AI Manifests Coverage
stableCategory: ai-signals · Methodology v4.5
Does your site publish AI-specific manifest files that tell AI agents what it can do and how to interact with it programmatically?
Signal Source
- Source
https://{domain}/.well-known/ai/manifest (and homepage HTML, headers)- Kind
- http_response
Score Bands
| Verdict | Condition |
|---|---|
| Pass | 2 or more distinct valid AI manifest sources are detected, OR a .well-known AI manifest path (/.well-known/ai/manifest or /.well-known/ai-plugin.json) is present and non-empty |
| Partial | exactly one valid AI manifest source is detected |
| Fail | no valid AI manifest source is detected in the homepage HTML, headers, or prefetched well-known paths |
Description
What this parameter measures
Does your site publish AI-specific manifest files that tell AI agents what it can do and how to interact with it programmatically? That is what this parameter checks. friendly4AI looks for several discovery paths: a /.well-known/ai/manifest (or .json) file, an /.well-known/ai-plugin.json or /ai-plugin.json, a <link rel="ai-plugin" href="..."> tag in your homepage <head>, and Link: response headers carrying an ai-plugin or ai-manifest relation. A generic /manifest.json counts only when its contents include AI-specific fields such as name_for_model, description_for_model, or schema_version.
Why it matters for AI-readiness
A web page tells a human what you offer. An AI manifest tells an autonomous agent how to use it. Manifests at /.well-known/ai/manifest and ai-plugin.json describe your capabilities, API endpoints, and contact details in a machine-readable form, so AI agents can discover and invoke your services instead of guessing from rendered HTML. Exposing more than one discovery path widens reach: some agents check the well-known directory, others read the <head> link, and a few follow Link: headers. The standard is still emerging, so adopting it now positions your site ahead as agent-driven workflows mature.
How we score it
This AI-Specific Signals parameter is a gradient scored across three tiers under the v4.4 methodology, and the scanner's behaviour matches the published rubric exactly. It passes (100) when two or more distinct valid manifest sources are found, OR when a .well-known AI manifest path is present and non-empty. A single well-known file alone reaches full score. It scores partial (50) when exactly one valid source is detected. It fails (0) when no valid source is found across the HTML, headers, and prefetched well-known paths. A generic /manifest.json is counted as a source only after it passes the AI-specific field check, so an ordinary PWA manifest does not earn credit.
How to fix common issues
- Publish a manifest at
/.well-known/ai/manifestdescribing your capabilities, API endpoints, and contact info — that single well-known file reaches the pass tier on its own. - Add a
<link rel="ai-plugin" href="/.well-known/ai-plugin.json">tag in your homepage<head>to give agents a second discovery path. - Follow the ChatGPT Plugin or MCP specification for the manifest structure; include
name_for_model,description_for_model, andschema_versionso a generic/manifest.jsonis recognized as AI-specific. - Keep the file non-empty and valid JSON — an empty or blank well-known response does not count as a source.
- Re-scan after publishing to confirm the manifest sources are detected.
Version History
- Introduced
- v1
- Last changed
- v4.4
Key takeaways
- Signal: https://{domain}/.well-known/ai/manifest (and homepage HTML, headers)
- Category: AI-Specific Signals
- Passes when: 2 or more distinct valid AI manifest sources are detected, OR a .well-known A…