Hebrew SEO & GEO Toolkit

Instructions

Step 1: Audit Website (SEO + GEO)

Run a comprehensive audit covering both traditional SEO and AI search readiness.

Quick SEO Audit (Free, no API needed):

python3 scripts/seo_audit.py "https://example.co.il"

Manual checks:

# Check meta tags and schema markup
curl -sL "https://example.co.il" | grep -E "<title>|<meta name=\"description\"|<meta property=\"og:|application/ld\+json" | head -20

# Check robots.txt (verify AI bot access)
curl -s "https://example.co.il/robots.txt"

# Check sitemap
curl -s "https://example.co.il/sitemap.xml" | head -50

Verify AI bot access in robots.txt: Googlebot, Bingbot, PerplexityBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, anthropic-ai, GPTBot must all be allowed. See references/seo-checklist.md for the full prioritized audit checklist.

Step 2: Analyze Hebrew Keyword Morphology

Hebrew is a root-based (shoresh) language where prefixes change meaning:

Prefix	Hebrew	Meaning	Example
ha-	ה	the	habayit (the house)
ve-	ו	and	vehabayit (and the house)
be-	ב	in/at	babayit (in the house)
le-	ל	to/for	labayit (to the house)
me-	מ	from	mehbayit (from the house)
she-	ש	that/which	shebabayit (that in the house)

For each target keyword:

1. Extract the root (shoresh) using morphological analysis
2. Generate all prefix combinations users might search
3. Include construct state (smikhut) forms: "beit kafe" vs "habait shel hakafe"
4. Account for male/female and singular/plural forms
5. Run scripts/analyze_keywords.py --keywords "nadlan,dira,bayit" for full variant analysis

Use WebSearch to research target keywords:

WebSearch: "{keyword} keyword difficulty site:ahrefs.com OR site:semrush.com"
WebSearch: "{keyword} search volume 2026"

Step 3: Configure .co.il Domain SEO

Setting	Value	Notes
TLD priority	.co.il	Preferred for Israeli businesses
Server location	Israel or nearby CDN	Improves local ranking
Google Search Console	google.co.il property	Register separately from .com
Sitemap	Include hreflang annotations	Required for bilingual sites

1. Register .co.il domain with an ISOC-IL accredited registrar
2. Set up Google Search Console for the .co.il property
3. Configure DNS with Israeli/nearby CDN endpoints (Cloudflare TLV)
4. Verify RTL layout loads correctly
5. Submit XML sitemap with hreflang annotations

See references/hebrew-seo.md for domain strategy and local citation directories.

Step 4: Implement hreflang Tags

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="he-IL" href="https://example.co.il/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.co.il/en/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.co.il/en/page" />

Rules for Israeli sites:

1. Always use he-IL (not just he) for Israeli Hebrew content
2. Set x-default to the English version for international visitors
3. Every page must link bidirectionally to its counterpart in all languages
4. Use consistent absolute URLs across all hreflang declarations

Step 5: Apply GEO Optimization (AI Search Engines)

GEO = Generative Engine Optimization. AI search engines don't rank pages, they cite sources. Being cited is the new "ranking #1".

Apply the 9 Princeton GEO Methods (see references/geo-research.md):

Method	Visibility Boost	How to Apply
Cite Sources	+40%	Add authoritative citations and references
Statistics Addition	+37%	Include specific numbers and data points
Quotation Addition	+30%	Add expert quotes with attribution
Authoritative Tone	+25%	Use confident, expert language
Easy-to-understand	+20%	Simplify complex concepts
Technical Terms	+18%	Include domain-specific terminology
Unique Words	+15%	Increase vocabulary diversity
Fluency Optimization	+15-30%	Improve readability and flow
Keyword Stuffing	-10%	AVOID: hurts AI visibility

Best combination: Fluency + Statistics = Maximum boost

Content structure for AI extraction:

• Use "answer-first" format (direct answer at top of each section)
• Clear H1 > H2 > H3 hierarchy
• Bullet points, numbered lists, tables for comparison data
• Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max)
• FAQ format for common questions

FAQPage Schema (+40% AI visibility):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "What is [topic]?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "According to [source], [answer with statistics]."
    }
  }]
}

Step 6: Optimize for Each AI Platform

Each AI search engine has unique ranking factors. Snapshot for 2026:

