AI Usage Policy

What this parameter measures

Does your page declare an explicit policy for AI and bot access? friendly4AI scans the page HTML for two kinds of signal. The first is policy-like links: href values containing paths such as /ai-policy, /ai-usage, /ai-terms, /ai-guidelines, /ai-access, /legal/ai, /bot-policy, /crawler-policy, /.well-known/ai-usage-policy, /ai.txt, or /llms.txt. The second is inline policy phrasing such as AI usage policy, AI policy, policy for AI, AI crawling policy, or tdm-reservation. If either is found, the page declares an AI stance. Links marked rel="license" and links under editorial sections (for example /news/, /technology/ai) are excluded to avoid false positives from articles that merely discuss AI.

Why it matters for AI-readiness

An explicit AI usage policy signals intentionality and maturity to AI systems and the operators behind them. A dedicated policy page or a /.well-known/ai-usage-policy, ai.txt, or llms.txt document tells AI agents how your content may be used, which builds trust and reduces ambiguity about automated access. Sites with a clear stance read as deliberate rather than accidental, and that clarity helps AI engines decide how to treat and cite your content.

How we score it

Under the v4.4 methodology, this Crawlability parameter is a binary check with no partial tier. friendly4AI looks for at least one policy signal in the page HTML — a matching policy-like URL or one of the recognized policy phrases. If at least one is present, the parameter passes (100); if none is found, it fails (0). Because the check is pass/fail, the borderline is simple: one qualifying signal flips the result from fail to pass. To keep false positives low, editorial-section links and rel="license" links are filtered out, so a news article about AI does not count as a policy.

How to fix common issues

• Publish a dedicated policy page and link to it from your footer using a recognized path such as /ai-policy, /ai-usage, or /ai-terms.
• Add a machine-readable declaration at /.well-known/ai-usage-policy, /ai.txt, or /llms.txt and link it from the homepage.
• Use clear policy phrasing on the page (for example a heading or link text reading "AI usage policy") so the inline keyword check matches.
• Keep the policy link out of editorial article paths — link it from site chrome (footer/header), not from a /news/ or /technology/ai story.
• Re-scan after publishing to confirm the policy link or phrasing is detected.