Aethelstan — FAQ
What is Aethelstan?
Aethelstan is a public diagnostic instrument. It evaluates whether a site’s public structural and identity signals support stable, reliable representation by AI systems.
What does it evaluate?
It evaluates observable signals: structure, identifiers, metadata, internal linking, and declared identity. It assesses whether those signals are present, consistent, and aligned in ways that reduce structural ambiguity when processed by AI systems. It does not analyse model internals.
What does it not do?
Aethelstan does not modify, optimise, or alter a site. It does not adjust rankings, change performance, or interact with external systems. It reports on structural conditions as they exist.
Who is it for?
It is intended for founders, technical operators, consultants, and organisations that want clearer insight into the structural integrity of their public digital surface.
Is this a consultancy service?
No. The instrument is automated and self-serve. Separate analysis or advisory services may exist independently, but the diagnostic itself remains strictly evaluative.
How is this different from schema validators?
Schema validators check whether structured markup exists and conforms to syntax standards. Aethelstan evaluates signal alignment across the entire site surface — including but not limited to structured data — and whether those signals collectively support stable representation.
What does Aethelstan measure?
Aethelstan evaluates structural clarity across six dimensions:
- Identity Declaration
- Identifier Stability
- Structural Hierarchy
- Surface Coherence
- Graph Integrity
- Signal Reinforcement
Each dimension examines whether identity and structural signals align consistently across the site.