Changelog
See the history of new features, improvements, and fixes for Direbase.
PDF export for AIO Readiness results
You can now export a PDF report from the AIO Readiness results screen and from the AIO Readiness tab of your dashboard history. It collects the score and category breakdown, every check item, prioritized recommendations, and structured data code samples into one document. Available on Entry plans and above. History exports cover checks run on or after 2026-08-19, when we started storing AIO results.
White-label PDF reports on the Pro plan
Pro plans can now export reports without our name on them. Register your company name and logo (PNG / JPEG, up to 200KB) under "Report branding" in account settings and they appear on the cover and in the footer. Leave it empty and the report carries no branding at all. Entry and Basic plans are unchanged.
Redesigned PDF report
The typography, colors, and rules now match the rest of the site. We also removed the service name from every page header so the report sits better inside your own deliverables. Downloads are now named like "seo-report-example.com-2026-08-19.pdf" so you can tell files apart after saving. A bug where the cover could show a date one day earlier than the actual check has been fixed as well.
Fixed PDF report downloads failing
Downloading a PDF report from the dashboard history or the results screen failed with "PDF generation failed" after the page had been reloaded. This is now fixed.
Two new checks in the AIO Readiness Check
We added "Content in Initial HTML" and "Entity Links (sameAs)". The first flags pages whose main content only appears after JavaScript runs — only Googlebot renders JavaScript, so AI search crawlers see those pages as having no content. The second verifies that sameAs in your structured data actually resolves to external profiles. Both fit within the existing Access and Trust weightings, so the maximum score is still 100.
Fixed the advice shown for JavaScript-rendered pages
Pages whose content is rendered only by JavaScript used to be reported as "Content length is insufficient". Length was never the cause, so writing more text would not have fixed anything. These pages now report JavaScript dependency as the cause and point you to SSR (server-side rendering) or SSG (static generation).
Expanded hidden-text detection
The "Hidden Text / AI Injection" check now detects text positioned off-screen and text colored the same as its background, plus injected instructions placed where assistive technology cannot reach them. Legitimate uses — collapsible menus, accordions, and screen-reader helper text — are deliberately excluded.
Stronger structured data checks
We now catch capitalization errors in property names. schema.org is case-sensitive, so a misspelled name is silently skipped rather than reported as an error — easy to miss. We also flag duplicate entities, a headline that does not match your H1, and sameAs values that are not absolute URLs.
Broken links in llms.txt are now detected
llms.txt works as an index that tells AI how your site is organized, so broken URLs stop it from doing its job. We now request the listed URLs and report the ones that cannot be reached (up to the first five).
AIO badge added
Domains scoring 85 or above on the AIO Readiness Check can now embed an AIO badge on their site. It can be published or hidden independently of the SEO badge, and both can sit on the same page. Per-domain toggles and embed codes for SEO and AIO are available on the SEO Badge screen in your dashboard. Embed codes are now collapsed by default, and domains are sorted by most recently checked.
Check history now separates SEO Check and AIO Readiness
Your dashboard check history now has tabs for SEO Check and AIO Readiness, so you can review each separately. Score comparisons against the previous check are made within the same check type. AIO Readiness entries link straight to a re-check.
SEO Check now scans for hidden text and AI injection
SEO Check on all plans now scans for hidden text and AI-targeted injected instructions (prompt injection). It detects hidden directives to AI planted in HTML comments, JSON-LD, and meta tags, as well as abnormal use of zero-width characters. Hidden text violates Google's spam policies and is also an attack surface for manipulating AI-search citations — an unexpected detection can signal site compromise. To avoid false positives, only high-confidence patterns are flagged; legitimate accessibility uses like sr-only are exempt. To keep plan score totals unchanged, image alt scoring moved from 6 to 4 points.
AIO Readiness Check now diagnoses Access
We added checks for whether AI crawlers can actually reach your page — the prerequisite for being cited in AI search. Two new items: robots.txt permission analysis for citation crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, etc.) and live access probes with AI crawler User-Agents to detect WAF/bot-protection blocks (403). The score has been redesigned to Access 20 + Extractability 35 + Trust 25 + Machine Readability 20 (100 total), so scores may differ from previous checks. The tool has also been renamed from AIO Citation Check to AIO Readiness Check.
