Rank Bix SEO documentation.

Overview

Rank Bix SEO is an SEO plugin for WordPress. This page explains each screen and setting, and what the features below do.

Installation

1. Upload the rankbix-seo folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate the plugin via Plugins → Installed Plugins.
3. Go to Rank Bix SEO in the WordPress admin sidebar.
4. Configure your settings at Rank Bix SEO → Settings.
5. Edit any post or page to set per-post SEO data in the meta box.

Getting started checklist

• Set your homepage SEO title in Settings → General
• Check the XML Sitemap is on in Rank Bix SEO → Features, then submit it from Settings → Sitemap
• Turn on IndexNow in Rank Bix SEO → Features

Dashboard

A snapshot of your site at a glance: stats, module status, and quick-action shortcuts.

Stats Row

Module Status

Shows On/Off status for every feature module:

Quick Actions

• → Open Settings
• → Manage Redirections
• → Bulk SEO Editor
• → View Sitemap (only shown when sitemap is enabled)

Settings

Settings has eight tabs: General, Social, Local Business, Sitemap, Breadcrumbs, Advanced, Robots & Indexing and Tools. Pro adds TOC and .htaccess. The Sitemap, Breadcrumbs and TOC tabs only show while their module is on, and Tools is for administrators only. Modules themselves are switched on and off in Rank Bix SEO → Features. The active tab is remembered across saves via sessionStorage. Deep-link to any tab using the URL hash, e.g. admin.php?page=rankbix-seo-settings#advanced. The .htaccess tab has its own Save button and hides the main Save Settings button.

4.1 General

Homepage SEO

Content Analysis

Title & Description Template Variables

Each post type has an SEO title template and a meta description template. When a post's own SEO Title or Meta Description is empty, the template is used on the page, in the editor's search and social previews and in the SEO score. Nothing is saved to the post, so renaming it or changing the template updates it automatically. Leave a template empty to use the defaults: %post_title% %sep% %site_name% for titles and %excerpt% for descriptions.

SEO Meta Box: Post Types

Choose which post types display the Rank Bix SEO meta box in the post editor. All public post types are enabled by default. Unchecking a post type removes the SEO meta box and the SEO Score column from its post listing screen.

Image SEO

Auto-fill alt and title attributes for newly uploaded images. Available variables: %post_title%, %filename%, %site_name%.

Admin Toolbar

4.2 Social

4.3 Local Business

Optional. Fill in these fields to output LocalBusiness JSON-LD schema on your site. Leave all fields blank to disable.

4.4 Sitemap

Sitemap URLs

Sitemap Index Structure

The XML sitemap uses a sitemap index format at /sitemap_index.xml, listing individual sub-sitemaps per post type and taxonomy, the same format recognised by Google Search Console. Legacy /sitemap.xml 301-redirects to the index automatically.

4.5 Breadcrumbs Module

4.6 Advanced

Site Verification Tags

RSS Feed

4.7 Robots & Indexing

Noindex Controls

Custom robots.txt Rules

LLMs.txt Module

Serves a /llms.txt file at your domain root describing your site to AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.

4.8 Tools

AI Meta Generator: API Keys

Preferred AI Models

IndexNow Module

Instantly notifies Bing, Yandex, and all IndexNow-participating search engines when you publish or update content. No API account required; the plugin auto-generates and serves the key verification file.

Export and Import Settings

Copy all your Rank Bix settings to another site with one .json file, or keep a backup before big changes.

Broken Link Checker Module

Data Retention on Uninstall

Controls whether plugin data is deleted when you uninstall the plugin.

Danger Zone Pro

Post / Page Editor Meta Box

The Rank Bix SEO meta box appears in the post/page editor below the content area. Available on all public post types including WooCommerce products and custom post types.

The box has seven tabs: SEO, AI Meta, FAQ Schema, Social Preview, Schema, Advanced and Readability.

SEO Tab

SEO Analysis (in the SEO tab)

Displays a keyword analysis score for the current post. Score is shown in the post listing column (green ≥ 70, orange 40–69, red < 40, grey = no keyword set). Content is extracted from Elementor, Beaver Builder, Bricks, and Oxygen builders as well as standard post content.

AI Meta Tab

FAQ Schema Tab

Add question and answer pairs to any post. They are output as FAQPage schema, whatever schema type the post uses.

