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manifest / seo / wordpress-native-seo

WordPress Native SEO & GEO Tweaks archived

Snippets for WordPress native SEO without plugins

by Fernando Tellado · github.com/fernandotellado/wordpress-native-seo

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/fernandotellado/wordpress-native-seo/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
Readme github.com/fernandotellado/wordpress-native-seo ↗

WordPress native SEO and GEO — no plugins required

A complete collection of code snippets, constants, and server rules to handle SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) in WordPress without relying on SEO plugins.

Everything here uses native WordPress filters, actions, wp-config.php constants, and .htaccess rules. No third-party dependencies.

Based on the workshop "Do you really need an SEO/GEO plugin for WordPress?" by Fernando Tellado at WordCamp Europe 2026 in Kraków.

Repository files

All-in-one mu-plugin

File Description
ayudawp-seo-geo-tweaks.php All 14 PHP optimizations in a single file, active and ready for production. Drop it in wp-content/mu-plugins/ and it works. Comment out any section you don't need.

Individual PHP snippets

Pick only what you need. Each file is self-contained and can be used as a standalone mu-plugin or added to your child theme's functions.php.

File What it does
auto-meta-description.php Generates <meta name="description"> from 4 native WordPress fields: tagline (homepage), excerpt (posts/pages), term description (archives), bio (authors). For the UI version with per-post overrides and JSON-LD schema, see Native SEO Meta Tags
clean-head.php Removes generator version, WLW manifest, RSD, shortlinks, REST API link, comment feeds, and prev/next links from <head>
disable-emojis.php Removes the emoji detection script and styles loaded on every page
disable-embeds.php Removes oEmbed REST route, discovery links, and host JavaScript
remove-query-strings.php Strips ?ver= from CSS and JS URLs for better CDN and proxy caching
restrict-rest-api.php Limits REST API access to authenticated users only — prevents public exposure of usernames and site data
customize-sitemap.php Removes tags and author archives from the native WordPress XML sitemap
block-ai-training-bots.php Adds rules to the virtual robots.txt to block AI training crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, CCBot, Bytespider) while keeping search bots allowed
handle-low-value-archives.php Redirects author and date archives to homepage (301), adds noindex to search results and thin taxonomy archives
small-seo-tweaks.php Enables excerpts on pages, disables self-pingbacks, sets a generic login error message
open-graph-tags.php Generates Open Graph (og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url) and Twitter Card tags from standard WordPress fields. For the full version with smart image detection and per-post overrides, see Native SEO Meta Tags

Configuration reference files

These files contain constants and rules you copy into your existing WordPress configuration files. Everything is commented out — uncomment what you need.

File What it is Where to use it
wp-config-additions.php 10 constants: revisions, autosave, trash, file editor, SSL, WP-Cron, memory, script compression, debug Copy contents into your wp-config.php before the line /* That's all, stop editing! */
htaccess-additions.txt 8 rule blocks: force HTTPS, GZIP compression, browser cache, protect wp-config.php, disable directory listing, block xmlrpc.php, block author scanning, security headers Copy contents into your .htaccess after # END WordPress. Requires Apache with mod_rewrite, mod_deflate, mod_expires, mod_headers.

Installation

Option 1: All-in-one mu-plugin (recommended)

  1. Create the folder wp-content/mu-plugins/ if it doesn't exist
  2. Download ayudawp-seo-geo-tweaks.php and place it there
  3. Done — mu-plugins load automatically, no activation required
  4. Open the file and comment out any section you don't need

Option 2: Individual snippets

  1. Download only the snippet files you need
  2. Place them in wp-content/mu-plugins/ (each file works independently)
  3. Or copy the code into your child theme's functions.php

wp-config.php constants

  1. Open wp-config-additions.php and copy the constants you want
  2. Paste them into your wp-config.php before the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! */
  3. Uncomment each constant you want to activate

.htaccess rules

  1. Open htaccess-additions.txt and copy the rule blocks you want
  2. Paste them into your .htaccess after the # END WordPress block
  3. Uncomment the rules you want to activate
  4. These require Apache — they won't work on Nginx or on some local development environments

