Title: FoundByAI — SEO for AI Bots
Author: thenooch
Published: <strong>July 10, 2026</strong>
Last modified: July 10, 2026

---

Search plugins

![](https://ps.w.org/seo-for-ai-bots/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3603410)

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# FoundByAI — SEO for AI Bots

 By [thenooch](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thenooch/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/seo-for-ai-bots.1.1.10.zip)

 * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/#installation)
 * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-for-ai-bots/)

## Description

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity now send real traffic to the sites
they cite — but most WordPress pages are invisible to them. FoundByAI shows you 
exactly what’s holding each page back, then fixes the plumbing for you: it audits
every page for AI readiness, serves clean Markdown to AI crawlers, and builds your
llms.txt automatically.

Built specifically for AI visibility — not bolted onto a legacy SEO plugin. It tracks
20 AI bots, runs a per-page AI audit with concrete fixes, and works alongside Yoast,
Rank Math, and AIOSEO (reading their scores, never fighting them).

#### Who is this for?

 * ✅ **Bloggers & publishers** who want to get quoted when people ask an AI a question
 * ✅ **Store owners** (WooCommerce) who want products discoverable by AI shopping
   assistants
 * ✅ **Marketers & agencies** managing AI visibility across client sites

No code required, and no need to replace the SEO plugin you already use.

#### What FoundByAI does for you

**Content Serving**
 * HTTP Content Negotiation: Automatically serve Markdown when
crawlers request `Accept: text/markdown` * .md URL Endpoints: Visit `/post-slug.
md` to download any post as clean Markdown * Custom Post Type Support: Serve Markdown
for Posts, Pages, or custom post types * WooCommerce Integration: Auto-detects WooCommerce
and displays dedicated settings for product discovery * YAML Frontmatter: Each Markdown
file includes metadata in YAML format

**AI Discovery (llms.txt)**
 * Dual Endpoints: Generate llms.txt at both `/.well-
known/llms.txt` and `/llms.txt` * Auto-Detection: Auto-discover and prioritize by
SEO plugin scores * 3-Tier Prioritization: SEO score > post date > manual pinning
rules * Smart Filtering: Auto-exclude <200 word posts, password-protected, private,
noindex content * 1-Hour Cache: Intelligent caching with smart invalidation * Dynamic
Pin Rules: Boost posts by tag, category, or manual selection

**Dynamic Bot Management**
 * 20 Curated Bots: GPTBot, Claude-Web, PerplexityBot,
Google-Extended, Cohere, Meta AI, ByteDance, and more * Enable/Disable Controls:
Manage which bots to track and serve * Extensibility Filter: Register custom bots
with `sfab_register_bots`

**SEO Plugin Integration**
 * Auto-Detect: Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All In One SEO *
Score Reading: Use SEO scores for llms.txt prioritization * Noindex Respect: Respect
SEO plugin’s noindex settings * Manual Override: Force specific plugin for edge 
cases

**Advanced Controls**
 * Per-Post Discovery: Include/exclude individual posts from
llms.txt * Word Count Threshold: Filter posts by minimum word count * ACF Field 
Support (Optional): Include custom fields in Markdown frontmatter * Bot Tracking:
Monitor which AI crawlers visit your content * Logs Dashboard: View and analyze 
bot visit history

**Admin UI**
 * 5-Tab Settings: Detection, Content, Discovery, Bots, Advanced * 
llms.txt Preview: See generated discovery file in admin * Pin Rules Manager: Add/
remove tag, category, and post-specific boosts * Responsive Design: Works on desktop
and mobile

#### How It Works

 1. **AI crawlers discover** your Markdown endpoints via `rel="alternate"` links
 2. **They request** your content with `Accept: text/markdown` or visit `.md` URLs
 3. **Plugin serves** clean Markdown + YAML frontmatter
 4. **Discovery file** (llms.txt) lists your best posts in priority order
 5. **Analytics** track which AI crawlers visit and how they engage
 6. **SEO stays intact** – no interference with your SEO plugin

#### Strategic Positioning

This plugin is a **specialist tool**, not a competitor to SEO plugins:
 * ✅ Owns:
Markdown serving, AI crawler discovery, llms.txt generation, AI bot analytics * 
✅ Complements: Yoast, Rank Math, All In One SEO (reads their scores, respects their
rules) * ✅ Smart robots.txt: Auto-injects llms.txt rules when safe, shows manual
instructions otherwise * ✅ Stays out of: XML sitemaps, core SEO meta tags