Social Preview Tab

Schema Tab

• Schema type per post: Auto (Article/WebPage), Review, Product, HowTo Guide or None. Pro adds Recipe, Event, Job Posting, Course and Software App.
• Extra fields for the chosen type, such as the reviewed item and rating, product price and availability, or HowTo steps and total time

Advanced Tab

Readability Tab

Checks how easy the post is to read. English text gets a Flesch reading-ease score. Text mostly in another alphabet gets a LIX score instead, which works for any language.

Category, Tag & Author SEO

Each archive page can have its own search appearance. Empty fields keep your templates, so nothing changes until you fill them in. Author fields are shown to administrators.

Redirections

Manage URL redirects without a separate plugin. Uses a dedicated database table with a fast lookup process.

Adding a Redirect

Redirect List

The list shows all configured redirects with From → To URLs, redirect type, hit counter, enabled/disabled toggle, and edit and delete actions.

CSV Import / Export

• ↑Export: downloads all redirects as a CSV file
• ↓Import: uploads a CSV with from_url, to_url and type columns. New source URLs are added, and a rule with the same source URL is updated.

Automatic Redirect on Slug Change

When you change the slug of a published post, page or other public post type, Rank Bix creates a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. It shows up in the redirect list like any other rule.

Debug Mode

Advanced Redirections Pro

When the Advanced Redirections Pro module is enabled, two additional match types become available in the add/edit redirect form.

Match Types

Redirect Chain Detector

When two redirects form a chain (A → B and B → C both exist), a warning card appears above the redirects table listing every chain. Click Fix next to any chain to update rule A so it points directly to C, eliminating the extra hop and preserving SEO equity.

404 Monitor

Logs 404 error requests to a database table for review and redirect creation. Stores up to 500 entries; oldest are pruned automatically when the limit is reached.

Pro Settings Pro

Image Alt Audit

A full-library alt text audit. Every image in your media library is listed with its current alt status. Fix missing alt attributes inline, no need to open individual attachments.

Stats Overview

Filter Tabs

Image Table

Fixing Alt Text

1. Click the Missing Alt tab to focus on images that need attention.
2. Type alt text into the inline input. The counter updates live and turns green in the optimal 30–125 character range.
3. Click Save Alt. The row status badge updates immediately without a page reload.
4. Work through the list until the progress bar reaches 100%.

Enable / Disable

Toggle the module at Rank Bix SEO → Features → Image SEO. When disabled, the submenu entry is hidden and the page is inaccessible.

Bulk SEO Editor

Edit SEO data across many posts at once without opening each post individually. Nothing is saved until you click Save All Changes, and Undo Changes discards your edits.

Filters

Editable Columns

Generate SEO for selected Pro

Tick rows and click Generate SEO for selected. Empty titles, descriptions and focus keywords are filled with your AI provider, or from the page content when no AI key is set. Existing values are kept. Review the results, then click Save All Changes.

Duplicate Page

Clone posts and pages with one click. The module is enabled or disabled from Rank Bix SEO → Features, and its settings are on the Rank Bix SEO → Duplicate Page screen. When enabled, a Duplicate link appears in the post listing row actions and optionally in the post edit screen. A Duplicate shortcut also appears in the Rank Bix SEO admin bar group when viewing or editing any supported post.

Import SEO Data

Migrate SEO data from another plugin in one step. The importer runs in the background and shows a summary of how many records were transferred.

Supported Source Plugins

Data Transferred

Header & Footer

Add tracking codes, pixels and other scripts without editing your theme. Turn the module on in Rank Bix SEO → Features. Only users who can add raw HTML (the unfiltered_html capability) can use this screen.

AI Content

Writes draft posts from a focus keyword with your own AI key: outline, sections, FAQs, images and the SEO title and description. Add a key in Settings → Tools and turn the module on in Rank Bix SEO → Features. Posts are saved as drafts.

Admin Toolbar

Rank Bix SEO adds a quick-access menu to the WordPress admin bar, visible on both the admin backend and the frontend for logged-in administrators. The menu is always present and cannot be hidden.

Main Menu Items

SEO Score Badge

When viewing or editing a singular post or page (frontend or admin), a colour-coded score badge appears next to the Rank Bix SEO menu name in the toolbar. The badge is invisible on non-singular screens (archives, admin dashboards, etc.).

