Import SEO Data from Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, Slim SEO, or The SEO Framework

SEOvault AI includes a built-in migration tool that imports SEO data from other WordPress SEO plugins. The import runs in batches via AJAX so it works on sites of any size without timing out.

Supported plugins

SEOvault AI can import from the following plugins:

Yoast SEO (Free and Premium)
Rank Math (Free and Pro)
All in One SEO / AIOSEO (v3 and v4+)
Slim SEO
The SEO Framework
SEOPress
SiteSEO
SureRank
Squirrly SEO

The source plugin must be active on your WordPress site for the import to detect and read its data.

What gets imported

Global settings

Homepage SEO title
Homepage meta description
Title templates
Social metadata defaults

Per-post data

SEO title
Meta description
Focus keyword
Canonical URL
Robots directives (noindex, nofollow)
Open Graph title, description, and image
Twitter/X Card data (where applicable)

Term data

SEO title
Meta description
Canonical URL
Robots directives

The import reads from the source plugin’s meta keys and writes to SEOvault AI’s meta keys. Your existing data in the source plugin is not modified or deleted.

Run the import from the onboarding wizard

If you have another SEO plugin active when you first activate SEOvault AI, the onboarding wizard detects it automatically:

Complete the onboarding wizard through steps 1-4.
On step 5 (Import), the wizard shows the detected plugin name.
If multiple plugins are detected, select which one to import from.
Click Import now to import global settings.
Continue to the finish step.

The wizard import brings in global settings only. For a full post-by-post import, use the Tools tab after completing the wizard.

Run a full import from General Settings

For a complete import including all posts and terms:

Go to SEOvault AI > General > Tools.
Find the migration section. It lists detected SEO plugins with item counts.
Select the plugin you want to import from.
Click Start import.

The import runs in batches of 50 items via AJAX. A progress bar shows:

Number of items imported
Total items to process
Current batch progress
Import log with per-item status (OK or SKIP)

The import processes three types of data in sequence:

Global settings – homepage title, description, and templates
Posts – all public post types, 50 per batch
Terms – all public taxonomies, 50 per batch

You can leave the page and return later. The import status is tracked and you can check progress at any time.

What the import log shows

Each item in the log shows one of two statuses:

[OK] – the item had SEO data in the source plugin and it was successfully imported into SEOvault AI
[SKIP] – the item had no SEO data in the source plugin (empty meta fields), so there was nothing to import

Skipped items are normal. Not every post or term has custom SEO data – many rely on auto-generated values. The import only brings over data that was explicitly set in the source plugin.

Placeholder conversion

Some plugins use template placeholders (e.g., %%title%% in Yoast, %title% in Rank Math). SEOvault AI converts these to its own variable format during import:

Yoast %%title%% becomes %title%
Yoast %%sitename%% becomes %sitename%
Yoast %%sep%% becomes %sep%
Rank Math %title% stays %title%
Rank Math %sitename% stays %sitename%

This ensures your title templates work correctly after migration.

After the import

Verify a few posts – open 3-5 posts in the editor and check the SEOvault AI meta box. Confirm the title, description, focus keyword, and canonical URL were imported correctly.
Check the homepage – go to General Settings > Homepage and verify the homepage title and description.
Check templates – go to General Settings > Templates and verify the title and description templates.
Deactivate the old plugin – once you are satisfied with the import, deactivate the source plugin from Plugins > Installed Plugins.
Run the SEO Analyzer – go to SEOvault AI > SEO Analyzer to run a site-wide scan and identify any remaining issues.

Cleanup after migration

After deactivating the source plugin, you can optionally clean up its data:

SEOvault AI does not delete the source plugin’s data – the import only reads from it. The old meta keys remain in your database.
To fully remove the old plugin’s data – uninstall the old plugin from WordPress. Most SEO plugins have their own cleanup routines on uninstall.
SEOvault AI’s cleanup tool – the Tools tab has a cleanup option that removes migration flags set during import. This does not affect your imported data.

Import from multiple plugins

If you have multiple SEO plugins active (not recommended), the import tool lets you select which one to import from. Run the import for each plugin separately if needed. The most recent import wins – if you import from Yoast first and then from Rank Math, the Rank Math values will overwrite the Yoast values for any posts where both plugins had data.

Troubleshooting

No plugins detected

If the Tools tab says “No supported SEO plugins detected”:

Confirm the source plugin is activated on the Plugins screen
Check that the source plugin has not been uninstalled (the import needs to read its meta keys)
Some plugins store data in custom tables (AIOSEO v4+, Squirrly) – make sure the tables exist

Import shows 0 items

If the import finds no items to process:

The source plugin may not have any posts with custom SEO data (all values are auto-generated)
The source plugin may store data in a different format than expected (check the plugin version)
Run the global settings import first, then try the post import again

Import times out or stalls

If the import appears to stall:

Check your browser console for JavaScript errors
Verify your site’s AJAX endpoint is working (test with another AJAX-dependent plugin)
Increase PHP max_execution_time if your server has a low limit
The import processes 50 items per batch, so large sites may take several minutes

Duplicate data after import

If you see duplicate SEO tags after importing:

Deactivate the source plugin – both plugins are outputting tags
Or switch SEOvault AI to Disabled mode until you deactivate the source plugin