for regular search: pages must be crawlable and indexable, and there’s no special markup required to appear.[1] That’s why our work starts with speed, indexing and clarity rather than tricks aimed at AI tools.