Mark this page Submenu

When viewing or editing a singular post or page, a Mark this page submenu appears in the toolbar with three instant toggles:

A green checkmark icon appears next to each item when it is currently active. Clicking any toggle saves immediately via AJAX, and the checkmark updates instantly with no page reload required.

Duplicate this page

A Duplicate this page link appears at the bottom of the Mark this page submenu when all of the following conditions are met:

• The Duplicate Page module is enabled in Rank Bix SEO → Features
• The current post type is in the module's allowed post types list (default: posts and pages)
• The logged-in user has one of the module's allowed roles (default: Administrator, Editor) and has edit_post capability

Clicking the link duplicates the post as a draft using the existing Duplicate module, identical to clicking "Duplicate" from the post listing, but available directly from any page view or post editor without navigating away.

External Tools Submenu

One-click links to external SEO tools, pre-filled with the current page URL on the frontend:

SEO Health Alerts (inside the menu)

When SEO issues are detected, alert items appear at the bottom of the toolbar dropdown separated by a divider. Each alert links directly to the relevant fix and shows a tooltip on hover. Alerts disappear automatically when the issue is resolved.

SEO Health Alerts

Critical SEO issues are detected automatically and displayed as items inside the Rank Bix SEO toolbar menu, visible on all admin screens and on the frontend for administrators. Alerts link directly to the relevant fix and disappear once the issue is resolved.

WordPress Dashboard Widget

A Rank Bix SEO Overview widget appears on the WordPress admin dashboard automatically after activation. It gives you a quick health check and navigation shortcuts without leaving the dashboard.

SEO Health

Stats Row

Quick Actions

Buttons for Settings, Redirections, 404 Monitor (hidden when disabled), and Bulk SEO Editor.

Widget Footer

• →Documentation on WordPress.org
• →Support via the WordPress.org forum
• Rate Plugin on WordPress.org reviews

Shortcodes

[rankbix_seo_toc]

Renders the Table of Contents at the location of the shortcode instead of auto-inserting it.

[rankbix_seo_sitemap]

Renders an HTML sitemap on any page or post.

[rankbix_seo_breadcrumbs]

Renders a breadcrumb trail at the location of the shortcode.

[rankbix_cookie_settings]

A link that reopens the cookie banner so visitors can change their choice. Any link to #rbx-cookie-settings does the same.

[rankbix_cookie_declaration] Pro

For your cookie policy page, with Full consent on. Lists every category and cookie, and shows the visitor their own choice and consent ID with buttons to change or withdraw it.

Blocks

The Breadcrumbs and Table of Contents shortcodes also come as blocks, so they work in the block editor and in block theme templates without shortcodes. Search for "Breadcrumbs" or "Table of Contents" in the block inserter. Each block only appears while its module is on, and uses the same settings as the shortcode. When a post has the Table of Contents block, the automatic table is not added a second time.

Every block shows a live preview in the editor and loads its small stylesheet only on pages that use it.

Multilingual Support

Rank Bix SEO is compatible with Polylang and WPML. When either plugin is active, SEO fields are registered as translatable and hreflang alternates are added to the XML sitemap automatically. No configuration required.

Translatable Fields

hreflang in Sitemap

When Polylang or WPML is active, <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="..."> entries are automatically added for every translated version of every URL in the XML sitemap.

Elementor Integration

When Elementor is active, Rank Bix SEO adds a dedicated SEO panel to the Elementor editor sidebar so you can manage SEO data without leaving the visual editor.

Available Fields in the Elementor Panel

News Sitemap

Generates a Google News-compatible XML sitemap at /news-sitemap.xml covering posts published within the last 2 days. Added to robots.txt automatically.

Developer Functions

Breadcrumbs

Add breadcrumbs directly inside a theme template file. Outputs the same breadcrumb trail as the shortcode, with BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema included.

Redirect Debug

Append ?rankbix_seo_debug_redirect=1 to any URL to see redirect match information (administrators only; does not redirect):

Filter & Action Hooks

Frequently Asked Questions

Redirect Type Reference

Choose the right redirect type for the job. Using the wrong type can lose SEO equity or break form submissions.

GSC Performance Pro

Connect your Google Search Console account to pull real search performance data directly into your WordPress dashboard: clicks, impressions, CTR, average position, top pages, and top keywords.

