How ChatGPT Can Help Audit Your Website
TL;DR:
- ChatGPT can review text or code snippets you paste in and spot basic SEO or usability problems
- It gives decent suggestions for quick fixes and improvements
- It can't crawl your site or run a proper technical audit like specialist tools
- Best used for getting a second opinion on content or checking code before you publish
- Not a replacement for proper audit tools, but handy for quick checks
ChatGPT works well as a quick sense-check for your website content and basic code review. You can paste in page copy, HTML snippets, or describe issues you're having, and it'll spot obvious problems or suggest improvements.
The AI is particularly good at reviewing your content for readability, spotting SEO basics like missing title tags or descriptions, and flagging usability issues that might confuse visitors. It's like having someone take a quick look over your shoulder before you hit publish.
What ChatGPT Actually Does Well
When you paste content into ChatGPT, it can spot issues like:
- Poorly structured headings that don't follow a logical hierarchy
- Missing or weak meta descriptions
- Content that's hard to read or too technical for your audience
- Basic accessibility problems in your HTML
- Calls to action that aren't clear enough
The feedback comes back quickly and it usually explains why something might be a problem, which helps you learn as you go.
Where ChatGPT Falls Short
ChatGPT can't actually visit your website or run the kind of comprehensive checks that proper audit tools do. It won't catch technical issues like:
- Page speed problems
- Broken internal links
- Mobile responsiveness issues
- Server errors or redirect chains
- Detailed SEO analysis comparing you to competitors
Think of it as getting feedback on individual pieces rather than a full MOT for your website.
When to Use Specialist Tools Instead
For anything more than a quick content review, you'll need proper audit tools. These can crawl your entire site, check how it performs on mobile, analyse your backlinks, and give you detailed reports on technical SEO issues.
Use ChatGPT for quick checks and content reviews, but don't skip proper audit tools if you're serious about your website's performance. The AI can miss technical issues that could be holding your site back.
FAQs
Can ChatGPT crawl my website like Google does?
No, ChatGPT can't visit your website directly. You need to copy and paste content or code for it to review.
Will ChatGPT catch all my SEO problems?
Not even close. It can spot basic issues in content you show it, but it won't find technical SEO problems, broken links, or site-wide issues.
Should I trust ChatGPT's suggestions completely?
Take them as a starting point. The suggestions are usually sensible, but always double-check technical advice and test changes on a staging site first.
Can ChatGPT help with Squarespace sites specifically?
Yes, it can review your content and suggest improvements, but it won't catch Squarespace-specific issues or help with platform limitations.
Jargon Buster
Website Audit – A comprehensive check of your website's performance, SEO, and technical health
Meta Description – The short text that appears under your page title in search results
Technical SEO – The behind-the-scenes optimisation that helps search engines crawl and understand your site
Crawling – How search engines (and audit tools) systematically check all the pages on your website
Wrap-up
ChatGPT works well for quick content reviews and basic checks, but it's not a replacement for proper website audit tools. Use it to get feedback on individual pages or sections, but invest in specialist tools if you want to understand how your whole site is performing. Think of ChatGPT as a helpful second pair of eyes rather than a comprehensive solution.
Ready to take your website skills further? Join the Pixelhaze Academy for in-depth training on website auditing and optimization.