> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://faii.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understanding Grades

> How FAII's Technical Audit grades your website - from A+ (excellent) to F (critical issues). Learn what each grade means and what to target.

<Info>
  **Quick Answer:** Your Technical Audit grade ranges from A+ (95-100%) to F (below 40%). Grades are calculated based on the number and severity of issues found relative to your total pages. Target B+ or above for good AI visibility.
</Info>

## What You'll Learn

* How grades are calculated
* What each grade means
* What grade to target
* How to improve your grade

## Grade Scale

|  Grade | Score Range | Assessment                                 |
| :----: | :---------: | ------------------------------------------ |
| **A+** |   95-100%   | Excellent - minimal issues                 |
|  **A** |    90-94%   | Very good - few issues                     |
| **A-** |    85-89%   | Good - minor improvements possible         |
| **B+** |    80-84%   | Above average - some issues to address     |
|  **B** |    75-79%   | Average - noticeable issues                |
| **B-** |    70-74%   | Below average - multiple issues            |
| **C+** |    65-69%   | Fair - significant issues                  |
|  **C** |    60-64%   | Poor - many issues affecting visibility    |
| **C-** |    55-59%   | Very poor - serious issues                 |
|  **D** |    40-54%   | Bad - critical issues present              |
|  **F** |    0-39%    | Critical - major blockers to AI visibility |

## How Scores Are Calculated

### The formula

```
Score = 100 - (Critical × 10 + Warning × 3 + Info × 1) / Total Pages × 100
```

### Issue weighting

| Severity | Point Deduction (per occurrence) |
| -------- | :------------------------------: |
| Critical |             10 points            |
| Warning  |             3 points             |
| Info     |              1 point             |

### Example

For a 50-page site with:

* 2 Critical issues = 20 points
* 8 Warnings = 24 points
* 15 Info items = 15 points

Total deductions: 59 points ÷ 50 pages = 1.18 per page average
Score: 100 - 11.8 = 88.2% = **A-**

## Per-Category Grades

Each of the five categories gets its own grade:

| Category          | Weight |        Your Grade        |
| ----------------- | :----: | :----------------------: |
| Crawlability      |   25%  | Calculated independently |
| Content Structure |   25%  | Calculated independently |
| Schema            |   20%  | Calculated independently |
| Performance       |   20%  | Calculated independently |
| Security          |   10%  | Calculated independently |

**Overall grade** = Weighted average of category grades.

## What Grade Should You Target?

|     Grade    | AI Visibility Impact                                                        |
| :----------: | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|    A+ / A    | Optimal - technical health is not a bottleneck                              |
|    A- / B+   | Good - minor issues unlikely to limit visibility                            |
|    B / B-    | Acceptable - some improvements would help                                   |
| C+ and below | Concerning - technical issues are likely limiting AI visibility             |
|     D / F    | Critical - technical barriers may be preventing AI recommendations entirely |

<Tip>
  Target **B+ or above** for good AI visibility. Below B, technical issues are likely reducing your mention rates and citation potential.
</Tip>

## Improving Your Grade

### Quick wins (biggest impact)

| Action                                 |  Grade Impact |
| -------------------------------------- | :-----------: |
| Fix all Critical issues                | +10-30 points |
| Add HTTPS (if missing)                 |   +10 points  |
| Fix broken AI bot blocks in robots.txt |   +10 points  |
| Add missing title tags                 |  +5-10 points |

### Medium effort

| Action                 |  Grade Impact |
| ---------------------- | :-----------: |
| Fix all Warning issues | +10-20 points |
| Add schema markup      |  +5-15 points |
| Fix heading hierarchy  |  +5-10 points |
| Improve page speed     |  +5-10 points |

### Ongoing maintenance

| Action                 | Grade Impact |
| ---------------------- | :----------: |
| Fix Info items         |  +1-5 points |
| Optimize images        |  +2-5 points |
| Add alt text           |  +2-5 points |
| Improve content length |  +1-3 points |

## Grade Trends

### Tracking improvement

After each audit, compare grades:

* Grade improving = Technical fixes are working
* Grade stable = No new issues introduced
* Grade declining = New issues appearing (investigate)

### Common grade killers

| Issue                            | Impact                               |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| AI bots blocked in robots.txt    | Can drop from A to C instantly       |
| SSL certificate expired          | Critical - drops security grade to F |
| Major redesign without redirects | Many broken links = significant drop |
| CMS update breaking schema       | Schema category drops                |

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I get A+ with a large site?">
    Yes, but it requires more effort. Large sites naturally accumulate more issues. Focus on eliminating Critical and Warning issues; a few Info items on a 500-page site won't prevent an A grade.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does my grade directly affect my AI Authority Rank?">
    Indirectly. Technical health enables AI visibility. A low technical grade means bots may not reach or parse your content effectively, which reduces mention opportunities. The grade itself isn't a component of AAR, but the underlying issues affect it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How quickly does my grade update after fixes?">
    Run a new audit after making fixes. The new grade reflects the current state of your site at the time of the audit.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related Articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Fixing Issues" icon="wrench" href="/docs/technical-audit/fixing-issues">
    How to resolve audit findings
  </Card>

  <Card title="Re-running Audits" icon="rotate" href="/docs/technical-audit/re-running-audit">
    Verify your fixes worked
  </Card>
</CardGroup>