Note: Lofty is rolling out in stages. Depending on the version your account is on, some features or screens described in this article may look different or may not yet be available to you.
Introduction
Lofty's SEO Tool is a suite of three pages designed to help your website get found — on traditional search engines like Google and Bing, and on AI-powered discovery tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and voice search.
Note: The SEO Tool is not available for subdomain (Agent Website) sites.
The three pages work together as your complete search visibility system:
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
| SEO Setup | Builds your technical SEO foundation with a 0–100 score |
| AEO | Optimizes your content for AI-powered search and answer engines |
| Indexing | Controls which pages search engines are allowed to index |
How to Access the SEO Tool
In the CMS, navigate to SEO in the left navigation.
Page 1: SEO Setup — Build Your Search Foundation
SEO Setup is your starting point. It walks you through the steps needed to make your website understandable and indexable by search engines — no technical SEO expertise needed.
The 0–100 Score
Every time you open SEO Setup, Lofty automatically scans your website and updates your score. Issues are flagged in three categories:
- Critical — Must-fix issues that significantly impact visibility
- Warnings — Items that should be addressed when possible
- Informational — Notes about your site's configuration
Completing all four phases of the guided workflow results in a score of 100, indicating your SEO foundation is fully configured.
Important: Your SEO Setup score is not the same as Google PageSpeed. PageSpeed measures how fast your site loads. SEO Setup measures how completely your SEO configuration is finished. Both matter, but they measure different things.
The Four-Phase Workflow
SEO Setup organizes your required actions into a guided, four-phase process. Follow the phases in order for best results.
Recommended Setup Order
- Complete SEO Setup to establish your technical foundation
- Review Indexing to confirm what search engines can see
- Use AEO to refine how AI platforms discover and represent your content
Page 2: AEO — Optimize for AI-Powered Search
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) focuses on how your business appears in AI-generated answers, not just traditional search result lists.
As more buyers and sellers use AI tools to ask questions like "What's the best neighborhood to buy in Austin?", AEO positions your website as the source those AI tools reference.
What the AEO Page Shows
- How often your brand appears in AI-generated answers
- Which AI platforms (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, voice search) reference your content
- Examples of how AI currently describes your business
- Content gaps that are limiting your AI visibility
Why AEO Matters
AI tools answer questions directly instead of just showing links. Strong AEO ensures your content is structured to be cited in those answers — using clear question-and-answer language, FAQ-style content, and structured data that AI can parse easily.
Page 3: Indexing — Control What Search Engines See
Indexing gives you direct control over which pages search engines are allowed to index and surface in search results.
What You Can Control
MLS listing page indexing: - Index only listings in your Featured Areas (default) - Index all listings from your MLS
Sold listing indexing: - Default: no-index (this is SEO best practice — sold listings are often seen as thin or outdated content) - Can be enabled if you want sold listings to appear in search
Custom no-index rules: - Use wildcard URL patterns to prevent specific pages or URL segments from being indexed - Custom rules have the highest priority — they override all other indexing settings
Default Settings Explained
Lofty applies SEO-safe defaults out of the box: - Only Featured Area listings are indexed - Sold listings are no-indexed - Critical site pages remain discoverable
These defaults protect your site from common SEO issues like thin content (individual listing pages with little text) and outdated content (sold listings) appearing in search results.
Site Editor SEO Analysis
In addition to the three SEO tool pages, you can run an SEO analysis on any individual page directly within the page editor.
How to access: CMS → Editor → Select the page → SEO Tool tab
Before running the analysis: Select the page you want to analyze, then enter your target keyword in the keyword field. If the page already has a keyword set, it will pre-populate. Click Get Analysis.
SEO Analysis Tab
Analyzes and scores these page elements: - Subheading length - Title length - Description length - Text length - Text images - Internal links - Mobile page performance - Desktop page performance
Keyword Relevance Tab
Analyzes how well your target keyword is used across the page: - Key phrase length - Title keyword placement - Subheading keyword placement - Keyword density - Description keyword placement
Click Click to improve on any item to implement the specific suggestion directly.
Note: The SEO analysis tool is built on Yoast's open-source code. Clicking the guidance link for each item opens the Yoast Help Center with detailed explanations for that specific factor.
After Making Changes
After implementing SEO recommendations: 1. Search engines need time to re-crawl and re-index your pages. The timing depends on Google's crawl schedule. 2. To speed up the process, request manual re-indexing through Google Search Console after publishing your changes.
Tips
- Complete SEO Setup before working on individual pages. Site-wide configuration (sitemap, metadata structure, Search Console connection) has more impact than optimizing individual pages.
- Start with Featured Area pages for Indexing. These are the pages most likely to rank for neighborhood-specific searches — make sure they're indexed.
- Don't index all listings by default. Individual property listing pages tend to have thin content (MLS data with little original text). Indexing only your Featured Area listings keeps your indexed pages high-quality.
- Use AEO for blog content. Blog posts in Q&A or guide format are most likely to be cited by AI answer engines. Write posts that directly answer common buyer/seller questions.
Troubleshooting
My SEO Setup score isn't improving after making changes. Lofty re-scans your site automatically when you open SEO Setup. After making changes, close and reopen the SEO Setup page to see your updated score.
I don't see the SEO Tool in my CMS. The SEO Tool is only available on Full SEO websites. Agent Website (subdomain) sites do not have access to the SEO Tool.
My individual page SEO analysis isn't finding my keyword. Make sure you've typed your target keyword in the keyword field before clicking Get Analysis. If you've previously set a keyword on the page's SEO settings, it should pre-fill automatically.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at support@lofty.com, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by chat with us through your Lofty CRM.
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