Bot vs human readable content
The difference between what a person sees on a page in their browser and what a bot reads in the page's HTML.
Bot vs human readable content is the difference between what a person sees on your page and what a bot can read from it. A person's browser runs the page's scripts, opens its tabs and loads everything. Many bots only read the HTML your server sends, so anything that isn't in that HTML is invisible to them.
If the text a bot misses is your prices, your product details or the answer to a common question, the AI platforms won't know it, however clear it looks to a visitor.
Where text goes missing
A few common causes:
- A script writes the text after the page opens, so it isn't in the HTML the server sends
- The text sits behind a tab, an accordion or a "show more" button that only loads it on a click
- Reviews, prices or stock levels come from another service after the page loads
- The words are inside an image
For example, Fernhill Coffee's subscription page looks complete in a browser: plans, prices, delivery areas. But the price table is drawn by a script. A bot reading the page gets the heading and an empty space where the prices should be. Ask an AI platform what Fernhill's subscription costs, and it has to guess, or quote an old price from somewhere else.
How to fix it
Put the text that matters in the HTML your server sends. Most website builders and frameworks can render pages on the server. For text behind tabs, make sure it's in the page from the start, even if it's hidden until someone clicks.
A quick test: open the page, view its source, and search for the sentence you care about. If it isn't in the source, many bots won't find it either.
In AnswerOrbit
Open a page in the Pages tab of Website to see it side by side: What a person sees and What a bot reads. Blocks that bots miss are marked Hidden from bots, with why and how to fix it. One of our page checks also tests whether a page is shown without scripts. See Website and AI traffic.