Platform	Primary Index	Key Factor	Critical Requirement
ChatGPT (search)	Own crawler (OAI-SearchBot) + Bing fallback	Domain authority + content-answer fit	Allow OAI-SearchBot separately from GPTBot (training); 30-day freshness
Perplexity	Own crawler (PerplexityBot) + Google fallback	Semantic relevance	FAQ Schema, structured data, PDF/markdown sources
Google AI Overview	Google index	E-E-A-T + Knowledge Graph	Hebrew AI Overview rolled out to google.co.il during 2024-2025; structured data and clear answer paragraphs help
Gemini (Google)	Google index + real-time web	E-E-A-T + recency	Same as Google Search; benefits from llms.txt and clean markdown
Copilot (Microsoft)	Bing index	Bing rank + MS ecosystem signals	Bing Webmaster Tools verified, LinkedIn/GitHub presence
Claude (with web search)	Brave Search index	Factual density + citations	Brave indexing + clean source URLs

Bot table (2026):

• GPTBot, OpenAI training crawler. Block if you do not want training; allow if you want broader OpenAI presence.
• OAI-SearchBot, OpenAI's separate crawler for ChatGPT search results. Allow this even if you block GPTBot, otherwise ChatGPT search will not cite you.
• ChatGPT-User, fired when a user invokes browsing during a chat. Allow.
• PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User, index + on-demand fetch. Allow both.
• ClaudeBot, anthropic-ai, Claude-Web, Anthropic crawlers. Allow.
• Google-Extended, opt-out token for Gemini/Bard training (does NOT affect Google Search ranking or AI Overview citations).
• CCBot, Common Crawl, used by many model trainers downstream.
• Applebot-Extended, Apple Intelligence training opt-out.
• MistralAI-User, on-demand fetcher for Le Chat with web search. Allow if you want Mistral citations.
• Meta-ExternalAgent, Meta's web crawler for Meta AI products. Block via robots.txt if you want to opt out.

llms.txt advisory caveat (2026 update): llms.txt has gained adoption among AI crawlers as a hint but it is NOT a substitute for proper HTML and Schema.org. Google's official position is that llms.txt is advisory only and is not used as a ranking signal. Treat it as a nice-to-have on top of a clean site, not a replacement. Place a short /llms.txt index plus a longer /llms-full.txt with the full content, but keep the actual content rendered server-side and discoverable to traditional crawlers.

Universal requirements: allow the search-time bots (OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot) in robots.txt, implement Schema markup (FAQPage, Article, Organization with sameAs), include statistics and citations, update content within 30 days, expose a clean /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt for AI consumption.

See references/platform-algorithms.md for detailed per-platform optimization checklists.

Step 7: Apply EEAT Principles

Google's E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) affects both traditional SEO and AI answer selection.

Israeli-specific EEAT signals:

• Experience: Include real examples from the Israeli market, case studies with Israeli businesses
• Expertise: Author credentials, Hebrew domain expertise, references to Israeli regulations
• Authoritativeness: Backlinks from .co.il domains, mentions in Israeli publications (Globes, TheMarker, Calcalist)
• Trustworthiness: HTTPS, clear Hebrew authorship, contact info with +972 numbers, privacy policy in Hebrew

For YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content in Hebrew (medical, financial, legal), ensure content is reviewed by certified Israeli professionals and includes appropriate disclaimers.

See references/eeat-principles.md for implementation details.

Step 8: Build Hebrew Schema.org Structured Data

Create JSON-LD markup optimized for Israeli businesses:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Business Name / Shem HaEsek",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "Rehov Example 42",
    "addressLocality": "Tel Aviv-Yafo",
    "addressRegion": "Tel Aviv District",
    "postalCode": "6100000",
    "addressCountry": "IL"
  },
  "telephone": "+972-3-XXX-XXXX",
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday"],
      "opens": "09:00",
      "closes": "18:00"
    },
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": "Friday",
      "opens": "09:00",
      "closes": "14:00"
    }
  ]
}

Israeli-specific considerations:

1. Shabbat hours: Friday closes early (14:00), Saturday closed
2. Kosher certification: Use additionalProperty with certifying body (Rabbanut, Badatz)
3. Phone format: Always use +972 international prefix
4. Currency: Set priceCurrency to ILS

GEO-enhanced schemas: Add SpeakableSpecification for voice search and AI extraction:

{
  "speakable": {
    "@type": "SpeakableSpecification",
    "cssSelector": ["h1", ".summary", ".faq-answer"]
  }
}

See references/schema-templates.md for complete JSON-LD templates (FAQ, Article, Product, HowTo, Organization, combined @graph patterns).

