The 10 questions test whether an AI consultant can show working AI, put scope and full price in writing, and say who owns what. The FTC alleges Air AI buyers, many of them small business owners, lost as much as $250,000 (Aug. 25, 2025). All 10 take about an hour (my estimate). Good consultants answer in writing without pushback.
Bottom line
Hire if they let you test something live, put the scope and the full monthly cost in writing, and tell you what they would not automate.
Push back if the answers stay verbal, the monthly running cost is "it depends," or nobody can say whose name is on the accounts.
Walk away if they promise revenue, booked jobs, a refund tied to your earnings, or a spot in ChatGPT's answers.
Keep the scorecard below open on the call and mark each answer as it comes back. When they quote a monthly running cost, check it against my free AI stack cost estimator.
Key facts
- The FTC announced five AI enforcement actions under Operation AI Comply (FTC, Sept. 25, 2024)
- FTC alleges Air AI buyers, many small business owners, lost as much as $250,000 (FTC, Aug. 25, 2025)
- Air AI proposed order: $18 million judgment, largely suspended, $50,000 for consumer relief (FTC, Mar. 24, 2026)
- NIST released its voluntary AI Risk Management Framework on January 26, 2023 (NIST AI RMF)
- Only 2 of 33 ranking pages raise AI search visibility as a hiring question (my audit, 2026-11-02)
What an AI consultant is, and what it is not
An AI consultant works out where AI fits in your business and, often, builds it. The title covers five different jobs, so ask which one you are paying for.
An advisor writes a roadmap and stops. A builder or agency ships a working system. A productized service does one job for one monthly price, like Nora, the after-hours phone receptionist from Blur AI Solutions (my business). AI software is a tool you set up and run yourself. An implementation engineer is someone you hire as staff (see my guide to hiring an AI implementation engineer in Kansas City).
An AI consultant is also not a guarantee of results, a reseller of a chat subscription, or a business opportunity that promises income. The FTC's Operation AI Comply cases were about that last kind of offer. Not sure which system you need? Read AI agent vs chatbot for small business.
The 10 questions, with good answers and red flags
Ask them on one call and take notes. Mark each answer in the scorecard below. Good consultants are happy to put every answer in writing, so ask for that too.
1. Can I test something you built, right now?
Why it matters: Only 7 of 33 ranking pages tell you to ask for a live demo (my audit). The FTC's complaint against DoNotPay, sold as "the world's first robot lawyer," alleges the company never tested whether its chatbot's output equaled a human lawyer's (FTC).
Good answer: They give you a phone line, a form or a login during the call, and you try it with your own questions. For example, Blur AI Solutions (my business) has a demo line on the site. You can call it and talk to Nora before anyone sends you a proposal.
Red flag: Only slides, a polished screen recording, or "we will build you a custom demo after you sign."
2. What exactly do I get, in writing, and when is it live?
Why it matters: You cannot enforce a scope you cannot point to. A written list of deliverables is the only thing you can check the work against later.
Good answer: A written list of what the system does, which tools it uses, what it connects to, what counts as done and a go-live date. For example, the Growth Assessment from Blur Agentic (my business) promises a written 2 to 4 page report in 5 business days and a 60-minute walkthrough (Blur Agentic).
Red flag: A "discovery phase" with no end date, or deliverables like "AI strategy" and "optimization" that nobody can measure.
3. What is the total price, including what it costs each month to run?
Why it matters: The build fee is only part of the bill. AI systems also cost money every month for the model, voice minutes and workflow runs.
Good answer: A one-time fee, a monthly fee and a line-by-line estimate of usage costs. For example, Nora from Blur AI Solutions (my business) is $897 setup (non-refundable) then $297 a month, month to month, cancel anytime. Or you pay $0 setup on a 12-month plan at $297 a month, and the waived $897 becomes due if you cancel early (Blur AI Solutions pricing). For usage, my stack estimator has a sample of 2,000 AI tasks, 900 call minutes and 2,000 workflow runs. That comes to $93.80 a month at November 1, 2026 prices: $16.00 for the model and $45.00 for voice.
Red flag: "It depends on usage" with no estimate, or a quote that shows only the build fee. For what Kansas City consultants publish, see my AI consultant cost guide.
