Does AEO_HEADING_HIERARCHY affect my score?

Yes. It is an importance 5 rule at RESEARCH confidence, so a failure costs 5 × 0.7 points of impact in the Answer Engine category before that category is normalised to 100.

What does RESEARCH confidence mean?

Backed by large-sample study or industry research, not a specification. Confidence is a declared tier rather than a per-rule number, so every rule backed by the same class of evidence carries the same weight - which is what makes the score reproducible instead of hand-tuned.

How do I check AEO_HEADING_HIERARCHY on my own site?

Paste your URL into the box above and it runs only this rule, usually in a couple of seconds. It is also included in the Answer Engine checker and in a full scan.

Answer EngineMedium Affects your score

Heading levels descend without skipping

AEO_HEADING_HIERARCHY

Headings should step down one level at a time (h2 -> h3, not h2 -> h4). Skipped levels break the document outline that answer engines and screen readers use to understand which content belongs to which section.

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How this rule is weighted

Importance: 5 / 10; How much this matters relative to other rules.
Confidence: RESEARCH; Backed by large-sample study or industry research, not a specification.
Severity: warning; How the finding is presented when it fails.
Scoring: Counts; A failure costs points in its category.

Impact is importance multiplied by the confidence tier’s weight — SPECIFICATION 1.0, RESEARCH 0.7, EMERGING 0.3, EXPERIMENTAL 0.1. Two rules backed by the same class of evidence therefore always carry the same weight, which is what makes the score reproducible rather than hand-tuned.

Questions about this rule

Does AEO_HEADING_HIERARCHY affect my score?: Yes. It is an importance 5 rule at RESEARCH confidence, so a failure costs 5 × 0.7 points of impact in the Answer Engine category before that category is normalised to 100.
What does RESEARCH confidence mean?: Backed by large-sample study or industry research, not a specification. Confidence is a declared tier rather than a per-rule number, so every rule backed by the same class of evidence carries the same weight - which is what makes the score reproducible instead of hand-tuned.
How do I check AEO_HEADING_HIERARCHY on my own site?: Paste your URL into the box above and it runs only this rule, usually in a couple of seconds. It is also included in the Answer Engine checker and in a full scan.

Heading levels descend without skipping

How this rule is weighted

Questions about this rule

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Related Answer Engine rules

Heading levels descend without skipping

How this rule is weighted

Questions about this rule

Tags

Related Answer Engine rules