Machine-First Architecture

Methodology established technical e_001

The four-pillar methodology Slobodan Manić authored for building websites that work for both humans and AI agents, treating Identity, Structure, Content, and Interaction as interlocking pillars rather than a checklist of SEO tactics.

Machine-First Architecture is a website optimisation methodology created by Slobodan Manić that treats Identity, Structure, Content, and Interaction as four interlocking pillars, built to make a website equally readable and usable by AI systems and the humans they act for.
Machine-First Architecture — published by Slobodan Manić

Machine-First Architecture is the methodology I authored to address that. It treats Identity, Structure, Content, and Interaction as four interlocking pillars rather than a checklist of SEO tactics. Every project I run is grounded in it.
About Slobodan Manić - Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

The audit measures your site against the four pillars of Machine-First Architecture: Identity (canonical entity definition and sameAs graph), Structure (server-rendered data and schema hierarchy), Content (answer-first, citable passages), and Interaction (machine-readable actions for agents).
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

AUTHORED_BY → Slobodan Manić

Agent Experience Optimization (AXO)

Methodology proposed technical e_002

An emerging web optimisation discipline Slobodan Manić describes as the offspring of technical SEO and CRO, focused on making a website not just machine-readable but fully agent-operable for autonomous AI agents.

AXO is the practice of making your website not just machine-readable, but fully agent-operable. It's the art and science of ensuring an AI can achieve its goal on your site with the highest possible success rate and the lowest possible cost, without needing a human to intervene.
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

This is where our two old friends, technical SEO and CRO, come together. This new discipline is like their baby, and it's called Agent Experience Optimization (AXO).
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

DEPENDS_ON → Technical SEO
DEPENDS_ON → Conversion Rate Optimisation

Core Web Vitals

Metric technical e_003

The performance metrics for loading, interactivity, and visual stability that Slobodan Manić audits and optimises as part of every engagement.

Pages that take more than 3 seconds to load lose roughly 40% of visitors before the first interaction. Slow Core Web Vitals also lower Google Ads Quality Score, which raises cost-per-acquisition on every campaign.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

I audit Core Web Vitals, WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, semantic HTML, JSON-LD structured data, and AI extractability against the four pillars of Machine-First Architecture: Identity, Structure, Content, and Interaction.
Slobodan Manić | Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104618838

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)

Concept general e_004

The discipline of improving the rate at which visitors complete a goal; one of the two predecessor disciplines Slobodan Manić identifies behind Agent Experience Optimization.

For the last two decades, we've had two core disciplines in web optimisation: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

Just as a CRO specialist obsesses over removing friction for human users, things like confusing forms, inconsistent navigation, unexpected pop-ups, an AXO specialist must do the same for agents.
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q52083677

Technical SEO

Concept technical e_005

The practice of making a website structurally machine-readable through semantic HTML, structured data, and accessibility; one of the two predecessor disciplines behind Agent Experience Optimization.

An AI agent, much like Googlebot, needs to understand your website on a structural level. It doesn't care about your beautiful hero image or clever headline copy. It cares about clean, logical, machine-readable code.
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

The Agentic Web

Concept proposed general e_006

Slobodan Manić's term for the emerging web in which autonomous AI agents, not only humans, browse, evaluate, and transact on websites.

Your website now has two audiences: the humans who visit it, and the AI agents - ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude - that browse, evaluate, and act on their behalf.
Slobodan Manić | Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

The next wave of traffic, and more importantly, transactions, won't be driven by a human with a thumb and a screen. It will be driven by autonomous AI agents.
If Technical SEO and CRO Had a Baby, It Would Be Called AXO — published by Slobodan Manić

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are changing this dynamic. They're not just new search engines. They're synthesis machines.
Your Polar Bear Is Brown: AI as the Uncontrollable Truth Layer — published by Slobodan Manić

This is about building a "dual-citizen" web, one that serves your human customers and is ready to work with AI agents of today and tomorrow.
An AI Agent Walks into a Bar… and Finds It's Not Ready — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

DESCRIBED_BY → No Hacks

Slobodan Manić (Sani)

Person general e_007

Website optimisation consultant, host and founder of No Hacks, former CTO of Search Engine Journal, and author of the Machine-First Architecture framework.

