How to Migrate WordPress to an AI-Native Site Without Losing SEO

A 6-step migration path from WordPress to an AI-native React stack that keeps every ranking, redirect, and backlink intact — while gaining Core Web Vitals, structured data, and AI citation readiness.

1. Step 1

   Export a full WXR + redirects map

   Use WordPress Tools > Export to grab an XML of all posts, pages, and media. Export your Redirection plugin rules as CSV. Keep the exact slug for every URL.

2. Step 2

   Rebuild URLs 1:1

   Recreate every /category/slug and /year/month/slug path in your new router. If you must change a URL, add a 301 — never a 302.

   Tip · A single 302 can drop rankings for weeks; use 301 for permanent moves.
3. Step 3

   Preserve canonical, meta, and structured data

   For each imported post, set <title>, meta description, canonical, og:*, and Article JSON-LD to match the original. Do not let default framework metadata overwrite them.

4. Step 4

   Rehost images with the same filenames

   Google Image Search treats /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/foo.jpg as a distinct asset. Reuse the same filename in your new storage path, or redirect the old to the new.

5. Step 5

   Ship a fresh sitemap and ping search engines

   Generate a new sitemap.xml, submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and re-crawl the top 50 URLs by clicks.

6. Step 6

   Verify with a diff crawl

   Run Screaming Frog or our Broken Link Checker before and after the switch. Every URL that returned 200 before must return 200 (or 301 to a 200) after.