The meta description snippet explained

The auto-meta-description.php snippet deserves special attention. It replaces the core function of most SEO plugins — meta descriptions — with a single WordPress hook:

Page type Source field Where to edit it
Homepage Tagline Settings → General → Tagline
Posts and pages Excerpt (or trimmed content) Post sidebar → Excerpt
Category / Tag archives Term description Categories → Edit → Description
Author archives Biographical info Users → Profile → Biographical Info

If a field is empty, no meta tag is generated for that page. The only requirement is filling in the fields that WordPress already provides.

What these snippets cover

Performance

  • Remove emoji scripts and styles from every page
  • Strip query strings from static resources for better caching
  • Disable oEmbed scripts and REST routes
  • Clean unnecessary tags from <head>
  • Limit post revisions, autosave frequency, trash retention (wp-config.php)
  • GZIP compression and browser cache rules (.htaccess)

SEO

  • Auto meta descriptions from native WordPress fields
  • Open Graph and Twitter Card tags from title, excerpt, and featured image
  • Customize the native XML sitemap (exclude tags, authors, pages)
  • Redirect low-value archives (author, date) to homepage
  • Add noindex to search results and thin taxonomy archives
  • Clean permalink structure

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

  • Block AI training bots while keeping search and citation bots allowed
  • Configure the virtual robots.txt for AI crawler management

Security

  • Restrict REST API to authenticated users
  • Disable the file editor in admin
  • Block xmlrpc.php and author scanning (.htaccess)
  • Generic login error messages
  • Security headers (.htaccess)
  • Protect wp-config.php from direct access (.htaccess)

Going further: plugins for the gaps

These snippets cover the code side, but there are things that benefit from a proper plugin with UI, ongoing updates, and deeper integration. All free:

The Native SEO Suite

A small set of focused plugins that together replace the core functionality of a traditional SEO plugin. Each one does one job well, they share the same philosophy, and they're built to coexist with major SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, SEOPress, The SEO Framework) — auto-detecting them and stepping aside to avoid duplicate tags.

Plugin What it does
Native SEO Meta Tags Meta title, meta description, Open Graph, Twitter Card, and JSON-LD schema (Article, BreadcrumbList, Person for E-E-A-T) from native WordPress fields, with per-post overrides in the block editor
Native SEO NoIndexer Selective noindex per post type, taxonomy, individual post, special pages, and feeds — with editor integration, Quick Edit, bulk actions, and automatic sitemap exclusion
Native SEO Sitemap Customizer Visual control over the native WordPress XML sitemap

Other companions

Plugin What it does
WPO Tweaks All performance optimizations in this repo + critical CSS, deferred CSS, preconnect, lazy loading, database cleanup — zero configuration
Easy Actions Scheduler Cleaner Clean up orphan scheduled tasks left by uninstalled plugins
SEO Read More Buttons Control "Read More" button text and style in archives

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Plugin What it does
VigIA JSON-LD structured data, llms.txt generation, Markdown for AI agents, AI crawler analytics and blocking
AI Content Signals Cloudflare's AI content signals standard, physical robots.txt with visual AI bot control
AI Share & Summarize Share buttons for AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity...) that include your URL as source

WordPress 7 native AI

Plugin What it does
AI Experiments Official WordPress plugin: AI-powered alt text, excerpts, titles, content review with SEO suggestions
AI Provider for OpenAI OpenAI connector for WordPress AI infrastructure
AI Provider for Anthropic Anthropic/Claude connector for WordPress AI infrastructure

Security

Plugin What it does
Vigilante Basic security hardening

Requirements

  • WordPress 5.5 or higher (for native sitemap support)
  • PHP 7.4 or higher
  • Apache with mod_rewrite, mod_deflate, mod_expires, mod_headers (for .htaccess rules only)

Further reading

License

GPL-2.0-or-later. Use, modify, and share freely.

Author

Fernando Tellado — WordPress specialist since 2005.

AyudaWP.com · @fernandot · YouTube