You submitted your business for a free AI audit. Now there is a number in front of you and a letter grade. What does it actually mean? What are the most important things to fix first? And how long will it realistically take to see results?
This article walks you through every component of your MerchandisePROS audit report: what the score measures, what each grade means in practical terms, how findings are prioritized, and how to build a realistic improvement plan from your results.
Understanding Your Score (0-100)
Your score is not arbitrary. It is the result of our AI evaluating your business across every dimension that affects whether customers can find you, trust you, and choose you over a competitor. The score is normalized to a 0-100 scale so you can track improvement over time and benchmark against similar businesses.
What contributes to the score depends on your audit type. For a Local Business audit, the AI evaluates your Google Business Profile, website technical health, structured data, AEO signals for AI search readiness, review quantity and recency, NAP consistency across directories, and mobile experience. For an E-Commerce audit it evaluates trust signals, cart conversion friction, catalog structure, and organic visibility. For Amazon ASIN it evaluates 14 listing dimensions including title, images, BSR, and sales velocity.
Important context: your score reflects measurable, publicly visible signals. A business with excellent customer service can still score a 35 because digital signals like structured data, AEO readiness, and directory consistency are not in place. The score measures visibility and discoverability, not the quality of your actual service.
What Each Grade Means
A (85-100): Strong Foundation. Your business has the core digital signals in place. At this score the opportunity is optimization: AI search readiness (structured FAQ content, HowTo schema), review velocity, and content strategy. Businesses scoring A are typically visible in Google Maps and may be appearing in AI-generated answers.
B (70-84): Good Base with Specific Gaps. You have solid fundamentals but 2-4 high-impact fixes available. Common B-range gaps: missing LocalBusiness schema, incomplete Google Business Profile (no posts, few photos), no FAQPage structured data, or inconsistent NAP in 1-2 directories. Each fix typically takes under a day and produces measurable ranking improvements within 30 days.
C (55-69): Moderate Issues Costing You Customers Daily. Multiple signals are missing or misconfigured. You likely rank inconsistently in local search, are invisible in AI-generated results, and may have trust signal issues. Businesses in this range often have a website but no structured data, a claimed but under-optimized Google Business Profile, and no AEO content. The 90-day plan will move you from C to B or A.
D (40-54): Significant Gaps. Your business is missing several foundational elements and is likely invisible in Google Maps for competitive queries and completely absent from AI search results. D-range businesses often have no or unclaimed Google Business Profile, a website with no schema markup, inconsistent directory listings, and very few reviews. Fixing Critical findings alone will produce significant improvement.
F (Below 40): Critical Visibility Failure. Fundamental issues need addressing immediately. Your business is difficult or impossible to find through digital channels. The good news: at this score, even small fixes produce large score improvements because you are starting from a low base. The 90-day plan will get you to C or B territory with consistent execution.
Understanding Your Findings
Critical: Fix these first, always. Critical findings directly block customers from finding or trusting your business. Examples: unclaimed Google Business Profile, website errors, completely missing structured data. Every day you wait is another day a competitor captures the customer you should have won.
High: Address after Critical, within the first 30 days. High findings are significant gaps actively costing you visibility or conversion. Examples: incomplete Google Business Profile, no FAQPage or HowTo schema, inconsistent NAP, fewer than 10 reviews when competitors have 50+, no HTTPS.
Moderate: Target in days 31-60. Moderate findings are real opportunities but not blocking issues. Examples: slow page load speed, missing Open Graph tags, thin page content, no blog or FAQ section, limited review diversity across platforms.
Low: Tackle in days 61-90. Low findings are incremental optimizations. Examples: missing image alt text on some photos, meta descriptions not optimized for click-through rate, some social profiles incomplete.
The 4 Audit Types and What Each Covers
- Local Business (Lead Generation): Google Business Profile completeness and activity, website structured data (LocalBusiness, FAQPage, HowTo), AEO readiness for AI search engines, site speed and mobile usability, review volume and recency, NAP consistency across directories, and local search visibility.
- E-Commerce: Trust signals (SSL, return policy, contact info), product page quality, site speed, mobile checkout experience, structured data (Product, Review, BreadcrumbList), abandoned cart recovery signals, and organic search visibility for key product categories.
- Amazon ASIN: Title (keyword density, length, style guide compliance), images (quantity, quality, infographic use), bullet points (benefit coverage, keyword inclusion), A+ content presence, price competitiveness, BSR trend, review volume and rating, indexed keywords, description, variations, FBA vs FBM, and estimated sales velocity.
- Social Media: Profile completeness on each platform, bio optimization with keywords, posting consistency, content format diversity (Reels, Stories, static), engagement rate, hashtag strategy, link-in-bio setup, and cross-platform brand consistency.
Your 90-Day Action Plan
Days 1-30 (Critical and High findings): Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. Add LocalBusiness schema to your website. Fix any NAP inconsistencies. Install SSL if missing. Get your most recent 10 customers to leave Google reviews. These fixes alone typically move a D-grade business to a C and a C-grade business toward B.
Days 31-60 (Moderate findings and AEO): Add FAQPage and HowTo schema to your website. Create a structured FAQ section. Improve page load speed. Claim and complete profiles on secondary directories. Begin building a content rhythm if you have a blog. These steps improve both organic ranking and AI search readiness.
Days 61-90 (Low findings and measurement): Fix remaining optimization opportunities. Audit your progress by running the free audit again and comparing scores. Most businesses that consistently implement their 90-day plan see 15-30 point score improvements.
After You Fix the Issues: When to Re-Audit
We recommend re-running the free audit 60-90 days after completing your action plan. This gives search algorithms enough time to re-index your changes and for new ranking signals to propagate across directories. Moving from a D (45) to a B (72) is a realistic 90-day outcome for a local business that addresses all Critical and High findings.
If your score does not improve as expected, the re-audit will reveal which findings were not fully addressed or whether new issues have emerged. The audit is a diagnostic tool, not a one-time checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is my score calculated?
Our AI evaluates your business across all dimensions relevant to your audit type, weighted by their impact on customer acquisition and normalized to a 0-100 scale. For local businesses, this includes Google Business Profile completeness, site speed, structured data, AEO signals, review volume, and NAP consistency.
Why did I score lower than I expected?
Low scores most often come from invisible issues: missing schema markup, no AEO signals, inconsistent business data across directories, or an incomplete Google Business Profile. These do not affect how you serve customers day-to-day, but they significantly affect how algorithms rank and recommend your business.
How long will it take to improve my score?
Critical and High severity findings can typically be addressed in 2-4 weeks and produce visible ranking improvements within 30-60 days. The full 90-day action plan is designed so that the highest-impact fixes come first.
Can I re-audit after making improvements?
Yes. We recommend re-auditing 60-90 days after implementing the recommended fixes so you can track improvement and identify any new gaps that have emerged. The free audit is available any time.
What if I need help implementing the fixes?
Schedule a free 20-minute consultation via Calendly. We will review your specific findings, prioritize the most impactful fixes for your business type, and discuss what hands-on support looks like if you want us to implement the changes for you.
Is the audit free for all 4 types?
Yes. All four audit types (Local Business, E-Commerce, Amazon ASIN, and Social Media) are completely free. No credit card required. You receive the full PDF report with score, grade, findings, and 90-day action plan at no cost.
"A score is only useful if you know what drove it and what to do next. That is why we designed the report around a prioritized action plan — not just a list of problems, but a clear sequence for fixing them."
- Diego Medina F, Founder of MerchandisePROS