# AI Readiness Deployment Checklist # Example Analytics | exampleanalytics.com # Generated: 2026-06-16 ## Overview Deploy all AI readiness files to the root of your web server (or CDN/S3 bucket if you serve static files). All files must be publicly accessible — no authentication, no redirects. Estimated time to complete: 2–4 hours for a developer familiar with the site's deployment pipeline. --- ## Phase 1: Critical Text Files (Deploy First) These three files have the highest impact on AI system discoverability. Deploy them before anything else. - [ ] Upload `ai.txt` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai.txt` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/ai.txt` should return `200 OK` - Content-Type should be `text/plain` - [ ] Upload `llms.txt` → `https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/llms.txt` should return `200 OK` - Content-Type should be `text/plain` - [ ] Upload `llms-full.txt` → `https://yourdomain.com/llms-full.txt` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/llms-full.txt` should return `200 OK` - Content-Type should be `text/plain` --- ## Phase 2: XML Sitemap - [ ] Upload `ai-sitemap.xml` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai-sitemap.xml` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/ai-sitemap.xml` → `200 OK` - Content-Type should be `application/xml` or `text/xml` - [ ] Upload `sitemap.md` → `https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.md` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.md` → `200 OK` --- ## Phase 3: JSON Data Files - [ ] Upload `ai-entities.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai-entities.json` - [ ] Upload `ai-intent.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai-intent.json` - [ ] Upload `ai-schema.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai-schema.json` - [ ] Upload `rag-index.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/rag-index.json` - [ ] Upload `rag-index.jsonl` → `https://yourdomain.com/rag-index.jsonl` - [ ] Upload `manifest.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/manifest.json` All JSON files should return `Content-Type: application/json`. JSONL file may return `application/json` or `text/plain` — both are acceptable. --- ## Phase 4: Policy Files - [ ] Upload `ai-disclosure.txt` → `https://yourdomain.com/ai-disclosure.txt` - [ ] Upload `training-data-policy.txt` → `https://yourdomain.com/training-data-policy.txt` --- ## Phase 5: Well-Known Directory - [ ] Create directory `.well-known/` at web root if it doesn't exist - [ ] Upload `ai-plugin.json` → `https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/ai-plugin.json` - Verify: `curl -I https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/ai-plugin.json` → `200 OK` - ⚠️ Some web servers block `.well-known/` by default — check your server config For Apache, add to `.htaccess`: ```apache Allow from all ``` For Nginx, add to your server block: ```nginx location /.well-known/ { allow all; } ``` --- ## Phase 6: Developer Reference Files - [ ] Upload `structured-data-guide.md` → `https://yourdomain.com/structured-data-guide.md` - [ ] Upload `deployment-checklist.md` → `https://yourdomain.com/deployment-checklist.md` --- ## Phase 7: Merge robots.txt **Do NOT replace your existing robots.txt.** Instead, add the AI crawler blocks from the reference `robots.txt` file: - [ ] Open `robots.txt` (reference file from this package) - [ ] Copy the AI crawler blocks (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot, FacebookBot, CCBot, cohere-ai, Diffbot) - [ ] Paste them into your LIVE `robots.txt` below your existing `User-agent: *` block - [ ] Add the two Sitemap lines at the bottom of your live robots.txt: ``` Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/ai-sitemap.xml ``` - [ ] Deploy updated robots.txt - [ ] Verify: `curl https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt` — confirm AI crawler blocks appear --- ## Phase 8: Add Structured Data to `` Add JSON-LD to the `` of key pages. Priority order: - [ ] Homepage: Organization + WebSite + SearchAction - [ ] Pricing page: SoftwareApplication + Offers + FAQPage - [ ] Product feature pages: SoftwareApplication + BreadcrumbList - [ ] Blog posts: BlogPosting + BreadcrumbList - [ ] Resource guides: HowTo or Article + BreadcrumbList See `structured-data-guide.md` for complete JSON-LD examples. Validate with: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results --- ## Phase 9: Add `` Tags to `` Add these tags to the `` of ALL pages: ```html ``` This helps AI systems discover the AI readiness files from any page on the site. --- ## Phase 10: Submit to Search Console & Announce - [ ] Submit `ai-sitemap.xml` to Google Search Console - Go to Search Console → Sitemaps → Add sitemap - Enter: `https://yourdomain.com/ai-sitemap.xml` - [ ] Submit `ai-sitemap.xml` to Bing Webmaster Tools - [ ] Announce the AI readiness files on: - Company blog (brief post about AI-readiness and the llmstxt standard) - LinkedIn company page - Twitter/X --- ## Batch Verification Script Run this curl script after deployment to verify all 14 files are live: ```bash #!/bin/bash DOMAIN="https://yourdomain.com" FILES=( "/ai.txt" "/llms.txt" "/llms-full.txt" "/ai-sitemap.xml" "/sitemap.md" "/ai-entities.json" "/ai-intent.json" "/ai-schema.json" "/rag-index.json" "/rag-index.jsonl" "/ai-disclosure.txt" "/training-data-policy.txt" "/.well-known/ai-plugin.json" "/manifest.json" ) for FILE in "${FILES[@]}"; do STATUS=$(curl -o /dev/null -s -w "%{http_code}" "$DOMAIN$FILE") if [ "$STATUS" = "200" ]; then echo "✅ $FILE — $STATUS" else echo "❌ $FILE — $STATUS" fi done ``` All files should return `200`. Fix any that return `404`, `403`, or redirect codes. --- ## Maintenance Schedule | File | Update Trigger | Frequency | |------|---------------|-----------| | `llms.txt` | New pages, new products | Monthly | | `llms-full.txt` | Product changes, pricing updates | Monthly | | `ai-sitemap.xml` | New pages added to site | Monthly | | `rag-index.json` + `.jsonl` | New pages added | Monthly | | `sitemap.md` | New pages added | Monthly | | `ai-entities.json` | Leadership changes, pricing changes | Quarterly | | `ai-intent.json` | New query patterns identified | Quarterly | | `ai-schema.json` | Product/pricing changes | Quarterly | | `.well-known/ai-plugin.json` | New features or key URLs | Quarterly | | `manifest.json` | Any file added or removed | As needed | | `ai.txt` | Policy changes | Quarterly | | `ai-disclosure.txt` | AI tool usage changes | Semi-annually | | `training-data-policy.txt` | Policy changes | Annually | | `structured-data-guide.md` | Schema changes | Annually | | `robots.txt` (merged blocks) | New crawler agents | As needed |