#### Why optimize for AI at all?

AI language models need clean, structured content. Instead of parsing messy HTML
filled with navigation, ads, and scripts, they prefer semantic Markdown. By offering
this format, you:

 * Improve AI understanding of your content
 * Increase likelihood of being cited or referenced by AI tools
 * Attract GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Perplexity, and other AI crawlers
 * Maintain full control over content distribution
 * Boost visibility to AI applications

#### Compatibility

✅ Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All In One SEO (full integration)
 ✅ WooCommerce (dedicated
product discovery settings) ✅ Advanced Custom Fields (optional ACF field support)
✅ All custom post types ✅ WordPress 5.0+ and PHP 7.4+ ✅ No external dependencies,
single-file plugin

#### Test It

After activation, test your setup:

 1. Visit SEO for AI Bots > Settings
 2. View any tab to verify configuration
 3. Visit your site’s `/llms.txt` endpoint
 4. Visit any post with `.md` extension: `yoursite.com/your-post.md`
 5. View bot visits in SEO for AI Bots > Bot Visits Log

### External Services

This plugin optionally connects to the following external services. All connections
are initiated by user action or explicitly opt-in — the core plugin functions entirely
offline.

#### 1. SEO for AI Bots Proxy (seoforaibots.com)

 * **What it does:** Powers WAF/firewall bot access checks and AI search visibility
   checks (Pro), and receives anonymized usage telemetry if you opt in.
 * **Data sent:** Site URL (for visibility checks), anonymized site hash (not your
   URL), plugin version. Telemetry is never sent unless you explicitly enable it.
 * **When:** Visibility and firewall checks only when you click the relevant “Check”
   button. Telemetry weekly only if you opt in under Settings > Privacy (off by 
   default). The plugin does not fetch configuration or contact this server on its
   own.
 * **Terms of Service:** https://seoforaibots.com/terms-of-service/
 * **Privacy Policy:** https://seoforaibots.com/privacy-policy/

#### 2. Google Search Console API (googleapis.com) — Pro, opt-in

 * **What it does:** Retrieves your site’s search performance data to power the 
   AI Coverage Gap dashboard (shows pages with Google traffic but no AI bot visits).
 * **Data sent:** OAuth access token for authentication; your site’s GSC property
   URL to filter results.
 * **When:** Only when you connect GSC via the API Keys tab (one-click OAuth flow)
   and visit the AI Coverage Gap dashboard. No data is sent until you initiate the
   connection.
 * **Terms of Service:** https://policies.google.com/terms
 * **Privacy Policy:** https://policies.google.com/privacy

#### 3. Wikipedia API (en.wikipedia.org) — on-demand

 * **What it does:** Checks whether your brand has a Wikipedia article, shown as
   an advisory in the AI Readiness dashboard.
 * **Data sent:** Your brand name (from plugin settings).
 * **When:** Only when you view the AI Readiness dashboard with a brand name configured.
   Results are cached for 24 hours.
 * **Terms of Use:** https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use
 * **Privacy Policy:** https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy

### Support

For issues, feature requests, or bug reports, please use the WordPress.org support
forum or visit:
 https://seoforaibots.com

### Translations

This plugin is ready for translation. Contribute at:
 https://translate.wordpress.
org/projects/wp-plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/

### Additional Resources

 * [Dries Buytaert’s “The Third Audience”](https://dri.es/the-third-audience) – 
   The concept behind this plugin
 * [llms.txt Standard](https://llmstxt.com/) – AI-Friendly Discovery Format
 * [Content Negotiation (MDN)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Content_negotiation)
 * [GPTBot Documentation](https://platform.openai.com/docs/gptbot)
 * [Markdown Guide](https://www.markdownguide.org/)
 * [Yoast SEO](https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/)
 * [Rank Math](https://rankmath.com/)
 * [All In One SEO](https://aioseo.com/)

## Installation

 1. Download the plugin
 2. Go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
 3. Select `seo-for-ai-bots.zip` and Install
 4. Activate Plugin
 5. Go to SEO for AI Bots > Settings to configure

#### Manual Installation

 1. Upload `seo-for-ai-bots` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`
 2. Activate through the Plugins menu
 3. Configure in SEO for AI Bots

## FAQ

### What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a simple, standardized index file (like robots.txt, but for AI) that
tells large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity which pages 
on your site matter most and how to read them. FoundByAI generates and maintains
yours automatically, in priority order.