New SEO Lab report: "AI Search Is a Selection Layer | The Four-Layer GEO Model and the Layer That Breaks First"
A practitioner's reading of the freely published chapters of The GEO Readiness Manual, which treats GEO as infrastructure. The report covers why GEO only works in one order — Access, Orientation, Understanding, Quotability — how to check status codes per AI crawler user-agent, and what separates a citable passage from an ignored one. The full manual is free from the author's site.
New SEO guide: "How to Use External Links | nofollow, sponsored & ugc"
We looked at whether the habit of avoiding outbound links — on the assumption that authority leaks — matches what Google actually documents. The guide separates external links from internal links and backlinks, walks through the rel attributes, and covers designing outbound links as citations, with good and bad implementations.
New SEO guide: "What Is Local SEO? The Work That Happens on Your Own Site"
This guide covers the half of local SEO that lives on your own website rather than in Google Business Profile: Google's three local ranking factors, reconciling NAP information, placing region keywords, and structuring location pages. Pairs with our Local SEO check.
New SEO Lab report: "Clicks +41% During Google's July 2026 Volatility | Decomposed, the Update Contributed Almost Nothing"
Across Google's July core update and the unconfirmed volatility that followed, our own site gained 41% clicks and 49% impressions. But once decomposed, more surviving pages lost position than gained, and 55% of the growth came from pages published during the window. The report lays out four checks for testing whether an update really moved you, with the underlying data.
Keyword research tools are now available on the Basic plan and above
Keyword Suggest, Query Fan-out, Ranked Keywords, and Competitor Keywords are now offered on the Basic plan and above. Plan availability previously differed between the pricing table, the tool screen, and our help pages — these are now aligned. Heading extraction and co-occurrence analysis remain on Entry and above, and there are no changes to SEO checks (3 per month with a free account) or the AI citation check.
Sitewide Design Renewal
We renewed every page — from the top page to the diagnostic tools, guides, and SEO Lab — with a new design built on serif typography and a warm ivory palette. The top page has been rebuilt with subtle animations, and navigation has been reorganized so you can jump straight to the Keyword Research tools (Suggest, Fan-out, Ranked KW, Competitor KW, Heading Extraction, Co-occurrence, and AIO Readiness Check) from the menu and footer. The tools list page has been retired and merged into the top page. Features, pricing, and accounts are unchanged.
Published SEO Lab Article: 'SEO as the Base, AIO/GEO on Top — 30-Day Data on New Pages Hitting Page 1 Overnight'
Clicks +86% and impressions +122% in the 30 days after the search update. Breaking down the growth, only new pages built on an SEO base with an AIO/GEO overlay (direct answers, structured data, E-E-A-T, llms.txt) reached page 1 the day after publishing. First-party data on the conditions for launch velocity — causal caveats included.
We renamed this service to "Direbase"
"CodeQuest.work SEO" is now "Direbase" — "Dire" for Director, "Base" for Baseline. The new name reflects what this tool is: the Web Director's Baseline audit for website design, built from Google's recommended standards. URLs, features, pricing, and accounts are unchanged.
Diagnostic engine maintenance
We inspected and tuned the entire diagnostic engine behind SEO Check and AIO Readiness Check. Improvements include more accurate page-speed measurement, better detection of external links, region keywords, llms.txt, and sitemaps, consistent check conditions in competitor comparison, and security hardening. Due to the revised criteria, some pages may see slightly different results than before.
Published SEO Lab Article: 'Can Low Domain Power Still Rank? Beating a High-DA Site with One Page'
Even against a high-Domain-Power competitor, a single page can overturn rankings for a specific query through search-intent fit and depth. From an observed reversal against a far stronger legacy site, we dissect what worked and what it does not prove — the difference between a query-level win and site-wide superiority.
