The four questions
Be Ready: is the page fit to compete before anyone spends on it? Be Found: does search show it for the terms that matter? Be Cited: do the answer engines use it when they answer? Be Effective: did any of it produce something the business counts?
Cited · named · both · without you
Cited: the answer links to your page as a source. Named: the answer writes your brand into the text with no link. Both: named and cited. Without you: the answer exists and you’re nowhere in it.
Defend · Strike · Rebuild · Expand · Defer
What should happen to each query. Defend: on page one, so protect it and don’t rewrite it. Strike: just off page one, so push it on. Rebuild: further back, so rewrite the page or retire it. Expand: the demand is proven but no page really serves it yet. Defer: set aside by choice, not neglect.
Striking distance
A query sitting near the bottom of page one or the top of page two. One push away from mattering. The product uses the same definition everywhere.
The awareness ladder
Five stages from unaware to most aware. Visitors are placed on it so search can be discussed in the same terms as the pipeline leadership already reports.
Baseline · awaiting dev · before → after
Baseline: where a page stood the day it was added to the Command Center. Awaiting dev: changes shared but not yet found on the live page. Before → after: what moved compared with the baseline. Never a forecast.
Roadworthy
What a clean audit means: the page is fit to compete. Not a promise that it will rank.