Open Standard Proposal

Rootz is proposing a new industry standard to make every website readable, verifiable, and trustworthy for AI. The AI Discovery Standard (/.well-known/ai) gives organizations a structured, cryptographically signed endpoint that tells AI agents who you are, what you do, and proves you said it — replacing the guesswork of web scraping with verified first-party data.

The standard is open (CC-BY-4.0), vendor-neutral, and free to implement. We're building the tools, gathering early adopters, and preparing the IANA registration. Join us.

⬇ Download Plugin v2.1.1 Scan Your Site Read the Spec (v1.2)

The AI Discovery Standard

/.well-known/ai

Help AI understand your website — accurately, verifiably, instantly. One JSON file tells every AI agent who you are, what you do, and proves you said it.

Scan Your Site
Read the Standard (v1.2)

The Problem

Your website speaks human. Nothing on it speaks AI.

AI Can't Read Your Site

20-30% of websites are JavaScript SPAs — invisible to AI agents. Even static sites bury information in unstructured HTML that AI must guess at.

AI Hallucinates About You

AI gets organizational information wrong 15-25% of the time. For small businesses, it's over 50%. Wrong products, outdated leadership, fabricated details.

You're Losing Customers

65% of searches are zero-click. 1-2 billion queries/day involve AI. If AI can't accurately represent you, you're invisible to a growing share of customers.

AI Readability Scanner

Enter any URL to see how AI-readable your website is today.

We'll check for /.well-known/ai, JSON-LD, OpenGraph, meta tags, and more.

Scanning site...

F
AI-Invisible
Score: 0/100

    How It Works

    Three tiers of AI-readable data. Start with Discovery, add Knowledge and Feed as you grow.

    1

    Discovery

    /.well-known/ai
    "Who are you?"

    A compact JSON file with your organization's identity, core concepts, and capabilities. The AI equivalent of a business card — one request, and AI knows who you are.

    2

    Knowledge

    /ai/knowledge.json
    "Tell me everything."

    A comprehensive knowledge base: products, team, partnerships, glossary, technology. AI reads one file and understands everything about your organization in 30 seconds.

    3

    Feed

    /ai/feed.json
    "What's new?"

    An AI-optimized update stream. Not RSS — structured entries with key facts and semantic tags. AI stays current without re-crawling your entire site.

    The Signature Layer

    What makes this different from every other standard: cryptographic proof of origin. Each file includes a signature block with a content hash tied to your blockchain Digital Name. AI can not only read what you say about yourself — it can verify that you actually said it.

    Get Started

    Three steps to make your website AI-readable.

    1

    Scan Your Site

    Use the scanner above to see your current AI readability grade. Understand the gap before you fix it.

    2

    Create Your Files

    Use the AI Discovery Generator to create your files, or install the WordPress plugin for automatic setup. Read the full specification for details.

    3

    Deploy & Verify

    Serve your file at /.well-known/ai and re-scan to verify. Add a <link rel="ai-discovery"> tag to your HTML.

    Generate Your ai.json

    Fill in your organization details and we'll generate a ready-to-deploy file.

    Your ai.json

    Deploy in 3 steps:

    1. Save as ai.json in your website root under .well-known/
    2. Serve it at https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/ai with Content-Type: application/json
    3. Add <link rel="ai-discovery" href="/.well-known/ai"> to your HTML <head>

    Ask Your AI to Implement It

    Copy a prompt below and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any AI assistant. Your AI knows your codebase — let it do the work.

    Basic Implementation

    Get a minimal ai.json file deployed in minutes.

    Quick Start
    I want to implement the AI Discovery Standard on my website. Create a file called ai.json with this structure and serve it at /.well-known/ai Required fields: - specVersion: "1.1" - organization.name: [our company name] - organization.domain: [our domain] - organization.description: one sentence about what we do - organization.sector: our industry - capabilities.discovery: true Also add this tag to our HTML <head>: <link rel="ai-discovery" type="application/json" href="/.well-known/ai"> The full spec is at: https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md

    Express / Node.js

    Add the route and file to an Express server.

    Platform
    Add the AI Discovery Standard to my Express/Node.js app. 1. Create a file at ./ai/ai.json with our organization info following spec v1.2 (see https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md) 2. Add this route to serve it: app.get('/.well-known/ai', (req, res) => { res.set('Content-Type', 'application/json'); res.set('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*'); res.set('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=86400'); res.sendFile(resolve('./ai/ai.json')); }); 3. Add the <link rel="ai-discovery"> tag to our HTML templates. Fill in our actual company information in the JSON.

    Next.js / Vercel

    API route + static file for Next.js projects.

    Platform
    Add the AI Discovery Standard to my Next.js app. Option A (App Router): Create app/.well-known/ai/route.ts that returns our ai.json with proper headers (Content-Type: application/json, CORS). Option B (Static): Add the ai.json file to public/.well-known/ai (note: some hosts don't serve dotfiles from public/). The ai.json should follow spec v1.2 with our company info. See: https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md Also add <link rel="ai-discovery" href="/.well-known/ai"> to our layout.tsx head.

    WordPress

    Add AI Discovery via functions.php or a plugin.

    Platform
    Add the AI Discovery Standard to my WordPress site. Add this to my theme's functions.php (or create a simple plugin): 1. Register a rewrite rule for /.well-known/ai 2. Hook into template_redirect to serve the JSON with proper Content-Type and CORS headers 3. Store the ai.json data as a PHP array with our company info 4. Add the <link rel="ai-discovery"> tag via wp_head action The JSON should follow the AI Discovery Standard v1.2 spec: https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md Fill in our actual site name, domain, and description.

    Apache / Nginx (Static)

    Serve ai.json from any static host or CDN.