New tool: AIO Readiness Check
We launched a free tool that scores, out of 100, whether your page is structured to be cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview — just enter a URL. It rates a direct answer at the top, extractable structure such as lists and comparison tables, question-style headings, and E-E-A-T signals like author info and structured data, and generates copy-paste improvement code for anything missing. Use it alongside SEO Check, which focuses on Google rankings.
Published SEO Lab Article: 'Google May 2026 Core Update — What Google Officially Stated, Backed by CodeQuest.work's Real Data'
We read Google's effectively three-line official statement on the May 2026 core update (rolled out May 21, 2026) closely. We cross-check 'there are no specific recovery actions' and 'a ranking drop does not necessarily mean anything is wrong with your pages' against CodeQuest.work's measured data on structured data and AIO citations. Includes three things not to do during the rollout, and a three-channel view to watch instead (GSC, GA4, SEO audit tool).
Published SEO Lab Article: 'SPA Sites Visible to Google But Invisible to AI'
SEO crawlers (Googlebot, Bingbot, Applebot) have adopted evergreen JavaScript rendering. AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) don't officially declare JS execution in their documentation. We reviewed each crawler's official documentation to examine whether SPA (CSR) content may be invisible to AI — covering SSR/SSG migration decisions and the minimum mitigations available.
Published SEO Lab Article: 'Do AI Referral Sources Differ in Article Genre?'
Tracking referral traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and OpenAI Search via GA4 surfaced a clear separation of article genres by AI source. We share what we observed, why it should not be casually generalized, and several interpretive hypotheses.
Added Monthly Trend Graph to Keyword Research
Keyword suggestions now display a 12-month search trend sparkline alongside search volume. Click to expand for a detailed chart showing seasonal variations and trend changes. A CPC (Cost Per Click) column has also been added as a reference for keyword commercial value.
Added Filter & Sort for Keyword Suggestions
Added minimum search volume and minimum CPC filters plus sortable columns to the suggest tab. Efficiently narrow down actionable keywords from large candidate lists.
Added Research Tools Shortcut to Dashboard
Added a 'Research Tools' button to the dashboard quick actions. Access keyword research, search volume analysis, and competitor keyword research with one click.
Improved Dashboard Mobile Layout
Optimized the mobile layout of check history cards. URL, date, score, and action buttons now display properly on narrow screens. Also added a visible note showing the 1-year history retention period.
Published 5 SEO Lab Articles
Published 5 new research articles in SEO Lab. Topics include verifying llms.txt GEO effectiveness with CDN logs, auditing our own tool's check items from an AIO perspective, fact-checking Domain Power 'common knowledge' with Google official sources, verifying AIO citation gaps from outside organic rankings, and examining structured data's role after FAQ rich results deprecation. All analyses are based on real data.
Published 3 SEO Guide Articles + Structured Data Guide Revamp
Published 3 new guides: how domain power works and how to improve it, how to boost rankings by rewriting content, and how to research competitor keywords for free. Also completely revamped the structured data guide — added a visual diagram explaining the differences between structured data, JSON-LD, Schema.org, and rich results, AI search (AIO/GEO) effectiveness, and Article/LocalBusiness implementation examples.
Added Competitor Keyword Research
Added a 'Competitor KW' tab to the Keyword Research tool. Enter a competitor domain to see their Google-ranked keywords, search positions, estimated traffic, and page URLs. Discover content gaps and plan your SEO strategy. Available on Basic plan and above.
Reorganized Navigation by Tool
Restructured the hamburger menu and footer into 'Tools' and 'Feature Guides'. The three main tools — SEO Check, Keyword Research, and Domain Power — are now directly accessible.
Published 3 SEO Lab Articles
Published 'SEO Lab' articles sharing cross-tool analysis processes using GA4, Direbase, and GSC. Three articles cover CTR analysis of tool-based content, diagnosing the impression/click gap on a new domain, and separating causation from correlation in structured data impact. Each demonstrates the observation → hypothesis → verification → analysis workflow with real data.