Connecting Google Search Console

1. Go to Rank Bix SEO → GSC Performance.
2. Click Connect Google Search Console.
3. Authorise access in the Google OAuth screen.
4. Select your verified property from the Site dropdown and click Save Site.
5. The page reloads and shows your performance data.

Date Range Tabs

Overview Metrics

Page Tabs

Insights

Caching

GSC data is cached for 12 hours per date range. Click Refresh at the top of the GSC Performance page to load fresh data from Google. With WP-CLI you can also delete the cache for one range:

Troubleshooting

Full Site SEO Audit Pro

Crawls your entire site page by page and produces a scored SEO health report with actionable recommendations.

SEO Analyzer (per-URL tool)

A tab inside Rank Bix SEO → Site Audit, next to the Orphan Pages tab. Enter any URL to run an instant 19-check analysis covering title, meta description, headings, schema, Open Graph, HTTPS, canonical, page speed, and more.

Advanced SEO Score & Multiple Keywords Pro

Adds a live sidebar panel to the 14-check SEO score (the same checks everywhere in Rank Bix), a separate score for up to 4 additional focus keywords per post, and rescoring of all your content in one go.

Advanced SEO Score

Multiple Focus Keywords

Client Reports Pro

Generate branded HTML SEO reports and send them to clients by email from inside WP admin.

Custom Schema Templates Pro

Build reusable JSON-LD templates and assign them to post types. Per-post schema tab choices always override the template.

Extra Schema Types Pro

Adds 5 additional schema types to the post editor Schema tab. Always active when the Pro plugin is installed, no separate module toggle.

Video Sitemap Pro

Auto-detects YouTube and Vimeo embeds in post content and generates a Google-compliant video sitemap with titles, descriptions, thumbnails and player URLs.

WooCommerce SEO Pro

Enhanced Product schema for WooCommerce products, built on top of the free plugin's base schema output.

Multi-location LocalBusiness Pro

Manage multiple physical business locations as a custom post type (rankbix_location). Each location is added as its own full LocalBusiness entry in the schema on your home page. When at least one location is published, the free single-location schema in Settings → Local Business is automatically suppressed to avoid duplicate output.

Location Fields

Image SEO Pro Pro

Three enhancements built on top of the free Image SEO module.

AI Alt Text Generator Pro

Generates alt text for images using AI vision models. Hooks into the Image Alt Audit: the Suggest button uses AI vision per image, and Auto-fill All Missing uses AI vision in batches of 3.

Supported Providers

.htaccess Editor Pro

Edit the WordPress root .htaccess file directly from the admin dashboard. No FTP or SSH required. Requires the Pro plugin active, manage_options capability, and Apache or LiteSpeed server.

Server Compatibility

File Status Indicators

Saving

Click Save .htaccess to write the edited content via AJAX. No page reload required. Before every save, a backup is written to wp-content/rankbix-backups/ with a random file name, and the latest 10 are kept. If the site returns a server error after a save, the previous file is put back automatically.

Validation Applied on Every Save

White Label Pro

Put your agency's branding on the client reports you generate and email. White Label changes the reports only: the plugin keeps the Rank Bix SEO name in the WordPress admin. Leave a field empty to use the default.

Role Manager Pro

Choose which WordPress user roles can edit SEO fields and use Rank Bix screens. Administrators always have full access. Until you save the Role Manager for the first time, everyone who can edit a post sees its SEO box, as in WordPress.

Permissions

Always administrator-only

• The Tools tab of Settings: AI API keys and models, sending content to AI, and deleting data on uninstall. Saving Settings as another role never changes these.
• Importing SEO data from other plugins, and settings export and import.
• The .htaccess editor, the Dashboard and the other Rank Bix screens.
• Role Manager does not change WordPress capabilities. Changes apply on the user's next page load.

Full Cookie Consent Pro

Turns the free Cookie Bar into a two-step consent banner. Visitors allow or reject Preferences, Statistics and Marketing cookies one by one, with Reject all on the first screen. Your site keeps the simple bar until you choose Full consent.

