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Platforms: WordPress

Best SEO and GEO agency
for WordPress sites.

WordPress can do almost anything, and most of what matters for search comes from the plugins, theme and host you chose rather than from core. Passionfruit makes them work as one, then builds the comparison and use-case pages that get you named in Google and AI answers.

How WordPress sites get found now

  1. AI crawlers read the HTML your theme sends

    The most recent public study found the main AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. Classic WordPress themes send full HTML, but page-builder tabs, sliders and headless front ends can leave those crawlers with half a page.

  2. Your host decides who gets in

    On self-hosted WordPress, the CDN, firewall and security plugins decide which bots reach the site. Many domains added to Cloudflare between mid-2025 and September 2026 block AI crawlers by default, so a site can turn away AI search bots without anyone changing a WordPress setting.

  3. Buyers read the answer first

    Ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews for the “best project management tool for agencies” and you get a written shortlist before any blue links. The companies on it publish pages that answer that question directly, in text an engine can lift.

What WordPress does for search, and what it leaves to plugins

WordPress core covers less of SEO than most teams assume, and plugins fill the rest. These are the areas we check on every site: what core and your plugins cover, and what we add.

Titles and meta descriptions

Out of the box

Core sets the title from the post title and prints no meta description. Both depend on an SEO plugin such as Yoast or Rank Math.

What we add

Titles and descriptions written for the phrases buyers use, set in one plugin, with templates for every post type so nothing ships blank.

Canonicals

Out of the box

Core adds a canonical tag to single posts and pages only. Archives, categories, tags and the paginated home page get none without a plugin.

What we add

One plugin in charge of canonicals, and a check of the live HTML that no theme or page builder prints a second one.

Archives

Out of the box

Tag, category, author and date archives are created for you, and all of them can be indexed.

What we add

Thin archives set to noindex or turned into curated hub pages, so crawlers spend their visits on pages that can rank.

Sitemap

Out of the box

Core generates a sitemap at /wp-sitemap.xml. Most SEO plugins replace it with their own.

What we add

A check that every page that should rank is in the sitemap actually served, and that thin archives and utility pages are not.

robots.txt

Out of the box

Core serves a virtual file that points to the sitemap. Changing it takes a plugin or a physical file on the server.

What we add

Explicit rules for the AI search crawlers you want in, and a check that no leftover physical file overrides the version you edit.

Redirects

Out of the box

Core has no redirect manager. Redirects live in a plugin, in the server config, or in both.

What we add

One place for redirects, a 301 for every URL we change, and chains left by past migrations cleaned up.

Structured data

Out of the box

Core outputs no schema. SEO plugins add a graph of WebSite, Organization, WebPage, Article and BreadcrumbList, and themes and page builders often add another.

What we add

One complete graph per page, with SoftwareApplication, FAQ and Organization details where they apply, and the duplicate graphs removed.

AI crawlers and agents

Out of the box

Core has no AI crawler settings. Access is decided by your host, CDN, firewall and security plugins, and Yoast can generate an llms.txt for you.

What we add

Crawler access checked in the live robots.txt and server responses, search bots let in, training bots handled the way you choose, and an llms.txt kept as low-cost hygiene.

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How AI engines read a WordPress site

Five things shape what an engine says about your product, and on self-hosted WordPress one of them is the server in front of the site. We work on all five.

  1. The HTML your theme sends

    OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot read what your theme outputs on the server. Classic themes send the page in full, but content in builder tabs, sliders and “load more” lists, or fetched by a headless front end, can be missing. We move what matters into the HTML.

  2. Your host, CDN and firewall

    Before any crawler reads a page, the server has to let it in. Cloudflare’s newer defaults treat search, agent and training bots differently, and security plugins add rules of their own. We check what each bot is actually served.

  3. Google’s index

    AI Overviews and AI Mode are built on Google’s own crawl, so classic WordPress SEO still feeds them: one canonical per page, thin archives kept out and pages that pass Core Web Vitals.

  4. Review sites and roundups

    Engines lean on G2, Capterra and “best tools for” roundups when they shortlist software. We track what they say about you and earn a place in the ones engines cite.

  5. Reddit and buyer communities

    Buyers ask Reddit, Slack groups and LinkedIn which tool to pick, and engines read those threads too. We take part openly, with disclosure, where your buyers ask.

Search problems WordPress sites face

The issues we find on almost every WordPress site we audit, each with the fix.

  1. 01Two schema graphs, or two canonicals

    The SEO plugin outputs one, the theme or page builder adds another, and they disagree. We pick one plugin as the source of truth and strip the rest.