### Which AI bots does FoundByAI detect?

FoundByAI tracks 20 bots out of the box — including GPTBot and ChatGPT-User (OpenAI),
ClaudeBot and Claude-Web (Anthropic), PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Applebot, 
Meta AI, ByteDance, Cohere, xAI Grok, and more. You can enable or disable any of
them, and register your own with a simple filter.

### How do I enable llms.txt?

llms.txt is enabled by default after activation. Visit SEO for AI Bots > Discovery
to:
 * Preview your llms.txt file * Add pinning rules (boost posts by tag, category,
or ID) * View posts that will be included

### Can I control which posts appear in llms.txt?

Yes, three ways:
 1. **Global threshold**: Settings > Content sets minimum word 
count (default 200) 2. **Per-post checkbox**: Edit any post to include/exclude from
llms.txt 3. **Pinning rules**: Settings > Discovery to boost specific posts or categories

### What’s the difference between .md URLs and llms.txt?

 * **/.md URLs** (e.g., `/my-post.md`): Individual post downloads in Markdown format
 * **/llms.txt**: Directory file listing your best posts for AI crawler discovery

### How does prioritization work?

3-tier system:
 1. **SEO Score** (0-1000 points): From your SEO plugin (Yoast, Rank
Math, etc.) 2. **Post Date** (0-100 points): Newer posts get higher score, decays
over 1 year 3. **Manual Pins** (highest): Boost specific posts or categories

### Will it slow down my site?

No. Processing only happens for:
 * Markdown requests (visitors requesting .md files
or Markdown content type) * llms.txt generation (cached for 1 hour) * Regular page
loads are unaffected

### Do I need an SEO plugin?

No. The plugin works standalone. With an SEO plugin, it reads scores for smarter
prioritization. Without one, it uses post dates and manual pinning rules.

### What if my SEO plugin isn’t detected?

Go to Settings > Detection and manually select your plugin from the dropdown. This
is rarely needed.

### Can I add custom AI bots?

Yes, use the filter: `sfab_register_bots`

Example:
 `php add_filter( 'sfab_register_bots', function( $bots ) { $bots[] = array('
pattern' => 'MyCustomBot', 'name' => 'My Custom AI Bot', 'enabled' => true, 'custom'
=> true, ); return $bots; } );

### Does it work with ACF (Advanced Custom Fields)?

Yes! If ACF is installed, go to Settings > Content to select which ACF fields to
include in Markdown frontmatter.

### How do I test Markdown output?

Method 1: Visit any post with `.md`:
 `yoursite.com/my-post.md`

Method 2: Use curl:
 `curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://yoursite.com/my-post/`

Method 3: Check llms.txt at:
 `yoursite.com/llms.txt`

### Can I customize llms.txt format?

Use the filter: `sfab_llms_posts` to modify the posts list before generation.

### How many logs does it keep?

Currently keeps last 500 bot visits with rolling expiration. Logs older than 14 
days are auto-removed.

### Is there multisite support?

Not in v2.0. Each site needs the plugin configured separately.

### Does this plugin collect any data?

**Anonymous Telemetry (Opt-in, Disabled by Default)**

The plugin includes optional anonymous telemetry. When you enable it in Settings
> Privacy:

 * **Collected:** Anonymized site hash (not your URL), plugin version, active SEO
   plugin name, active FAQ plugin names, and aggregated bot visit counts (7-day 
   totals)
 * **NOT collected:** Your site URL, page content, personal data, or user information
 * **Frequency:** Sent weekly to our analytics endpoint (Google Apps Script)
 * **Purpose:** Helps us understand which plugins to prioritize for compatibility
 * **Control:** Enable/disable anytime in Settings > Privacy

**Bot Visit Logging (Local Only)**

The Bot Activity feature stores visit data locally in your WordPress database:

 * **Stored:** Timestamp, page visited, bot name, user agent, IP address, request
   type
 * **Purpose:** Analytics to show which AI bots visit your content
 * **Retention:** Last 500 visits, auto-deleted after 14 days
 * **Location:** Your database only – never sent externally
 * **GDPR Note:** Bot IPs are typically datacenter IPs, not personal. If you prefer
   not to store IPs, you can disable bot tracking in Settings.

