At Aderlo Cloud a domain gets the AI-ready badge when it passes 6 required tests: DNSSEC with a valid chain of trust, robots.txt with Content-Signal, an XML sitemap, llms.txt, a Markdown version for agents (without breaking the page in browsers) and the Link header. We check daily and remove the badge after two failed checks in a row — it cannot be bought or switched on by hand.
Why a site should be ready for AI agents
AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) increasingly visit, read and recommend sites on their own. An agent has an easier job when the site states what may be done with its content (Content-Signal), offers a short summary (llms.txt) and serves content as Markdown instead of heavy HTML. DNSSEC adds certainty that the agent talks to the right server.
Tests required for the badge
| Test | What we check |
|---|---|
| DNSSEC | a DS record at the registry and the AD flag from at least 2 of 3 public resolvers; on our servers, signatures valid for ≥ 7 more days |
| robots.txt | a 200 response and a Content-Signal line in every User-agent group |
| Sitemap | an XML file (urlset or sitemapindex) |
| llms.txt | /llms.txt answering 200 and starting with a # heading |
| Markdown | Accept: text/markdown returns Markdown, and a browser right after still gets HTML |
| Link header | on the home page, a relation api-catalog, service-desc, service-doc or describedby |
We also score, but do not require: an API catalog, an MCP server card with a working server, an agent skills index, an AI catalog, OAuth metadata, WebMCP tools and DNS-AID records.
How the result is computed
- Green badge — every required test passed in two consecutive checks.
- Partly AI-ready — DNSSEC works or the site passes at least 3 of 5 tests; the panel lists what is missing.
- A domain without its own site (only a redirect, say) gets no badge — DNSSEC is checked anyway.
- A result older than 8 days shows no badge. On demand: the Check now button in the panel (once per 10 minutes).
How to meet the criteria
DNSSEC
turn it on following the DNSSEC guide.
robots.txt
add to every group, e.g.
Content-Signal: search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no(ai-trainis your call).llms.txt
a short Markdown file at
/llms.txt: the name, a two-sentence description, a list of the key pages.Markdown for agents
on WordPress it needs a page-cache bypass — browsers must keep getting HTML. We can help set it up.
Link header
e.g.
Link: </llms.txt>; rel="describedby"on the home page.
You can compare the result with the public isitagentready.com scanner.