Step 9: Configure AI Bot Access and llms.txt

Set up robots.txt to allow all major search-time and traditional bots:

User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /

User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /

# OpenAI: separate bots for training vs search
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

# Perplexity
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Perplexity-User
Allow: /

# Anthropic
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /

User-agent: anthropic-ai
Allow: /

User-agent: Claude-Web
Allow: /

# Common Crawl (used by many trainers)
User-agent: CCBot
Allow: /

# Mistral (Le Chat web search)
User-agent: MistralAI-User
Allow: /

# Meta AI external agent (opt-out by setting Disallow if you don't want Meta AI presence)
User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.co.il/sitemap.xml

Decisions to make:

• Allowing search-time crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, Perplexity-User, ChatGPT-User) increases chances of being cited in AI responses.
• Blocking Google-Extended opts out of Gemini training without affecting Google Search ranking or AI Overview citations.
• Blocking GPTBot opts out of OpenAI model training but keeps you eligible for ChatGPT search if OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User remain allowed.
• Review your policy regularly. This landscape evolves rapidly.

Add /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt: llms.txt (proposed by Jeremy Howard, 2024) is becoming a de facto AI-readable index. Place a short markdown file at https://example.co.il/llms.txt summarizing the site's purpose and key URLs, plus a longer llms-full.txt with the full content. AI search crawlers and agents increasingly use these instead of guessing structure from HTML.

Step 10: Validate and Monitor

SEO Validation:

# Schema validation
open "https://search.google.com/test/rich-results?url={encoded_url}"

# Check Google indexing
open "https://www.google.com/search?q=site:{domain}"

# Check Bing indexing (required for Copilot)
open "https://www.bing.com/search?q=site:{domain}"

GEO Monitoring:

• Track AI citations using tools like Otterly.ai, Profound, or SE Ranking AI Toolkit
• Monitor referral traffic from AI platforms (Perplexity, ChatGPT)
• Search for your brand in AI assistants to check citation accuracy
• Track Google Search Console AI Overview data

Hebrew-specific checks:

1. Verify RTL rendering in all browsers
2. Test hreflang bidirectional linking
3. Confirm local directory listings are consistent (NAP: Name, Address, Phone)
4. Run scripts/analyze_keywords.py --audit for keyword coverage

See references/tools-and-apis.md for a full list of free and paid SEO/GEO tools.

Examples

Example 1: Hebrew Keyword Research

User says: "I need keywords for an Israeli real estate website" Actions:

1. Identify root keywords: nadlan (real estate), dira (apartment), bayit (house)
2. Generate morphological variants: hanadlan, benadlan, dirot (plural), batim (plural)
3. Include construct forms: sokhen nadlan (real estate agent), mehirei dirot (apartment prices)
4. Run scripts/analyze_keywords.py --keywords "nadlan,dira,bayit" for full variant analysis
5. Map variants to pages with search volume priority Result: Complete Hebrew keyword map with morphological variants and prefix combinations

Example 2: Bilingual Site hreflang Setup

User says: "Set up hreflang for my Hebrew/English .co.il site" Actions:

1. Audit existing pages for language pairs
2. Generate hreflang link tags for HTML head on each page
3. Create XML sitemap with hreflang annotations
4. Verify bidirectional linking between language versions Result: Complete hreflang implementation with he-IL and en targeting

Example 3: GEO Optimization for Israeli SaaS

User says: "Optimize my Israeli SaaS landing page for AI search engines" Actions:

1. Audit current AI visibility (search brand name in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude)
2. Apply Princeton GEO methods: add statistics with sources, expert quotes, authoritative citations
3. Implement FAQPage schema with bilingual Q&A pairs
4. Add SpeakableSpecification to key content sections
5. Verify all AI bots are allowed in robots.txt
6. Structure content in answer-first format with clear H2/H3 hierarchy Result: Landing page optimized for both Google.co.il and AI search engine citations