  2. 02Archives indexed as thin duplicates

    Tag, author and date archives fill the index with near-empty pages. We noindex them or consolidate them into curated hub pages.

  3. 03Plugin bloat that fails Core Web Vitals

    Every plugin adds scripts and queries, and slow LCP and INP follow. We audit the plugins, add page caching and an image CDN, and defer third-party scripts.

  4. 04A CDN or firewall blocking AI search bots

    A domain added to Cloudflare between mid-2025 and September 2026 can block AI crawlers by default, and a security plugin can do the same without telling anyone. We check the bot settings and live responses, and let in search bots such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.

  5. 05Long posts with no answer to quote

    A long post that circles the question gives engines nothing to cite. We restructure it with question-style headings, direct answers near the top, tables and FAQ blocks.

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The plugins you run, and where they stop

Most WordPress sites already run a few of these. Each one is good at its own job, and none was built to win AI answers.

SEO plugins

Their gap
Yoast, Rank Math and others handle titles, metas, sitemaps and a base schema graph, and Yoast can generate an llms.txt. Yoast and Rank Math now sell AI visibility reports on paid plans, which show where you stand but leave the work to you.
Your opening
We track the same answers and ship the page and off-site changes that move them.

Page builders

Their gap
They make pages quick to design, and many add their own markup and tuck content into tabs, accordions and sliders. That can leave AI crawlers with half a page and Google with two schemas.
Your opening
We keep key content in the HTML and one graph per page.

Caching and security plugins

Their gap
Caching plugins speed pages up and security plugins keep attackers out. Most do not check whether a firewall rule is also turning away the AI search bots you want.
Your opening
We test which bots each rule blocks and keep the ones that cite you allowed.

AI writing plugins

Their gap
They draft posts inside the editor in minutes. Engines cite pages with a clear answer and detail no one else has.
Your opening
We write from your product, your customers and your team’s expertise, and structure each page to be quoted.

The WordPress program, part by part

Each part of the program is built for how WordPress works: the theme, the plugins, the host in front of it and the post types behind it.

Content

Problem, solution and buyer’s guide articles on the blog, structured with question-style headings and direct answers engines can quote. WordPress makes publishing easy, so the gain comes from fewer, better posts and from refreshing the ones that already rank.

More on Content
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Why WordPress teams work with Passionfruit

WordPress gives you full control, and spreads the parts of SEO that matter across core, plugins, the theme and the host. What wins the recommendation is making those agree and publishing pages that answer buyers’ questions. That work sits across the site and the rest of the web.

Passionfruit Intelligence shows where your company appears in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google’s AI answers, who is named instead, and which pages and sources are behind it. Our team then ships the fixes: plugin and theme changes, comparison and use-case pages, schema and the off-site work engines trust.

We work inside your WordPress admin with your team’s approval, and every change is measured against pipeline, not just rankings.

What we measure

  • Signups and pipeline from organic search and AI referrals, by page type
  • How often AI answers name you for your category and comparison prompts
  • Indexed pages versus published posts, pages and archives
  • AI search crawlers allowed in the live robots.txt and server responses
Book a callHow Passionfruit connects to WordPress

Questions

Is WordPress good for SEO?

Yes, with the right plugins. Core sets titles from post titles and generates a sitemap, but prints no meta description, adds canonicals only to single posts and pages and outputs no schema. An SEO plugin fills those gaps; what decides who gets recommended is a clean setup, open crawler access and pages that answer buyers’ questions.

Which SEO plugin should a WordPress site use?

One, as the source of truth. Yoast and Rank Math both handle titles, metas, sitemaps and a base schema graph. Problems start when a theme or page builder adds a second graph or canonical, so we pick one plugin and strip the rest.

Is Cloudflare blocking AI crawlers on my WordPress site?

It can be. Cloudflare blocked AI crawlers by default on many domains added between mid-2025 and September 2026, and its newer defaults treat search, agent and training bots differently. Security plugins and firewalls add their own rules, so we check the live responses and let in search bots such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.

Should I noindex tag and author archives in WordPress?

Usually, yes. Tag, author and date archives tend to be thin duplicates of your posts. We noindex them or consolidate them into curated hub pages, so crawlers spend their visits on pages that can rank.

Does a WordPress site need an llms.txt file?

It is low-cost hygiene, not a ranking lever, and Yoast can generate one for you. Crawler access, content in the HTML and pages with clear answers matter more for how engines see your site.

Do you work with headless WordPress?

Yes. We check that content, canonicals and schema are in the server response for every indexable route, since a headless front end that fetches content in the browser can leave AI crawlers with an empty page.

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