Search engines do not read your readability score directly, but they do measure how long visitors stay and whether they come back to search again. Consequently, hard-to-read content indirectly hurts rankings even though no algorithm penalizes long sentences by name.
What the Flesch Reading Ease score measures
The score looks at sentence length and syllables per word. Shorter sentences and simpler words push the score higher, which generally correlates with content that is easier to skim on a phone screen.
For example, breaking a forty-word sentence into two shorter ones almost always improves both readability and comprehension, without changing the meaning at all.
Readability works alongside structure
A high readability score paired with good internal linking and clear subheadings tends to keep readers on the page far longer than either improvement alone. In short, treat readability as a multiplier, not a replacement, for solid SEO fundamentals.