I'm Slobodan "Sani" Manić - former CTO of Search Engine Journal, author of the Machine-First Architecture framework, co-organiser of the Future of eXperimentation event with Ton Wesseling and Bjarn Brunenberg, CXL-certified CRO professional, five-time WordPress core contributor, and WordCamp Porto 2024 organizer.
About Slobodan Manić - Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

Since 2021 I have hosted the No Hacks podcast, a weekly show about optimising the web for AI agents.
About Slobodan Manić - Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

AFFILIATED_WITH → No Hacks
AFFILIATED_WITH → Web Performance Tools, Inc.
AFFILIATED_WITH → Search Engine Journal
AFFILIATED_WITH → Future of eXperimentation

Same as

No Hacks

Organization general e_008

A publication about the agentic web - a weekly podcast, newsletter, and articles for SEO, CRO, and web professionals - founded and hosted by Slobodan Manić.

No Hacks is a publication about the agentic web. Articles, a weekly podcast, and a newsletter for SEO, CRO, and web professionals who want to stay visible, trusted, and findable as agents take over.
No Hacks - Web Strategy for the AI Age — published by Slobodan Manić

Most websites are completely unprepared. AI agents can't navigate them. LLMs don't cite them. Search engines no longer rank them the same way.
No Hacks - Web Strategy for the AI Age — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

Glimpse

SoftwareProduct established general e_009

A free, one-click website audit tool built by Slobodan Manić that checks a URL for SEO, performance, accessibility, and how AI systems understand the content.

Glimpse audits your website for SEO, performance, accessibility, AND how AI systems understand your content. No technical background needed. And it's free.
Introducing Glimpse: A Free Tool to Audit Your Website for Humans, Search Engines, and AI — published by Slobodan Manić

You enter one URL. You click. You get easy-to-understand results.
Introducing Glimpse: A Free Tool to Audit Your Website for Humans, Search Engines, and AI — published by Slobodan Manić

I built Glimpse to change that.
Introducing Glimpse: A Free Tool to Audit Your Website for Humans, Search Engines, and AI — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

PRODUCED_BY → Slobodan Manić

Search Engine Journal

Organization general e_010

A leading SEO industry publication where Slobodan Manić served as Chief Technology Officer.

I led engineering at one of the largest publications in the SEO industry, where the technical decisions I shipped were read, scrutinised, and replicated by hundreds of thousands of search professionals every month.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://www.searchenginejournal.com

Future of eXperimentation

Event general e_011

An experimentation industry event co-organised by Slobodan Manić with Ton Wesseling and Bjarn Brunenberg.

author of the Machine-First Architecture framework, co-organiser of the Future of eXperimentation event with Ton Wesseling and Bjarn Brunenberg, CXL-certified CRO professional, five-time WordPress core contributor, and WordCamp Porto 2024 organizer.
Slobodan Manić | Website Optimisation Consultant — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://futureofexperimentation.com/

WCAG 2.2 AA

Standard regulatory e_012

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at conformance level AA - the accessibility standard Slobodan Manić audits and implements against.

Roughly 1 in 4 adults in the United States lives with a disability. Sites that fail WCAG 2.2 AA exclude those users and create direct exposure under the ADA and the European Accessibility Act, which became enforceable in June 2025.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5364439

Machine-First Website Optimisation

Service executive e_013

Slobodan Manić's website optimisation service: a complete technical audit, full implementation, and continuous monitoring, grounded in the four pillars of Machine-First Architecture.

Every engagement starts with a complete issue register: performance bottlenecks, accessibility violations, semantic errors, structured data gaps, and AI extractability failures. I work through every item on the register - not the top ten, every one - until it is empty, or until a genuine technical constraint forces a documented trade-off.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

A complete analysis of every page template, component, and asset on your site - covering Core Web Vitals, WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, semantic HTML, JSON-LD structured data, server-side rendering, and AI extractability.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

Relations

DEPENDS_ON → Machine-First Architecture
REQUIRES → WCAG 2.2 AA

European Accessibility Act

Regulation regulatory e_014

EU accessibility legislation, enforceable since June 2025, that Slobodan Manić cites as a compliance driver for meeting WCAG 2.2 AA.

Sites that fail WCAG 2.2 AA exclude those users and create direct exposure under the ADA and the European Accessibility Act, which became enforceable in June 2025.
Machine-First Website Optimisation — published by Slobodan Manić

Same as

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85759817