Published 11 SEO Guide Articles
Published practical guide articles for each SEO check item. Covers title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, structured data, OGP tags, image alt text, canonical tags, internal links, Core Web Vitals, XML sitemaps, and llms.txt. Each article includes a free checker tool you can use right away.
Google Account Login & Signup
You can now log in and sign up with your Google account in addition to email. Linking your existing email account with Google is also supported.
API Key Issuance Now Available on All Plans
API key issuance, previously limited to Entry and above paid plans, is now available on all plans including Free. You can start integrating with the WordPress plugin right after creating an account.
SEO Diagnostic Report PDF Export
You can now export check results as a professional PDF report. Up to 7 pages including cover page, executive summary, detailed check items, prioritized improvement suggestions, and Core Web Vitals analysis. Use it as an attachment for client proposals. Available on all paid plans (Entry and above).
Results Screen Now Leads with the 3-Layer Score
The results hero now prominently displays the 3-layer score (Ranking Signals, SERP Appearance, Technical) aligned with Google's official criteria. The overall score circle remains on the left but is now smaller and sits side-by-side with the 3 layers, so the moment you open the results you can see which area to focus on improving.
3-Layer Score Display Aligned with Google's Official Criteria
SEO scores are now broken down into 3 layers: Ranking Signals (HTTPS, mobile-friendly, page speed), SERP Appearance (title, description, OGP, rich results), and Technical (crawlability, sitemap, security). Based on ranking factors officially documented by Google Search Central, this breakdown makes it easy to see which area to prioritize. The overall 100-point score is still shown as before.
Core Web Vitals Integrated into Ranking Layer Score
Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) — Google's officially documented ranking factors — are now reflected in your SEO score. Once the PageSpeed Insights result arrives after a check, the previously response-time-based 'Page Speed' item is automatically replaced with a Core Web Vitals-based evaluation, updating the Ranking layer score to more closely match Google's actual assessment. Available on all plans.
Spammy Structured Markup Warning Added
We now automatically detect cases where structured data declares FAQs, product prices, or review ratings that aren't actually displayed on the page, and show them as warnings. Such markup violates Google's guidelines and can lead to rich result removal or manual actions. The warnings don't affect your score — they're shown purely to alert you. Currently covers FAQPage, Product.offers.price, and AggregateRating patterns.
Structured Data Score Rebalanced Toward Rich Results
Rebalanced the structured data score to emphasize Rich Results Eligibility — the factor that actually produces visible rich results (FAQ, breadcrumbs, product info, etc.) in Google search results. Its weight increased from 8 to 20 points. Meanwhile, checks that used to reward simply placing WebSite/Organization types were reduced in weight. This improves evaluation accuracy for structured data that delivers real SEO benefit.
Improved Structured Data & Sitemap Detection Accuracy
Fixed an issue where structured data nested inside WebPage or Article (such as BreadcrumbList) was not being detected. Sitemap detection from robots.txt is now more resilient, handling multiple sitemap entries, comment lines, and BOM-prefixed files. All 21 Google-supported Rich Result types are now recognized correctly.
WordPress Plugin Listed on WordPress.org
Our WordPress plugin 'ORECTIC SEO CHECK' is now listed on the official WordPress.org plugin directory. Install it with one click from 'Plugins → Add New' in your WordPress admin. Details: https://wordpress.org/plugins/orectic-seo-check/
Shareable URL for Check Results
Click the share icon in your dashboard check history to generate a shareable link. Recipients can view your SEO score and check items without logging in. Perfect for client proposals and team collaboration.
Unread Badge Added to Dashboard Changelog Button
The 'Changelog' button on the dashboard now shows an unread count badge. When new updates are available, a red badge indicates the number of unread entries. Opening the changelog page resets the badge.
WordPress Plugin Released
Released 'CodeQuest SEO Check' plugin for one-click SEO diagnosis from WordPress admin. Shows 100-point score across 4 categories: Structured Data, Basic SEO, Content, Technical SEO. API key integration for paid plan usage. Free download: https://github.com/masakazuimai/codequest-seo-check-plugin