TL;DR. 90 minutes, five steps, one fix at the end. Pick five prompts from your top group. Read 8 signals per prompt. Apply the decision tree. Rank diagnoses. Pick the single highest-impact fix and ship it this week. The goal of this audit is not to fix everything. It is to produce one ticket.
The 90-minute plan
| Step | Time | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pick 5 prompts from 1 prompt group | 10 min | Shortlist |
| 2. Read signals for each | 40 min | Populated signal table |
| 3. Apply decision tree | 20 min | Matched rule per prompt |
| 4. Rank by priority (lesson 5 order) | 10 min | Ordered list |
| 5. Pick and ship one fix | 10 min | Ticket filed with owner + due date |
Step 1: Pick 5 prompts (10 min)
From your 12-prompt group (3x2x2) built in Module 2, pick the 5 prompts that perform the worst.
Step 2: Read signals (40 min, 4 min each)
For each prompt, pop open Rankscale's dashboard view for that prompt and record the 8 signals from lesson 6 in a spreadsheet. One row per prompt, one column per signal. Do not interpret yet. Just collect.
Tip: keep the dashboard tab and the spreadsheet side-by-side. Eye-flick between them. Do not second-guess.
Step 3: Apply the decision tree (20 min, 2 min each)
Row by row, match the signals to one of the 10 rules in lesson 6. Write the matching rule number and name in a new column. If two rules plausibly match, pick the higher-priority one per the rule order (Detection → Mentions/Citations → Citations-only → Position → Stability → Sentiment → Engine conflict → Competitor).
Step 4: Rank by priority (10 min)
Re-sort the spreadsheet by the lesson 5 order of attack: branded first, then non-branded by intent and scope. Now your top row is the single highest-priority diagnosis.
Step 5: Pick and ship one fix (10 min)
From the top row, fill in the diagnosis template (lesson 7). Assign an owner. Set a due date within 10 business days. Open a ticket. That is the deliverable of this audit.
What NOT to do in the first audit
- Do not try to fix all 12 prompts from your prompt group. The fastest way to ship zero fixes is to commit to 12.
- Do not rewrite your entire site. The first fix should be one page, one schema addition, one listing claim, or one community engagement.
- Do not skip Step 4. Prioritization is the whole point.
What happens after
Re-audit in 4 weeks. Check whether the signal you targeted moved. If it did, ship the next fix. If it did not, revisit the diagnosis. That loop is your operating rhythm, covered in Module 8.
Do this now:
Block 90 minutes on your calendar this week. Run the five steps. Produce one ticket. That is more diagnostic output than most teams produce in a quarter.
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