4. Who does the work, and who fixes it when it breaks?
Why it matters: The person on the sales call is often not the person who builds the system. It will break at some point, often after hours, and you need a name.
Good answer: They name the person who builds it, the person who supports it, how you report a problem and how fast they respond. All of it is in writing.
Red flag: "Our team" with no names, support only through a ticket form, or a salesperson you never hear from again after signing.
5. Who owns the accounts, data and prompts, and what happens if I cancel?
Why it matters: If the phone line, workflow tool and AI account sit in the consultant's name, leaving means starting over. In my audit, 16 of 33 pages ask about ownership and 14 mention cancellation or exit terms.
Good answer: The accounts sit in your name, and prompts and settings get handed over if you leave. Here is how Blur Agentic (my business) puts it: "Your booking page, copy and lead data are yours. Transfer terms for anything else are written into your proposal." On cancelling: "After the 3-month minimum it runs month to month. If you leave, your page, copy and lead data stay yours." (Blur Agentic)
Red flag: Everything runs in the consultant's accounts, and offboarding is "something we can figure out later."
6. What will it never do without a person saying yes?
Why it matters: An AI system that can text your customer list, change a quote or delete records can do real damage fast. You want the limits written down before it goes live.
Good answer: A written list. For example, Blur Agentic (my business) lists five actions that never happen without a person saying yes (Blur Agentic):
- Sending a message to a customer list for the first time
- Changing a price, quote or estimate
- Offering a discount, refund or credit
- Deleting or overwriting customer records
- Changing calendar rules, hours or service area
Red flag: "It is fully autonomous" or "it handles everything," with no list.
7. How will we measure it, and what are you not promising?
Why it matters: According to the FTC, Air AI promised full refunds to customers who did not earn typically two or three times their investment, and the agency alleges those refunds were rarely honored (FTC, Aug. 25, 2025).
"Companies that market AI-related tools with false promises of unrealistic investment returns and guaranteed refunds harm hardworking small business owners and undermine legitimate business's adoption of AI."
Christopher Mufarrige, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director, FTC press release, August 25, 2025
Good answer: A baseline you record now, such as missed calls or response time, one number to watch, a date to check it, and a plain list of what they are not promising. A consultant who says up front "I cannot promise booked jobs or revenue" is telling you the truth.
Red flag: Earnings claims, a refund tied to how much you make, or a big claim nobody has tested. DoNotPay is the example: the complaint alleges it sold a "robot lawyer" without checking whether the robot could do a lawyer's work.
8. Where does my customer data go, and is it used to train a model?
Why it matters: Call recordings, texts and form entries pass through several vendors. The FTC has warned AI companies that they may be liable if they break their privacy promises.
"This includes promises made by companies that they won't use customer data for secret purposes, such as to train or update their models"
FTC Office of Technology, "AI Companies: Uphold Your Privacy and Confidentiality Commitments," January 9, 2024
The same post says "what a company fails to disclose to customers may be just as significant as what it promises."
Good answer: They name every vendor your data passes through, say where recordings and transcripts are stored, and say whether each vendor's terms allow training on your data. You get it in writing.
Red flag: "It is all secure" with no vendor names, or no idea where call recordings end up.
9. What would you not automate in my business?
Why it matters: A consultant who knows your work will name things that should stay with a person. It is one of the three one-call checks in my guide to judging any Kansas City AI consultant, along with something live to test and a price in writing.
Good answer: Specific, and tied to your business. For example: quoting a complex job, calming an angry customer, or making any final call on money.
Red flag: "Everything can be automated."
10. Will this help my business get found in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, and how will you check?
Why it matters: AI assistants answer questions by reading public pages. If your site does not say what you do, or blocks their crawlers, they have less to work with. In my audit, only 2 of 33 pages raise this at all.
"OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features."
OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers
"There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."
Google Search Central, AI features and your website
The Google #2 result for this very query sits on medium.com, which blocks GPTBot and ClaudeBot in its robots.txt (my check, 2026-11-02).
