The Meta Description Checker reads the meta description on any page and reports its length in characters, whether it is missing, and whether it runs past the roughly 160 characters Google shows. It also flags a description that repeats the page title. You get a list of passed and failed checks, so you know what to fix in the title and meta description.
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The meta description is the short summary that can appear under your title in Google results. Enter a page URL and the checker reads the description tag, counts the characters and pixels and runs five checks: length, truncation, whether it fits the search result, whether it uses a verb like get, find or compare, and whether it repeats the page title.
Aim for 120 to 158 characters. Past 160 the checker marks the description as cut off and tells you how many characters are lost.
If the result says there is no meta description, the page has no description tag and Google will pick text from the page instead. Add one inside the head of the page.
The checker reads the first description tag it finds. If a theme or plugin adds a second tag, view the page source, find both and remove the one you do not want.
Google cuts a description by its width in pixels, so a description made of narrow letters fits more characters than one made of wide letters. The checker counts characters, so treat 158 as a safe ceiling.
On mobile the snippet is often cut shorter than on desktop. Put the main point in the first sentence so it still shows.
You don't need a live page to test a description. Switch to paste mode, type the title and description you're planning, and the checker shows how they'll look in a desktop and a mobile search result, with the length in characters and pixels.
It's the quickest way to try a few versions side by side before you pick one. Check the mobile preview too, since it cuts descriptions off sooner.
Google can show text from the page instead of your description when that text matches the search better. It can do this for any page, and it can change from one search to the next. A description that answers the likely search in plain words gives Google less reason to swap it.
Write a new description for every page. Copying one across a whole site gives every result the same text.
Before: "Welcome to our website. We offer a wide range of services for all your needs."
After: "Monthly bookkeeping for construction companies in Denver, from $400 a month. Job costing, payroll and taxes handled."
Before: "Read this blog post to learn everything about email marketing."
After: "7 email subject line formulas, with open rates from 1,200 sends, and when each one works best."
Before: "Best coffee grinder reviews 2026 coffee grinders burr grinders."
After: "We tested 9 burr grinders for 3 months. The best for espresso, pour-over and tight budgets, with prices."
The good ones say what the page is, who it's for and one specific detail, in plain words.
AI engines like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews quote the text on your page, and they don't use the meta description as the answer. So the description matters for the click in a normal search result, and the page body matters for the citation.
That means the first two sentences of the page should do the same job a good description does: say plainly what the page answers. The AEO checker scores how easy a page is for an AI engine to quote.
Related guide: AEO vs GEO vs SEO covers how optimizing for AI engines compares with regular search.
Peak Answer runs checks like these every week, then writes the content and gets the placements.