🧭 Overview
When OTTO detects a Title Tag issue on your site, it flags the page and displays the current title value. You may notice that OTTO does not immediately explain why the title needs updating, and that generating a suggested replacement requires AI credits. This article explains how the Title Tag issue type works, what triggers a flag, and how to get actionable suggestions.
⚠️ Why OTTO Flags a Title Tag
OTTO evaluates every page title against a set of on-page SEO best practices. A title is flagged when one or more of the following conditions are detected:
- Too short or too long: Titles should fall within the recommended range of 30–100 characters. Titles outside this range may be truncated or under-descriptive in search results.
- Missing target keyword: The primary keyword for the page is absent from the title, reducing its relevance signal to search engines.
- Duplicate title: The same title appears on multiple pages, which can cause indexing confusion and keyword cannibalisation.
- Generic or non-descriptive text: Titles such as "Home" or "Page 1" provide no meaningful context to users or crawlers.
Currently, OTTO displays the flagged title value so you can review it directly, but a detailed written explanation of the specific rule that triggered the flag is not yet shown inline. This diagnostic improvement is on our product roadmap and is actively being developed.
💡 Why AI Credits Are Required for Suggestions
Generating a replacement title is not a simple rule lookup — OTTO uses AI to analyse your page content, target keyword, and character constraints before producing a contextually relevant suggestion. This generation process consumes AI credits because it calls a large language model to craft a title that is both SEO-optimised and aligned with your content.
Think of the AI credit as the cost of having a specialist writer review your page and propose an improved title, rather than applying a generic template.
🛠️ How to Review and Fix Title Tag Issues in OTTO
- Open OTTO from your Search Atlas dashboard and navigate to the Title Tags issue category.
- Review the current title shown for each flagged page. Cross-reference the common flag reasons listed above to identify the likely problem (e.g., check character count, look for your target keyword).
- When you are ready to generate a suggestion, click the Generate button next to the flagged title. OTTO will use AI credits to produce an optimised replacement.
- Review the suggested title. If it meets your needs, apply it directly. If you prefer to write your own fix, you can manually edit the title field without spending any credits.
- Once a title is updated, mark the issue as resolved so OTTO tracks your progress accurately.
📊 Managing Your AI Credits
To avoid running out of credits unexpectedly, consider these tips:
- Prioritise generating suggestions for pages with the highest traffic or strategic importance first.
- For straightforward fixes — such as a title that is simply too long — edit the title manually to save credits for more complex cases.
- You can check your remaining AI credit balance in your account settings at any time.
🚧 Known Issues and Upcoming Improvements
Our engineering team is actively working on several improvements related to Title Tag diagnostics:
- A "How it works" tooltip update is in development that will clarify the 30–100 character range guideline directly within the OTTO interface, so the flagging criteria are immediately visible without leaving the page.
- Work is ongoing to ensure title tag suggestions are consistently unique and meaningfully differentiated from the original title.
- A bug affecting title tag display on page load is also being resolved to improve the stability of the OTTO interface.
These updates will roll out progressively. No action is required on your end — improvements will appear automatically once deployed.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I fix a title tag without using AI credits? Yes. You can type your own replacement title directly into the editable field. AI credits are only consumed when you click Generate to request an AI-written suggestion.
- Why does the suggestion look very similar to my original title? In some cases, the original title may already be close to optimal, and the AI makes minor refinements. If you receive a suggestion that feels too similar, try editing the title manually for a more distinct result. Our team has also addressed cases of near-identical suggestions in a recent update.
- Will OTTO explain the reason for each flag in the future? Yes. Inline diagnostic explanations are planned as part of ongoing OTTO improvements. The tooltip update currently in development is a first step toward this goal.
💬 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.