Good answer: They publish what the system and your business do as plain pages on your site. They keep AI search crawlers allowed, including OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. They check by reading your robots.txt and asking the assistants real customer questions. They also say plainly that nobody can promise a citation, only improve the chance of being cited. My guide on getting your Kansas City business in ChatGPT and Gemini walks through it, and the AI visibility scorecard checks your own site.
Red flag: Guaranteed placement in ChatGPT, or a secret "AI SEO" trick they will not explain.
Score the answers on the call
Nothing you enter leaves your browser. Mark each answer as it came back: clear and in writing, vague, or missing.
Score the consultant's answers
Mark each answer as it came back. Nothing leaves your browser.
The scorecard does not check the consultant's claims for you, and it does not rank anyone. It just keeps your notes honest. For the three fastest checks on any Kansas City consultant, use my guide to judging an AI consultant in one call.
How to run the interview, step by step
1. Write down the one job you want off your plate
Pick one job, like answering missed calls after 5 p.m. or replying to web leads. Write what done looks like in one sentence, with a number you can check.
Time: About 15 minutes (my estimate).
Done when: You have one sentence that names the job and the number that shows it worked.
2. Send the 10 questions by email before the call
Paste the 10 questions into an email and ask for written answers before you meet. How they handle this tells you a lot.
Time: 5 minutes to send. Give them 2 to 3 business days to reply (my estimate).
Done when: You have written answers in your inbox, or a written reason for any they skipped.
3. On the call, test the live thing first
Call the demo line, fill out the form or use the login before any slides. Then go through the questions and mark the scorecard as you go.
Time: About an hour (my estimate).
Done when: You tested something yourself and every row in the scorecard is marked.
4. Put the key answers into the contract
Copy the answers to questions 2, 3, 5 and 6 into the proposal or contract before you sign. Run their monthly cost through the AI stack cost estimator to see if it is in the right range.
Time: 30 to 60 minutes (my estimate).
Done when: The contract names the deliverables and go-live date, the line-by-line monthly cost, who owns each account, the exit terms and the never-without-a-yes list.
5. Start with the smallest paid step
Start with an assessment or a month-to-month plan. Commit to a longer term only after it works on your real calls or leads.
Time: The first 30 days (my estimate).
Done when: It has handled your real calls or leads, and you checked the outcome against the number from step 1.
Our data: what 33 ranking "questions to ask an AI consultant" pages leave out
On November 2, 2026, I pulled Google US page 1 for six queries, including "questions to ask an ai consultant before hiring," "how to vet an ai consultant" and "ai consultant red flags." I dropped Reddit, Quora, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn posts and loaded 35 unique pages in headless Chrome. Two returned 403 errors, which left 33 readable pages. I checked them by keyword and link matching, plus a hand check for AI search. Keyword matching can miss reworded mentions, and a mention is not a recommendation.
| What I checked | Pages (of 33) |
|---|---|
| Mention the FTC or Operation AI Comply | 0 |
| Link to ftc.gov or nist.gov | 0 |
| Mention Kansas City | 0 |
| Raise AI search visibility (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews) as a hiring question | 2 |
| Ask to see a live demo or working system | 7 |
| Ask for references | 22 |
| Ask who owns the data or accounts | 16 |
| Mention cancellation or exit terms | 14 |
| Show any dollar figure | 14 |
| Mention small business | 10 |
| Use FAQPage schema | 13 |
| Sit on a domain whose robots.txt blocks AI crawlers | 4 |
| Median length | 2,480 words |
Download the raw data: ai-consultant-questions-audit-2026-11-02.csv.
The pages get references right: 22 of 33 tell you to ask for them. Far fewer ask for proof you can touch. Only 7 tell you to see something live. None of the 33 mention the FTC, even though Operation AI Comply targeted AI sellers. The 4 pages on domains that block AI crawlers are two medium.com posts (GPTBot, ClaudeBot), 24seventalent.com (GPTBot, Google-Extended) and cio.com (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended).
The honest takeaway: most advice tells you to ask the consultant about their past, and too little of it tells you to test what they built today. References are worth checking, but a live test on the call is faster and harder to fake.
Mistakes that cost the most
1. Signing for the build fee without the monthly running cost
The sample in my stack estimator runs $93.80 a month. Over a year, $93.80 x 12 = $1,125.60. A quote that leaves this out is showing you only part of the bill.