Example 4: Israeli Restaurant Schema with GEO

User says: "Create structured data for my kosher restaurant in Jerusalem" Actions:

1. Build LocalBusiness/Restaurant JSON-LD with Israeli address format
2. Add Shabbat-aware opening hours (Friday early close, Saturday closed)
3. Include kosher certification with Rabbanut details
4. Add FAQPage schema for common questions (menu, reservations, kashrut level)
5. Add SpeakableSpecification for voice assistant queries
6. Include Hebrew menu schema with NIS pricing Result: Complete JSON-LD markup optimized for Google Rich Results and AI citations

Example 5: Full SEO + GEO Audit

User says: "Audit my Israeli e-commerce site for SEO and AI visibility" Actions:

1. Run python3 scripts/seo_audit.py "https://example.co.il" for technical audit
2. Check AI bot access in robots.txt
3. Verify hreflang and Hebrew content quality
4. Audit structured data (FAQPage, Product, BreadcrumbList schemas)
5. Evaluate EEAT signals (author credentials, citations, Hebrew expertise)
6. Test AI visibility by searching brand and product names in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude
7. Review Google Search Console AI Overview data Result: Prioritized SEO + GEO improvement plan for the Israeli market

Bundled Resources

Scripts

• scripts/seo_audit.py -- Full website SEO audit: meta tags, robots.txt, sitemap, load time, schema markup, AI bot access. No API needed. Run: python3 scripts/seo_audit.py "https://example.co.il"
• scripts/analyze_keywords.py -- Hebrew keyword morphological analysis: generates prefix variants (ha-, ve-, be-, le-, me-, she-), plural forms, and construct state combinations. Run: python scripts/analyze_keywords.py --help
• scripts/keyword_research.py -- Keyword research with search volume and difficulty data. Requires DataForSEO API. Run: python3 scripts/keyword_research.py "seo tools" --limit 20
• scripts/serp_analysis.py -- Analyze top Google results for a keyword. Requires DataForSEO API. Run: python3 scripts/serp_analysis.py "best seo tools"
• scripts/backlinks.py -- Backlink profile analysis. Requires DataForSEO API. Run: python3 scripts/backlinks.py "example.com"
• scripts/domain_overview.py -- Domain metrics: traffic, keywords, rankings. Requires DataForSEO API. Run: python3 scripts/domain_overview.py "example.com"
• scripts/autocomplete_ideas.py -- Google autocomplete keyword suggestions. Requires DataForSEO API.
• scripts/related_keywords.py -- Related keyword discovery. Requires DataForSEO API.
• scripts/competitor_gap.py -- Competitor keyword gap analysis. Requires DataForSEO API.

References

• references/hebrew-seo.md -- Hebrew SEO best practices: .co.il domain strategy, RTL optimization, Israeli business directories, Google.co.il ranking factors. Consult when implementing or auditing Hebrew SEO.
• references/geo-research.md -- Princeton GEO research (9 optimization methods with examples, best combinations, domain-specific recommendations). Consult when optimizing content for AI search engine citations.
• references/platform-algorithms.md -- Detailed ranking factors for each AI platform (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, Copilot, Claude) and traditional Google SEO. Consult when optimizing for a specific search platform.
• references/schema-templates.md -- Ready-to-use JSON-LD templates: FAQPage, WebPage, Article, SoftwareApplication, Organization, Product, HowTo, BreadcrumbList, LocalBusiness, SpeakableSpecification, combined @graph patterns. Consult when implementing structured data.
• references/seo-checklist.md -- Complete prioritized SEO/GEO audit checklist (P0/P1/P2 priorities) covering technical SEO, on-page SEO, schema markup, GEO optimization, off-page SEO, and monitoring. Consult when running a full site audit.
• references/tools-and-apis.md -- Curated list of free and paid SEO/GEO tools, APIs, browser extensions, and command-line utilities. Consult when recommending tools or setting up automation.
• references/eeat-principles.md -- Google's EEAT framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) with implementation patterns and YMYL considerations. Consult when evaluating or improving content quality.
• references/aeo-considerations.md -- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) guide: how AI selects answers, content structure for AI, Google AI Overviews, AI crawler management, measuring AEO success. Consult when optimizing content for AI answer selection.

