SEO/AEO Experiment: Testing Page Characteristics Against Search Visibility
This hub describes a controlled research experiment testing how page characteristics affect search engine discovery, indexing, ranking, and AI retrieval in a low-competition market.
Publication date: 10 September 2026
Observation window: 28 days from publication
Current status: In progress (D0 begins at deployment confirmation)
Purpose
The experiment investigates whether conventional SEO visibility is a prerequisite for AI-enabled search (AEO) visibility, and which page attributes most influence outcomes. We are testing three factors independently:
- HTML Richness (H): Semantic markup (article tags, breadcrumbs, structured data) vs. basic valid HTML
- Contextual Depth (C): 350-500 words vs. 900-1300 words with detailed information
- Internal Links (L): Minimal internal linking vs. multiple discovery pathways
Each factor is tested at low and high levels, creating 8 combinations per topic (2×2×2 design).
Research Topics
The experiment covers two service-discovery topic families in Falkland Islands:
Chinese Tui Na Massage
Eight pages exploring different scenarios related to Tui Na massage enquiries in Falkland Islands, with controlled variations in HTML richness, content depth, and internal linking.
Vietnamese-Style Massage
Eight pages exploring different scenarios related to Vietnamese-style massage enquiries in Falkland Islands, with the same controlled factor variations.
Research Methodology
This is a research publication, not a business directory or medical advice. Pages are synthetic research content with controlled characteristics designed for measurable observation.
Research Transparency
This content is part of a controlled experiment. All 16 experimental pages are research pages with synthetic scenarios and research tokens. They are not listings for real providers.
Each page includes:
- Research token for retrieval testing (e.g., LCI-EXP-T-000)
- Disclosure of experiment status and factor assignment
- Publication and review dates
- Link to this methodology page
- Safety notices about health information
Observation Schedule
Observations occur at predefined checkpoints:
- D0 (Publication day): Accessibility and sitemap presence confirmed
- D1, D3, D7, D14, D28: Search engine crawl, index, and ranking checks
- Post-index: AI retrieval and citation trials (only for indexed pages)
Results are recorded in an append-only observation log and reported separately from the experimental pages.
Questions or Corrections
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