Fix: ask question 3 and get the line-by-line monthly cost in writing.
2. Trusting a results guarantee or earnings claim
The FTC alleges Air AI buyers lost as much as $250,000 and that its refund guarantees were rarely honored. The March 24, 2026 proposed order carries an $18 million judgment, largely suspended for inability to pay, with $50,000 going to the Commission for consumer relief (FTC, March 24, 2026). That is $50,000 against an $18,000,000 judgment, under 1 percent of it, so do not count on getting money back after the fact.
Fix: ask question 7 and treat any earnings promise as a red flag.
3. Signing a long term before a real test
On my Blur AI Solutions 12-month plan, cancelling early makes the waived $897 setup fee due. The managed plan at Blur Agentic (also mine) has a 3-month minimum: $7,500 + ($2,000 x 3) = $13,500 before you can leave. Both terms are published, but you should know them before you sign anywhere.
Fix: call the live demo, start with an assessment or month to month, and commit only after it works.
Advisor vs builder vs productized service vs doing it yourself
| Option | Typical published price | Time to first result | Your effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy-only advisor or audit | A published Kansas City audit at $997 (cost guide) | About 1 to 3 weeks for a written plan (my estimate) | Medium: you still have to build or hire | Owners who want a plan before spending on a build |
| Builder or agency, fixed project | Kansas City builds from $1,000 and a $7,500 one-time build. Mine: Blur Agentic $5,000 to $10,000 after a $1,500 assessment credited in full (Blur Agentic, my business) | Blur Agentic assessment report in 5 business days. A build takes weeks (my estimate) | Medium: answer questions, test, approve | A clear workflow you want built once and owned |
| Monthly retainer | Kansas City monthly plans from $1,750. Mine: Blur Agentic managed, $7,500 setup + $2,000 a month (my business) | Weeks (my estimate) | Low to medium: monthly check-ins | Businesses that want someone running and fixing it |
| Productized service | Mine: Blur AI Solutions Nora, $897 setup + $297 a month, or $0 setup on 12 months (pricing, my business) | Days (my estimate) | Low: setup details, then review | One job, like after-hours calls, at one price |
| Do it yourself with AI software and a workflow tool | Stack estimator sample: $93.80 a month plus your time | Days to weeks, depending on your time (my estimate) | High: you build, test and fix it | Owners who like building and have the hours |
My pick for most small businesses: Start with the smallest paid step that shows working AI on your own calls or leads, from anyone who passes the 10 questions. That might be an audit, a month-to-month service or a small fixed build. Scale up only after it works.
How I weighted the 10 questions
| Criterion | Weight | Questions | What it protects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proof you can test | 25% | Q1, Q9 | You see it work before you pay for it |
| Full price and scope in writing | 25% | Q2, Q3 | No surprise monthly bills or fuzzy deliverables |
| Ownership and exit | 20% | Q5, Q4 | You keep your accounts and data, and someone fixes it |
| Guardrails and data | 20% | Q6, Q8 | Your customers, prices and records stay safe |
| Honest claims and AI search | 10% | Q7, Q10 | No fake guarantees, and your site stays readable to AI search |
| Total | 100% | Q1 to Q10 |
Proof leads because the FTC cases above were about claims nobody could check until after the money was gone. The scorecard counts each question equally and flags the four answers that matter most; these weights are how I break a tie between two consultants with similar scores.
I am an AI consultant myself. Blur AI Solutions and Blur Agentic are my businesses, and their prices appear above. I run eight live businesses in total (see About). The scorecard is free, runs in your browser and sends nothing to me. This is not legal advice.
Verdicts, by type of business
Home service trades that miss calls (roofing, HVAC, plumbing)
Ask first: Question 1. Call the demo line and act like a customer with a burst pipe at night. Listen for whether it gets the address, the problem and a callback.
Watch out for: Talk about booked jobs or revenue, and 12-month terms before you have tested anything.
Trade-off: A productized receptionist starts faster and costs less but does one job. A custom build fits more of your workflow but costs more and takes longer.