Categories and layout

• Necessary is always on. Preferences, Statistics and Marketing can each be renamed, described or turned off.
• Pre-select categories (on by default) switches the optional categories on when a visitor first opens their choices. Nothing runs until they save. If your visitors are in the EU or UK, turn it off: regulators there expect optional categories to start off.
• Full-width bar, corner box or centred window, with your logo and an optional close icon (closing counts as Reject all). Colours come from the Cookie Bar Appearance settings.

Choices view and preview

• Choose cookies opens the visitor's choices with their own heading and close icon. Each category is one line with its switch (Necessary shows "Always on") and opens to show its description and cookies. Long text has Show more, and the buttons stay in view while the list scrolls.
• Buttons: size, shape, Choose cookies as a link or a third equal button, and side by side or stacked buttons on phones.
• The Preview card shows the banner as you edit, on the first screen or the choices, at desktop or phone size. Nothing changes on your site until you save.

Scripts

• Each Header & Footer section waits for Statistics or Marketing. A script tag can pick its own with data-rbx-consent="marketing", or data-rbx-consent="necessary" to always run.
• Held script handles can name a category: facebook-pixel:marketing.
• Known trackers holds common tracking scripts added by the theme or other plugins, such as Meta Pixel, Hotjar, Clarity, TikTok, LinkedIn and Microsoft Ads, until their category is allowed. Scripts pasted straight into theme files are not seen; move them to Header & Footer.
• When a browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal, Marketing stays off.

Google Consent Mode v2

Turn on Google Consent Mode under Integrations on the same screen. A returning visitor's choice is applied in the page head, before Google tags load.

Cookie list and declaration page

Add cookies by hand, from the built-in library, or from the cookies found while you browse your own site signed in as an admin. Put [rankbix_cookie_declaration] on your cookie policy page: it lists every category and cookie, and shows the visitor their own choice, consent ID and date, with buttons to change or withdraw consent.

Consent log

Each choice is saved with a random consent ID, the date, the categories and the banner version. No IP address or other personal data is stored. Search by consent ID, export to CSV, and choose how many days to keep entries (30 to 1,825).

Asking again

Visitors are asked again when you turn a category on or off, or when you click Ask every visitor again, for example after adding a new tracking tool.

Other plugins and tags

• WP Consent API: install the free WP Consent API plugin and every choice is passed to it, so WooCommerce, Site Kit and other plugins that read it follow the visitor's choice.
• Microsoft Ads, Microsoft Clarity and Meta Pixel: the choice is sent to each of them (UET Consent Mode, Clarity consent and Meta's consent call). Turn this off under Other consent signals.

Subdomains, dates and policy link

• Share across subdomains: enter your main domain, such as example.com, and one choice covers www, shop and every other subdomain. Each subdomain needs Rank Bix with the same categories.
• The declaration page shows when the cookie list last changed.
• With no policy page address set, the banner links to your WordPress privacy policy page.
• The Cookie Bar screen warns you when cookies found on your site are missing from your cookie list.

Cache plugins

Every visitor gets the same banner HTML and the browser reads their choice, so page caching is safe. The banner is kept out of "delay JavaScript" features in WP Rocket, Perfmatters, LiteSpeed, SiteGround Optimizer, Autoptimize and Cloudflare Rocket Loader, and saving the Cookie Bar screen clears the page cache of the common cache plugins. Clear a CDN page cache yourself after changing the banner.

Developer hooks

Everything below works when Rank Bix SEO Pro is active, the Cookie Bar module is on and Full consent is chosen. The four categories are necessary, preferences, statistics and marketing; analytics is accepted as another name for statistics.

JavaScript API: window.rbxConsentApi

The banner script loads in the footer. Code that runs earlier should listen for the rbx:consent event instead of calling the API straight away.

JavaScript event: rbx:consent

Fires on document every time a visitor saves a choice, and once on every page load for a visitor who chose before (after the page has loaded, so listeners added in the footer still hear it).

To control the banner from your own buttons, dispatch rbxConsentAccept or rbxConsentReject on document, or call window.rbxCookieSettings() to open it.

PHP function: rankbix_has_consent( string $category ): bool

Reads the visitor's consent cookie. A choice made for an older banner version does not count. Works with the Simple bar too (Statistics is its "analytics" choice).

Actions

Filters

HTML

Pro Features Overview

Rank Bix SEO Pro adds the features below to the free plugin. Deactivate Pro and the free plugin keeps working as before.