llms.txt, ai.json, identity.json, and the files that help AI find your website.
AI discovery files sit in your site's root directory and tell AI systems who you are, what you do, and how to use your content. Think of them like robots.txt, but for AI crawlers and language models. The specs are new and still evolving, but early adopters are already seeing benefits.
We cover the main file formats: llms.txt for language model context, ai.json for machine-readable business data, identity.json for brand identity. Implementation guides, validation tips, and updates as the specs mature.
A 180-page Lords report warns that AI companies are scraping UK website content without permission, payment, or disclosure. The committee wants licensing, not opt-out. Here's what it means for the 5.5 million UK businesses publishing content online, and five steps you can take before the law catches up.
The web has seen this pattern twice before: robots.txt in 1994, sitemaps in 2005. AI Discovery Files are at that same early stage. 99.7% of UK websites have none deployed. Here's what they are, why they matter, and how to get started.
The AI Discovery Files plugin is now on WordPress.org. Free, no premium tier. Fill in your business details and it generates up to 10 AI discovery files for ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. The more you put in, the better the output.
56% of deployed AI discovery files fail validation. The files exist, the server returns 200 OK, and AI systems still can't use them. Here's how to test what AI actually sees when it reads your files, fix the three most common failures, and prove your business shows up correctly.
Profound just closed $96 million at a billion-dollar valuation to track what AI says about brands. Fortune 500 firms are already using it. Here's what this means for UK businesses that can't spend thousands on enterprise AI tools, and the free steps you can take today.
OpenAI launched ads in ChatGPT on 9 February, and by 19 February they were hitting users from the very first prompt. The $200,000 minimum locks UK small businesses out of the paid channel. But the organic answer slot above those ads is free, and AI discovery files are how you claim it.
Research across 1,460 top websites confirms 93.5% have no AI Discovery Files. Of the 6.5% that do, 56% are invalid. A free WordPress plugin and open specifications can fix that.
The AI Discovery Files Directory is the first verified registry of AI-visible businesses. Free listings include dofollow backlinks from a .org.uk domain, an AI visibility score out of 100, and a live embeddable badge.
Having AI discovery files is one thing. Knowing whether ChatGPT actually recommends your business is another. The new Live ChatGPT Snapshot shows you real AI responses, not just file validation scores.
Ask three agencies what AI visibility means and you'll get three different answers. On January 10 we published the AI Visibility Definition: six precise terms that separate infrastructure checking from outcome tracking.
A January 2026 scan of one million websites found only 0.3% have AI discovery files. We tested 847 UK business sites: average score 12 out of 100. Here's what the data means and how to fix it.
OpenAI made ChatGPT search free for all 800 million users on January 7, 2026. We tested 200 UK business websites straight after. 97% had no AI discovery files. Average visibility score: 34 out of 100.
After a frustrating conversation about AI visibility vs SEO, I asked ChatGPT to explain the difference. Its answer nailed it: SEO helps you get found. AI discovery files help you get trusted. Trust is what gets you into the answer.
We tested SEMrush, AmIVisibleOnAI, Neil Patel Ubersuggest, and 365i's checker on the same website. One hid data behind paywalls. One gave fake results. One required account signup. Only one validated the actual AI discovery files.
Cloudflare's new robots.txt compliance tracker reveals which AI crawlers respect your rules and which ignore them. Testing across 47 UK business sites: 72% had violations. Sites with AI discovery files saw 43% fewer.
Version 1 checked if files existed. Version 2 uses actual AI to read them the way ChatGPT would. After testing 100+ sites, the biggest finding: having files isn't the problem. Having broken files is.
The follow-up to our beginner introduction. There's no formal standard requiring AI companies to read identity files. That's normal. Here's how AI actually decides what to mention, why ambiguity hurts more than absence, and what UK businesses should realistically expect.
10 structured files tell AI systems like ChatGPT and Claude exactly what your business does. Most websites have zero. Here's what each file does, how they work together, and why you need all 10.
ChatGPT doesn't search the web for every question. It relies on training data with knowledge cutoffs, and your website probably isn't in it. Here's why AI can't find your business and the practical steps to fix it.
The beginner introduction to AI identity files. They are plain text files that tell ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini exactly who your business is. Most websites don't have them, which is why AI systems skip over them entirely. Here's what they are, why they matter, and how to get started. For the realistic expectations piece, see the follow-up "Why Websites Need Them".
800 million people use ChatGPT every week. Google AI Overviews appear in 60% of searches. Yet 97% of websites have no AI identity files. Here's what that's costing UK businesses and how to fix it.
365i launches a free AI Site Identity Tool that checks whether your website has basic AI-facing identity signals. With 194,000 sites adopting llms.txt but zero major platform commitments, most businesses have no way to verify their AI readiness.
AI chatbots are answering questions about your business right now, probably badly. Four small text files (llms.txt, ai.txt, brand.txt, ai.json) tell ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini exactly what you do, what you sell, and how to describe you.
Google quietly added then removed an llms.txt file from Search Central while Discover rolled out AI Mode options that summarise your content before readers click through. SE Ranking's 300k-domain study still shows no citation benefit. Here's what actually matters.
An llms.txt file tells AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude exactly who you are and what you do. Here's what to put in it, what to leave out, and how to make it work for your business.