Appointment-based local services (clinics, salons, studios)
Ask first: Questions 6 and 2. Find out what the system can change on your calendar without a yes. Changing calendar rules or hours is on the Blur Agentic (my business) never-without-a-yes list for a reason.
Watch out for: Double bookings, and an assistant answering health questions it should hand to a person.
Trade-off: More automation means fewer front desk calls, but every rule you hand over is one more thing to check.
Professional services firms with client data (accounting, legal, agencies)
Ask first: Question 8. Get every vendor and storage location in writing, and find out whether any of them train on your data.
Watch out for: Client files pasted into tools whose terms you have not read.
Trade-off: Tighter data rules may rule out the cheapest tools, so expect the monthly cost to run higher.
- If you are a trade with 1 to 4 trucks: start with a productized service you can test on a demo line. Watch out for long terms before you have tried it.
- If you are a trade with 5+ trucks or $3M+ revenue: start with a paid assessment credited toward a build. Watch out for retainers with long minimums and no written scope.
- If you hold sensitive client data: start with question 8 in writing. Watch out for any vendor that cannot name where your data goes.
Rules that already apply to AI sellers
Selling AI does not exempt anyone from the usual consumer protection laws, and the FTC has said so out loud.
The cases below are allegations unless an order is noted. Each one involves a claim the buyer could not check before paying.
- Operation AI Comply, announced September 25, 2024, with five law enforcement actions (FTC).
"Using AI tools to trick, mislead, or defraud people is illegal. The FTC's enforcement actions make clear that there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books."
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, FTC press release, September 25, 2024 - The 2024 cases, in one line each: DoNotPay, the "robot lawyer," with a proposed $193,000 settlement and a ban on claiming it can replace a professional without evidence. Ascend Ecom, which the complaint says took at least $25 million from consumers, temporarily halted by a court. Ecommerce Empire Builders, which sold training up to almost $2,000 and stores up to $35,000 and claimed clients can make $10,000 monthly with no evidence, per the complaint. Rytr, an AI review generator whose proposed order bars it from selling review or testimonial generation services.
- Air AI: FTC complaint on August 25, 2025, then a proposed order on March 24, 2026 banning the company and its owners from marketing business opportunities and from making earnings claims without adequate substantiation or disclosure.
- The NIST AI Risk Management Framework is voluntary. It was released January 26, 2023, and the Generative AI Profile, NIST AI 600-1, followed on July 26, 2024. It has four functions: GOVERN, MAP, MEASURE and MANAGE. Turn each one into a question for your consultant. GOVERN: who is responsible for this system? MAP: what can it touch and what could go wrong? MEASURE: how will we know it is working? MANAGE: what happens when it fails?
Who this is not for
Companies hiring an AI engineer as an employee. Salary, interviews and skills tests are a different job. Use my guide to hiring an AI implementation engineer in Kansas City.
Businesses that only want staff to use ChatGPT better. You do not need a system built. A training workshop is cheaper than a consultant.
Regulated decisions in medical, legal or lending. The stakes and the rules are higher. Get a compliance review first. This page is not legal advice.
How I put this together
On November 2, 2026, I read the first three readable articles on Google US for "questions to ask an ai consultant before hiring," skipping a Reddit thread and a YouTube video.
Dan Cumberland Labs (Google #1) asks 8 sensible questions, including who does the work and what third-party costs come on top. It adds a section on choosing between two good candidates. It has no FTC or primary-source links, no live test, no written human-approval list, no AI search angle and no scorecard.
Michael Low on Medium (Google #2) is strong on what you should figure out internally first, including governance, and ends with a fill-in brief. It does not cover questions about price, ownership, cancellation or proof, and it is written for larger companies. Its domain blocks GPTBot and ClaudeBot.
Insight Global (Google #4, published 2024-01-31) is a solid list of technical interview questions for hiring an employee. It does not address buying a service: nothing on price, scope, ownership, data or guarantees.
This page adds: FTC and NIST primary sources with links, a good answer and red flag for every question, published prices from my own businesses (disclosed), first-party data from 33 pages, priced mistakes with the math, a scorecard you fill in on the call, a question on AI search visibility, and plain limits on what any consultant can promise.
