How should AI agents declare what a site is about to other AI engines?

The SEO.md CLI tool has been released as an open standard for AI Engine Optimization (AEO), enabling technical founders to scaffold, validate, analyze, and sync structured site descriptions for AI engines. The tool allows developers to declare site identity, intent queries, and pages in a version-controlled format, aiming to improve citation rates from AI systems.

The official CLI for the SEO.md https://seomd.dev open standard — AEO AI Engine Optimization infrastructure for technical founders. Use it to scaffold, validate, analyze, and sync SEO.md files directly from your repo. Why SEO.md why-seomd Install install Quick Start quick-start Configuration configuration Commands commands Local Development local-development Testing testing Release Notes Contributor Tagging release-notes-contributor-tagging Security security Specification Reference specification-reference License license SEO.md is a structured, version-controlled specification for describing your site, intent queries, and pages so AI engines can cite you more often. - Declare what matters site, identity, keywords, intent, pages - Run audits via your connected platform - Write back analysis blocks and per-page playbooks into your repo npm install -g seomd-cli Or run without installing zero-install : npx seomd-cli init Verify: seomd --help Run in the root of your project: seomd init Or non-interactively with flags: seomd init -y --type local or seomd init --brand "Acme" --domain acme.com --primary-keyword "local seo" seomd validate seomd analyze seomd sync seomd status seomd status --json Copy .env.example from your platform provider docs, or create one with the vars you need: Required for live audits: SEOMD API URL= SEOMD API KEY=your key here Optional: SEOMD PAYMENT TOKEN= x402 pay-per-scan token SEOMD DOMAIN= override domain header If you don't have a platform key yet, seomd init still works without .env . Scaffolds SEO.md , SEO.REVERSE.md , and the .seo/ intelligence directory. Usage: seomd init interactive 5-question flow seomd init -y --type local skip prompts, use defaults seomd init --brand "Acme" --domain acme.com non-interactive with partial flags seomd init --type saas --brand "MyApp" --domain myapp.com --primary-keyword "billing automation" --output ./new-project Options: | Flag | Description | |---|---| -y, --yes | skip prompts, use defaults | --type <type | site type: saas, ecommerce, local, blog, marketplace | --brand <name | brand name | --domain <domain | primary domain | --primary-keyword <keyword | primary keyword | --competitors <list | comma-separated competitor list | --output <dir | scaffold into a new empty directory instead of cwd | Behavior: - Interactive flow by default 5 questions - Non-interactive when -y is set OR any config flag --brand , --domain , --primary-keyword , --competitors is provided --type alone pre-selects site type in the interactive flow --output writes all files to the target directory must be empty or non-existent Validates your SEO.md against the spec requirements. Shows current citation rates and gap scores from analysis . --json outputs machine-readable JSON for scripts/CI Runs an AI search audit via your connected platform and writes results back into: SEO.md analysis blocks SEO.REVERSE.md generated reverse view .seo/pages/ .md per-page playbooks when available Pulls cached/latest platform intelligence and writes it back to the same files as analyze . --dry-run prints a preview and does not modify files seomd-cli ships with type-specific templates under src/templates/ . seomd init --type <type uses the matching template automatically. | Type | Template dir | Best for | |---|---|---| saas | src/templates/saas/ | Software products, B2B tools, web apps | blog | src/templates/blog/ | Content sites, newsletters, personal brands | ecommerce | src/templates/ecommerce/ | Online stores, DTC brands, product catalogs | local | src/templates/local/ | Service-area businesses, locations pages | marketplace | src/templates/marketplace/ | Two-sided platforms, directories | Each template contains: SEO.md — pre-filled with type-specific intent queries, page structures, and negative keywords SEO.REVERSE.md — reverse-engineer output scaffold with placeholders for competitor analysis Want to customize a template? Copy the relevant folder, edit the placeholders {{brand}} , {{domain}} , etc. , and use --type with your custom scaffold. Prefer the local entrypoint while developing: node ./bin/seomd.js --help node ./bin/seomd.js init node ./bin/seomd.js validate node ./bin/seomd.js status --json npm test To generate a contributor section for a release commit-based attribution , maintain mappings in .github/contributors.yml and generate markdown from a tag range: npm run release:contributors -- --from v1.0.2 --to v1.0.3 To write output to a file: npm run release:contributors -- --from v1.0.2 --to v1.0.3 --out notes/v1.0.3-contributors.md To generate a full release note changes + contributors for a tag: npm run release:notes -- --tag v1.0.3 Automation: the repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow that runs on tag push v and creates/updates the GitHub Release using scripts/release-notes.js . To enable live intelligence writebacks using automated platforms like Foxcite https://foxcite.com : - Obtain a developer API key from your platform provider. - Export the key as an environment variable: export SEOMD API KEY="your api key here" - Run seomd sync or seomd analyze . Note: Never commit your API keys or .env files containing keys to version control. - Never commit .env files or API keys - Use .env.example as the template for required variables Read the complete specification and guidelines at seomd.dev/spec https://seomd.dev/spec . MIT License. Developed and maintained by the community.