🧭 Overview

This article covers four interconnected OTTO issues that are often reported together. Work through each section that applies to your situation.

📡 OTTO Pixel Detection: Why Your Pixel May Show as Not Installed

Even if your OTTO pixel is firing correctly in Google Tag Manager (GTM), the Search Atlas platform may still display a Not Installed status. This is expected behaviour and does not mean your pixel is broken.

Why this happens: OTTO verifies pixel installation by cross-referencing data collected during a completed site audit. The pixel status will not update to Installed until a full site audit cycle has finished processing.

What to do:

1. Confirm the pixel tag is published and firing in GTM using GTM Preview mode or a browser tag inspector.
2. Navigate to OTTO SEO in the left sidebar, then open SEO Automation (URL: /seo-automation-v3) and open your OTTO project.
3. Check whether a site audit is currently running or queued. If a previous audit has not completed, the pixel status will remain pending.
4. Trigger a new site audit if none is in progress. Audit completion typically takes 2–24 hours depending on site size.
5. Once the audit completes, return to the OTTO dashboard. The pixel status should update automatically within 1 hour of audit completion.

Important: Do not remove and reinstall the pixel tag if GTM is already firing it correctly. Re-installation is unnecessary and will not speed up detection.

🌐 Setting Up OTTO Projects for Subdomains

OTTO treats each subdomain as a separate project. A pixel installed on www.example.com will not be detected for a project configured against blog.example.com, even if both are on the same root domain.

Architecture requirements:

• Create a dedicated OTTO project for each subdomain you want to optimise.
• Each project requires its own pixel installed on the corresponding subdomain.
• Site audits run independently per project, so subdomain audits do not share credit or progress with the root domain project.

Steps to set up a subdomain project:

1. Go to OTTO SEO in the left sidebar and open SEO Automation.
2. Click Add New Project and enter the full subdomain URL (e.g., https://blog.example.com).
3. Copy the pixel code generated for this new project and install it exclusively on the subdomain — do not reuse the pixel from your root domain project.
4. Publish the tag in GTM (or add it directly to your subdomain's <head>), then run a fresh site audit for the subdomain project.

If you manage multiple subdomains, repeat this process for each one.

⚡ AI Generation Quota: Limits, Top-Ups & Upgrade Paths

OTTO's AI content and automation features draw from a shared AI generation quota tied to your Search Atlas subscription plan. When quota is exhausted, AI-powered actions (such as generating meta descriptions, titles, or content suggestions) will pause until quota is restored.

How quota works:

• Quota resets automatically on your monthly billing date.
• Quota is consumed across all OTTO SEO V3 features, including OTTO suggestions, bulk AI writing, and automated fixes.
• You can monitor your remaining quota from Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (Billing) under the Total Quota list.

Quota limits by plan tier:

• Starter: 25,000 AI words per month
• Growth: 100,000 AI words per month
• Pro: 300,000 AI words per month

Topping up mid-cycle: If you exhaust your quota before your billing date, you have two options:

1. Purchase a quota top-up add-on — available in blocks directly from your billing settings. Top-up blocks are added instantly and do not affect your renewal date.
2. Upgrade your plan — if you regularly exhaust quota, upgrading to the next tier is more cost-effective than recurring top-ups.

To purchase a top-up or upgrade, navigate to the top-right corner (avatar) → Billing (Plans & Top-ups tab) and select the relevant option. Changes take effect immediately.

🖼️ Alt Tag Detection Failures: Why OTTO Flags Already-Fixed Images

If OTTO is reporting missing alt tags on images where you have already added alt text, the issue is almost always a recrawl timing delay, not a detection error.

Why OTTO still shows the flag: OTTO's alt tag checks are based on the most recent completed site audit. If you added alt text after the last audit ran, OTTO has not yet seen the updated markup and will continue displaying the old finding until the page is recrawled.

CMS-specific considerations:

• WordPress, Webflow, and similar CMS platforms sometimes cache rendered HTML. Even after you save alt text in the CMS, the live page may serve cached content without the alt attribute for several hours.
• For JavaScript-rendered images, alt attributes added via JS may not be read by the crawler. Ensure alt text is present in the static HTML or the server-side rendered output, not injected client-side after page load.

Steps to verify and resolve:

1. Open the affected page URL directly in a browser and use View Page Source (not browser DevTools) to confirm the alt attribute is present in the raw HTML.
2. If the alt text is visible in the source, the fix is confirmed on your end. You now need to trigger a recrawl.
3. Go to OTTO SEO in the left sidebar, open SEO Automation, then navigate to your OTTO project and initiate a new site audit.
4. Allow up to 7 days for a full recrawl cycle to complete across large sites. Most standard sites recrawl within 24–72 hours.
5. Once the audit completes, return to the OTTO issues list. The alt tag flag should be cleared automatically.

If the flag persists after recrawl: Re-check the raw HTML source to confirm the alt attribute is genuinely present and not empty (alt="" is treated as decorative and will still trigger a flag if OTTO expects descriptive alt text). Make sure alt text is descriptive and contains at least a few meaningful words.

💬 Need More Help?

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.