Frequently asked questions
What questions should I ask an AI consultant before hiring?
Ask whether you can test something they built right now, what you get in writing and when it goes live, and the total price including the monthly running cost. Then ask who does the work and fixes it, who owns the accounts and data, what it will never do without a person's yes, how it will be measured, where your data goes, what they would not automate, and how they will check AI search visibility.
What are the red flags when hiring an AI consultant?
The biggest red flags are earnings promises, refund guarantees tied to results, and nothing you can test before you sign. Others are a build fee with no monthly running cost, accounts held in the consultant's name, and the line that everything can be automated. The FTC alleges Air AI promised full refunds to buyers who did not earn two or three times their investment and rarely honored them.
How much does an AI consultant cost in Kansas City?
Published Kansas City prices I found include a $997 audit, builds from $1,000, a $7,500 one-time build and monthly plans from $1,750 (checked October 23, 2026). My own businesses publish theirs: Blur AI Solutions' Nora is $897 setup then $297 a month, and Blur Agentic's Growth Assessment is $1,500 (both are my businesses). My Kansas City AI consultant cost guide has the full breakdown.
Should an AI consultant guarantee results?
No. A consultant can promise what they will build, by when and for what price, but not your revenue or bookings. The FTC's Operation AI Comply cases and its Air AI complaint were about earnings claims and guarantees the agency says were not backed up.
Who should own the accounts and data after an AI project?
You should. Phone numbers, workflow tools, AI provider accounts and your customer data should sit in your name, with prompts and settings handed over if you cancel. Get the transfer terms written into the proposal before you sign.
Can an AI consultant get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
No one can promise that, and a promise like that is a red flag. A consultant can publish what your business and the system do as plain pages on your site and keep AI search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot allowed, which improves the chance of being cited. They should also show you how they will check.
How do I compare two AI consultants?
Ask both the same 10 questions in writing, test what each one has built, and mark both sets of answers in the same scorecard. Pick the one whose scope, full monthly cost and exit terms are clearest in writing. Then start with the smallest paid step either one offers.
Score every answer in the scorecard while you are on the call. To judge any Kansas City consultant in one call, including me, use my guide to picking an AI consultant in Kansas City. Or email [email protected] and ask me all 10 questions, and I will answer them in writing. If you run a trades or home service shop with 5+ trucks or $3M+ revenue, the Blur Agentic Growth Assessment (my business) is $1,500 and credited in full toward a build. If you run 1 to 4 trucks, Blur AI Solutions (also my business) lets you call the demo line on the site and hear Nora before you decide anything.
Sources
- FTC: FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes (Operation AI Comply), September 25, 2024
- FTC: FTC Sues to Stop Air AI from Using Deceptive Claims about Business Growth, Earnings Potential, and Refund Guarantees, August 25, 2025
- FTC: Air AI and its Owners will be Banned from Marketing Business Opportunities to Settle FTC Charges, March 24, 2026
- FTC Office of Technology: AI Companies: Uphold Your Privacy and Confidentiality Commitments, January 9, 2024
- NIST: AI Risk Management Framework (released January 26, 2023; AI 600-1 July 26, 2024)
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers (OAI-SearchBot)
- Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web (Claude-SearchBot)
- Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers (PerplexityBot)
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Blur AI Solutions (my business): pricing and 12-month terms, read November 2, 2026
- Blur Agentic (my business): prices, ownership, cancellation and approval rules, read November 2, 2026
- Dan Cumberland Labs: Questions to Ask an AI Consultant Before You Sign
- Michael Low (Medium): Before You Hire an AI Consultant, Answer These 5 Questions
- Insight Global: 20+ AI Consultant Interview Questions
- My audit of 33 readable Google page 1 results for 6 AI consultant hiring queries, November 2, 2026 (CSV)
What changed in this guide
- 2026-11-02: First published. 10 questions with a good answer and a red flag for each, the FTC Operation AI Comply (2024) and Air AI (2025 complaint, 2026 proposed order) cases, NIST AI RMF, published prices from my own businesses, 5 interview steps with Done-when checks, 3 priced mistakes, my audit of 33 ranking pages (CSV), an answer scorecard, and a clean Markdown copy for AI agents.