### Does the plugin connect to external services?

The core plugin works entirely offline. Optional features that connect externally—
see the “External Services” section below for full details on each service, what
data is sent, and links to their terms and privacy policies.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“FoundByAI — SEO for AI Bots” is open source software. The following people have
contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ thenooch ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thenooch/)

[Translate “FoundByAI — SEO for AI Bots” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/seo-for-ai-bots)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/seo-for-ai-bots/), 
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/seo-for-ai-bots/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/seo-for-ai-bots/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/seo-for-ai-bots/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.1.10 – 2026-06-22

 * Privacy: Removed all automatic background calls to our server. The plugin no 
   longer fetches remote configuration or bot definitions on a schedule — bot definitions
   ship with the plugin and update with each release. Nothing is sent off-site unless
   you explicitly opt in to telemetry.
 * Security: Custom JSON-LD entered per post is now decoded and re-encoded (sanitized)
   before it is stored, rather than saving the raw input.
 * Security: Speakable schema output no longer uses JSON flags that could weaken
   escaping inside the script tag.
 * Housekeeping: Removed the legacy daily config-refresh cron from existing installs.

#### 1.1.9 – 2026-06-14

 * Free: Content refactoring suggestions are now available to everyone — actionable
   structural tips to make each page more AI-friendly
 * Free: Per-post AI context and custom JSON-LD schema fields
 * Free: Per-post content handler controls (summarize / extract / remove how AI 
   bots see specific content)
 * Free: WooCommerce and custom post type support, plus ACF field inclusion
 * Free: All llms.txt power controls — custom intro text, cache duration, pinning/
   priority rules, taxonomy filtering, per-type post limits, and override mode
 * Free: llms-full.txt endpoint (full-content export per the llmstxt.org spec)
 * Free: Extended 90-day bot activity history, Insights tab, and bot management 
   tab
 * Free: Wikipedia brand-presence advisory and the full AI Readiness dashboard
 * Fix: AI Readiness page could fail to load all pages due to an internal error —
   now lists every page correctly
 * Note: Pro now focuses on the features that rely on external AI/data services —
   AI Search Simulator, Competitor Intelligence, AI Coverage Gap (Google Search 
   Console), and the firewall bot-access check

#### 1.1.8 – 2026-05-05

 * New: AI Coverage Gap dashboard (Pro) — connect Google Search Console to see pages
   with high Google impressions but zero AI bot visits, with HIGH/MED/LOW gap scoring
 * New: API Keys tab in Configuration — centralizes AI Simulator API keys and GSC
   OAuth connection in one place
 * New: Google Search Console OAuth integration via proxy relay — client secret 
   stays server-side, one-click connect flow

#### 1.1.7 – 2026-05-05

 * Fix: Rank Math, Yoast, and AIOSEO compatibility — no longer outputs duplicate
   OG tags or Article JSON-LD when a major SEO plugin is active
 * Fix: llms-full.txt rules removed from robots.txt copy-paste block and auto-inject
   for free users (that URL returns a Pro-only error page)
 * Fix: Plugin no longer intercepts /llms.txt when Rank Math, Yoast, or AIOSEO is
   active — SEO plugin owns that URL
 * Fix: /.well-known/llms.txt now proxies the active SEO plugin’s /llms.txt content
   instead of serving a duplicate
 * Fix: Plugin activation no longer hard-flushes .htaccess rewrite rules, preventing
   conflicts with other plugins’ rewrite rules
 * New: AI discovery meta tags (llms-txt, ai-sitemap) now output on every page, 
   not just singular posts
 * New: robots.txt health checks panel in AI Readiness dashboard — 5 checks including
   well-known/llms.txt accessibility, AI crawler rules, and Sitemap redirect detection
 * Fix: Inline JSON-LD validator in meta box now uses wp_add_inline_script() instead
   of a raw script tag
 * Fix: AI Readiness filter parameters (search, status, type, sort) now require 
   a valid nonce — prevents unauthorized filtering
 * Fix: Competitor Intelligence page GET parameters now require a valid nonce
 * Fix: Referral tracker AJAX handler now verifies a nonce before processing POST
   data
 * Fix: JSON-LD schema output uses wp_json_encode() without flags that could bypass
   WordPress escaping rules
 * Fix: Database visit log query now passes LIMIT and OFFSET through wpdb::prepare()
   placeholders

#### 1.1.6 – 2026-03-19

 * Fix: Fatal error on Pages/Posts list — sfab_render_markdown_column used bare 
   constant instead of string