Gotchas

• Hebrew morphology creates keyword variants that agents miss. The word "nadlan" (real estate) has prefixes like "hanadlan," "benadlan," "lenadlan" that are separate search queries. Agents may optimize for a single form and miss the majority of search traffic.
• Israeli business hours in schema.org must reflect the Sunday-Thursday work week with Friday early close. Agents default to Monday-Friday schedules.
• The hreflang tag for Israeli Hebrew must be he-IL, not just he. Agents often omit the country code, which affects Google's geo-targeting for google.co.il.
• Israeli phone numbers in structured data must use the +972 prefix. Agents may format numbers in local 0X-XXX-XXXX format, which fails schema validation.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is a rapidly evolving field. AI platform ranking factors (which bots to allow, content freshness windows, citation formats) change frequently. Agents may recommend outdated GEO strategies from even 6 months ago. As of mid-2026 Google AI Overview is widely live for he-IL queries on google.co.il but rollout still skips some YMYL queries; treat AI Overview citation as an aspirational signal rather than a guaranteed lever.
• AI Overview de-prioritizes content with stuffed H1/H2 keywords. Sites that rank well in classic Google can lose AI Overview citations to lower-traffic competitors that have a cleaner answer-first paragraph. The fix is structural (rewrite intro for direct-answer format), not more keywords.
• Hebrew-language LLMs cite Hebrew content unevenly. Pure-Hebrew SaaS landing pages get cited less by ChatGPT/Claude than equivalent EN+HE pages. Maintain an English alternate URL with the same content for the AI surface, plus the Hebrew URL with proper hreflang for Google.co.il ranking.

Reference Links

Source	URL	What to Check
Google Search Central	https://developers.google.com/search	Ranking factors, structured data, Core Web Vitals
Google Search Status Dashboard	https://status.search.google.com	Active core updates, AI Overview rollout status
Schema.org	https://schema.org	JSON-LD markup for LocalBusiness, FAQ, Article
Google Keyword Planner	https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/	Hebrew search volumes, keyword ideas
Academy of the Hebrew Language	https://hebrew-academy.org.il	Correct Hebrew terminology, spelling rules
Princeton GEO paper (Aggarwal et al., 2023)	https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735	GEO methods for AI search engines
OpenAI bot docs	https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots	GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User behavior
Anthropic crawler docs	https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/agents-and-tools/web-crawler	ClaudeBot, anthropic-ai, Claude-Web
Perplexity crawler info	https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots	PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User
llms.txt proposal	https://llmstxt.org	Convention for AI-readable site index
Bing Webmaster Tools	https://www.bing.com/webmasters	Required for Copilot indexing
Brave Search	https://search.brave.com	Index Claude relies on

Troubleshooting

Error: "hreflang mismatch detected"

Cause: hreflang tags are not bidirectional (page A links to B but B does not link back to A) Solution: Ensure every hreflang declaration is reciprocal. Both the Hebrew and English versions must reference each other.

Error: "RTL rendering issues"

Cause: Missing dir="rtl" attribute or CSS conflicts with LTR defaults Solution: Set dir="rtl" on the html element for Hebrew pages. Use CSS logical properties (margin-inline-start instead of margin-left).

Error: "Schema validation failed"

Cause: JSON-LD markup contains errors or missing required properties Solution: Test with Google Rich Results Test. Common Israeli issues: wrong phone format (must use +972), missing addressCountry: IL, or ILS currency code.

Error: "Keywords not ranking on google.co.il"

Cause: Content may be machine-translated or missing morphological keyword variants Solution: Ensure Hebrew content includes natural prefix combinations. Use scripts/analyze_keywords.py to identify missing variants.

Error: "Not appearing in AI search results"

Cause: AI bots may be blocked, content lacks citation-worthy signals, or site not indexed on required platforms Solution: Check robots.txt allows GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot. Apply GEO methods (citations, statistics, authoritative tone). Verify Bing indexing (for Copilot) and Brave indexing (for Claude). Ensure content is updated within 30 days.

Error: "AI citing competitors instead of my site"

Cause: Competitor content has higher factual density, better structure, or more authoritative citations Solution: Apply Princeton GEO methods: add specific statistics with sources (+37%), authoritative citations (+40%), expert quotes (+30%). Use answer-first format and FAQPage schema. Build topical authority through content clusters.