    Platform
    Help me add the AI Discovery Standard to my static website. 1. Create a .well-known/ai file (or .well-known/ai/index.json) with our organization info per spec v1.2 2. For Apache, add to .htaccess: RewriteRule ^\.well-known/ai$ .well-known/ai.json [L] AddType application/json .json Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*" 3. For Nginx, add to server block: location = /.well-known/ai { alias /path/to/.well-known/ai.json; default_type application/json; add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *; } Spec: https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md

    Add Knowledge Base

    Create a comprehensive knowledge.json for your org.

    Enhance
    I already have /.well-known/ai set up. Now I want to add Tier 2: a knowledge base at /ai/knowledge.json. Review our website content and create a knowledge.json file with: - products: array of our products/services with descriptions - team: key leadership with roles - partnerships: notable partners - glossary: terms specific to our domain - technology: our tech stack or key technologies This lets AI agents learn everything about our organization from one file instead of scraping our whole site. Spec: https://rootz.global/ai/standard.md Also update our ai.json to add "knowledge": true under capabilities and link to the knowledge file.

    Add AI Feed

    Create a structured update stream for AI agents.

    Enhance
    I already have /.well-known/ai set up. Now I want to add Tier 3: an AI-optimized feed at /ai/feed.json. Create a feed.json with our recent news, blog posts, or announcements. Each entry should have: - id: unique identifier - title: entry title - date: ISO 8601 date - summary: 2-3 sentence summary - keyFacts: array of key takeaways - tags: semantic tags for categorization - url: link to full content This is NOT RSS — it's structured for AI consumption with key facts extracted. AI agents can stay current on our news without re-crawling the site. Update our ai.json capabilities to include "feed": true.

    Verify Your Setup

    Check your AI Discovery score and fix any issues.

    Enhance
    I've set up the AI Discovery Standard on my site. Help me verify everything is working correctly. Check these items: 1. Visit /.well-known/ai and confirm it returns valid JSON with Content-Type: application/json 2. Check the HTML for a <link rel="ai-discovery"> tag in the <head> 3. Verify the JSON follows spec v1.2 (has specVersion, organization.name, organization.domain) 4. If I have knowledge.json and feed.json, verify they're linked in capabilities 5. Check that CORS headers allow cross-origin access (Access-Control-Allow-Origin) Then scan my site at https://rootz.global/ai-discovery to see my score. The scanner checks 13 items worth up to 100 points. A score of 70+ is grade B, 90+ is grade A. List any issues found and how to fix them.

    Who's Using It

    Be among the first on the AI-readable web.

    A

    rootz.global

    Reference implementation. Full three-tier architecture with knowledge base, feed, page signing, and blockchain Digital Name signature. Score: 93/95.

    A

    shop.rootz.global

    Shopify store powered by the AI Discovery app. Signed manifests, product catalog, content hashes, and store Digital Name — all generated with one click. Score: 108/120. Learn about the Shopify app →

    B

    inblock.io

    Aqua Protocol — sovereign data ownership through decentralized notarization and verifiable data chains. Score: 65/95. Read their announcement →

    B

    m.miusa.one

    Made in USA One (OTC: USDW) — 22-year certification company. AI Discovery with signed manifest, Veritize integration, and BAM enforcement. Score: 63/95.

    C

    unveiledmuse.studio

    Wedding inspiration platform with honest budget tiers. AI Discovery endpoint with organization data and OpenGraph integration. Score: 45/95.

    F

    a01.verity.one

    Verity One Ltd — Universal Trust Stack powered by TPM, sovereign VID identity, and Odoo 19 ERP Truth-at-Birth integration. Score: 0/95 (endpoint appears offline).

    6 sites on the AI-readable web

    The standard is open (CC-BY-4.0). Any website can implement it today.

    Join the Standard

    Implement /.well-known/ai on your site. Optionally register on-chain to show your support and join the decentralized directory of AI-readable sites.

    Register Your Site On-Chain (Optional)

    The standard is free to implement — no registration required. But if you'd like to show your support, you can register on-chain by sending a small transaction to the AI Discovery registry. This creates a decentralized, permanent list of sites that support the standard.

    Why the fee? The nominal cost reduces spam in the registry and helps fund development of the standard, its tools, and community communications. Think of it as a show of support for an open, AI-readable web.

    0x86670C5C580BbCcf21eBA5EAAebcc3087bb37A19 Click to copy address
    $10
    in ETH or POL
    Polygon Network
    100
    WRvT
    Wrapped Rootz Verified Token

    Your registration is recorded on-chain as a permanent, verifiable commitment to the AI-readable web. Early adopters will be featured in the AI Discovery registry and recognized as founding members of the standard.

    How it works: Send a transaction on Polygon to the address above with your domain (e.g., yoursite.com) in the transaction input data. The registry will verify your /.well-known/ai endpoint is live and add you to the adopter directory.

    Don't have crypto? Contact us and we'll help you get listed.

    Resources

    Standard Specification (v1.2)

    The complete technical specification for implementing AI Discovery on your website.

    WordPress Plugin

    Install the Rootz AI Discovery plugin on any WordPress site. Auto-generates ai.json from your existing content, with signing, scoring, and AI-powered tools.

    AI Discovery Generator

    Generate ai.json files for any website. Enter your URL, review extracted data, enhance with AI, and download ready-to-deploy files.

    Live Example: rootz.global

    See the reference implementation in action. View the actual ai.json file served at /.well-known/ai.

    Blog: The AI-Readable Web

    Why we built this standard and how it works — the founding blog post.

    White Paper

    The full business case: market data, competitive landscape, ROI analysis, and go-to-market strategy.

    Your AI presence is either accurate or hallucinated.

    There is no middle ground. The AI Discovery Standard gives you control.

    Scan Your Site Now