#### 1.1.5 – 2026-03-10

 * Fix: AI Checklist meta description check now correctly detects Rank Math descriptions(
   including auto-generated from excerpt)
 * Fix: Bottom panel meta box now shows a “Refresh” notice after saving in Gutenberg
   so scores stay current
 * Fix: SEO Score check now shows your actual score (e.g. “14/100 via Rank Math”)
   alongside the fix recommendation

#### 1.1.4 – 2026-03-09

 * Fix: Fatal error in wp-admin — analytics-pages.php now loads before ai-readiness.
   php so ai_markdown_server_get_analytics_cache() is always defined

#### 1.1.3 – 2026-03-05

 * Fix: Fatal error on frontend pages — moved remote config functions to core-functions.
   php so they’re always available, not just on admin pages
 * Added error notification system: plugin emails the site admin on critical errors
   with rate-limiting (max once per hour per error type); falls back gracefully 
   instead of crashing

#### 1.1.2 – 2026-03-04

 * Internal build fix: resolved premium package deployment issue

#### 1.1.1 – 2026-03-04

 * Improved AI Readiness page: rewrote help accordion sections in plain English 
   with friendlier tone
 * Redesigned help cards to match site visual style (warm palette, serif headers,
   no colored borders)
 * Added ? trigger buttons on table headers to expand relevant help sections
 * Improved Sitemap tab: added help note explaining how to exclude pages from AI
   Markdown Sitemap; added smart link to active SEO plugin’s sitemap settings
 * Updated per-post checkbox label to “Include in AI discovery (llms.txt & ai-sitemap)”
 * Fixed h3 font size across admin pages (1.4rem)

#### 1.1.0 – 2026-03-02

 * Improved empty state UI: replaced emoji with custom robot logo on Bot Activity
   pages
 * Added dismissable helpful notice on AI Readiness page explaining that low-scoring
   pages may be intentional (login, password reset, dashboard pages) with suggestion
   to use noindex

#### 1.0.3 – 2026-02-05

 * Added Rule Analysis tools for Custom Handlers (Pro): Find Conflicts, Find Overlaps,
   Consolidate Rules
 * Improved rule management with automatic detection of duplicate and conflicting
   patterns

#### 1.0.2 – 2026-02-04

 * Improved Freemius uninstall integration for better user feedback tracking

#### 1.0.1 – 2026-02-04

 * Improved internationalization with proper translator comments
 * Code quality improvements for WordPress.org compliance
 * Updated to WordPress 6.9 compatibility

#### 1.0.0 – 2026-02-04

Initial public release.

**Content Serving**
 * Serve clean Markdown to AI crawlers via HTTP Content Negotiation*.
md URL endpoints for any post (e.g., /your-post.md) * YAML frontmatter with metadata*
Custom post type support * WooCommerce product integration

**AI Discovery (llms.txt)**
 * Dual endpoints at /.well-known/llms.txt and /llms.
txt * llms-full.txt comprehensive variant * 3-tier prioritization (SEO score > date
> manual pins) * Smart filtering (word count, noindex, private content) * Pin rules
for tags, categories, and specific posts

**Bot Management**
 * 18+ curated AI bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Perplexity, etc.) *
Enable/disable individual bots * Bot visit analytics dashboard * Unknown bot tracking*
Bot blocking via .htaccess

**SEO Plugin Integration**
 * Auto-detect Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All In One SEO *
Read SEO scores for prioritization * Respect noindex settings

**Content Analysis**
 * AI Readiness scoring * Image alt text checker * Content 
structure analysis * Citation potential calculator * Competitor llms.txt analysis

**Universal Content Handler**
 * Extract content from 20+ plugins (WPForms, Gravity
Forms, Elementor, etc.) * Custom extraction rules with CSS/XPath selectors * FAQ
pattern detection

**Additional Features**
 * Onboarding wizard with site scan * AI Search Simulator
to check visibility * AI referral tracking * Content freshness alerts * Per-post
AI context customization * Extensibility filters for developers * Optional anonymous
telemetry (disabled by default)

## Meta

 *  Version **1.1.10**
 *  Last updated **2 days ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 5.6 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **7.0.1**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 * Tags
 * [AI](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/ai/)[ChatGPT](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/chatgpt/)
   [llms](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/llms/)[markdown](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/markdown/)
   [seo](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-for-ai-bots/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-for-ai-bots/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-for-ai-bots/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ thenooch ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thenooch/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-for-ai-bots/)

## Donate

Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?

 [ Donate to this plugin ](https://venmo.com/u/Daniel-Neumann-7)