Growth/SEO/GEO review, 2026-10-01
What was reviewed
- Live 06:27-06:31 ET: robots.txt, sitemap.xml (.co, www, pages.dev); all 51 sitemap URLs (head, JSON-LD,
lang, hreflang, links); llms.txt; bogus path; DNS TXT; crawler agents.
- origin/main
1f3848c (last merge #359, 09-23), cited inline.
gh: 36 open PRs, meta.yaml in all 24 game PRs, #363 diff, #367 files, checks; escalations.md:423-426, :464; charter:48-51.
Findings
- Nothing shipped since 09-24; every gap stands (re-verified live). 7 Spanish (ES) game pages serve
lang="en" against JSON-LD es; /planner/, /faq/, /privacy/, /terms/ lack canonical and Open Graph tags; 0 hreflang; brand-only home title; no Search Console or Bing verification found (TXT: SPF only); IndexNow key 404s; pages.dev answers 200, not 301. Healthy: 51/51 return 200, JSON-LD parses, sitemap matches main's 43 live, real 404, crawlers get 200 (spoofed), 42/43 games link 4 related. No llms.txt (skipped).
- Merges add no pages. All 47 entries in 24 open game PRs (#383-#385 included) are
pending-review; only live builds (games.js:117-118). Main: 43 live, 48 pending.
- #383-#385 need nothing new on flip. Head tags, JSON-LD, sitemap entry come from [slug].astro:32, seo.js:30-45, sitemap.xml.ts:20; a missing preview fails the build (check-game-previews.mjs:2-3). ES
lang needs #363. No hreflang emitter exists; pairing sits only in comments (que-rima meta.yaml:2).
- R20 need not wait on flips: two pairs are both live (descifra-el-codigo meta.yaml:2; laberinto-de-las-estrellas :1-2).
- Low: 24/43 descriptions exceed 160 characters, unabridged (Base.astro:51); no item (inference: truncation, no penalty).
- Founder throughput binds, not SEO building. #363 (R17/R18) and #367 (R22): green, CLEAN, non-draft since 09-25/09-26. Both touch daily inputs (daily.mjs:15); CI success on main fires deploy-daily.yml:2-6 (
DAILY_AUTO_DEPLOY_ENABLED=true); escalations.md:464: R28 check before any merge. Flips touch content/, so pages wait too (inference). Bear: impact is unmeasured without Search Console.
Proposed queue.md changes
@@ queue.md:41 @@
R20. [engineering, S] Reciprocal hreflang once both R19 ends are live.
+ Already true: crack-the-code/descifra-el-codigo, star-chart-maze/laberinto-de-las-estrellas (both live); seed R19 from sibling comments.
@@ queue.md:51, after R29 @@
+## 2026-10-01 review (reviews/2026-10-01-growth-seo-geo.md)
+HOLD R20, R26 until #363 merges (both build on its [slug].astro:32 and test-seo.mjs edits). R19, R21 open. Game throttle: founder's call (escalations.md:444).
Decisions needed
- Authorize the R28 read-only check (escalations.md:464), then merge #363 and #367. Cost: wrong ES
lang, four pages without canonical, no IndexNow.
- Carried (:423-426): flip sitting (only path to new pages), Search Console + Bing (external account, charter:51), pages.dev 301, #336 phase 1 (/types/ 404s).