AI won't recommend a page it can't open.

Stride checks whether the bots behind AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews can get into your site and read it, then shows you what to change.

Free audit: no account, no card, about two minutes.

Start your free 7-day trialCard required. Cancel before day 7 and pay nothing.

AI readinesspinecrestoutdoor.comSample data

5 checks need attention, concentrated in Content and Bot Access Control.

BlockedChatGPT

Score 80·8/13 checks

0 passing·0 to fix

100Discoverability5/5 checks
70Content2/5 checks
50Bot Access Control0/2 checks
100Technical groundwork1/1 checks

— The locked door

Your site looks fine to people.AI's bots get turned away.

A shopper asks ChatGPT for a two-person tent under $300. Pinecrest Outdoor sells three, but one line in a settings file on its site (robots.txt) blocks ChatGPT's search bot, so ChatGPT can't read its pages, and the answer names Ridgeline Gear instead. Nobody at Pinecrest sees it happen.

— How Stride solves it

Check the door, fix it, check again.

Step 1: Scan your site

See what AI bots are allowed to read

Blocking answer bots costs you answers. Blocking training bots doesn't.

Answer bots fetch your pages when someone asks ChatGPT a question. Training bots collect pages to train future models, and blocking them is fine. One scan shows which ones get in.

Readiness areasBot Access Control0/2 checksSample data

Answer bots

ChatGPTOAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-UserBlocked
PerplexityPerplexityBot, Perplexity-UserAllowed
ClaudeClaude-SearchBot, Claude-UserAllowed
Google AI OverviewsGooglebotAllowed

Training bots

Blocking these is a legitimate choice. It keeps your pages out of model training and doesn’t stop answers.

Step 2: Fix the gaps

Every gap says what to change

Which bot, which line, what to change.

Every plan sees the exact change to make. On Grow and up, Fix this puts it on your task list in Actions.

5 fixable gapsReview in ActionsSample data

Issue

Blocked for ChatGPT. Allow their retrieval bots so those engines can cite you.

How to implement

Allow answer-engine retrieval crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot, Googlebot) in robots.txt so ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and AI Overviews can cite you. Training bots like GPTBot are a separate policy choice.

Step 3: Check again

Refresh the scan once the fix is live

One fix took Pinecrest from 80 to 86.

Each passing check raises your score, and at 85 you reach Agent Ready. Refresh weekly on Starter, every two days on Grow, daily on Scale.

AI readinessSample data

Level 3AI StructuredScore 80·8/13 checks

8 passing·5 to fix

Answer-engine crawlers allowedReview

Blocked for ChatGPT. Allow their retrieval bots so those engines can cite you.

BlockedChatGPT

Bots can get in. Now see if AI names you.

The free audit asks ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini up to 20 questions about your business and shows who they name.

Run your free auditFree audit: no account, no card, about two minutes.

Start your free 7-day trialCard required. Cancel before day 7 and pay nothing.

Questions, answered.

Is the AI readiness check on every plan?

Yes. Every plan can run the scan and see each gap with the fix. Opening a gap as a guided task in Actions starts on Grow. You can refresh the scan once a week on Starter, every two days on Grow, and daily on Scale.

What does the AI readiness scan check?

Your robots.txt, sitemap and homepage; your homepage title, meta description and headings; whether your main content is in the page or only loads with JavaScript; whether the crawlers behind ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews are allowed; and whether you publish llms.txt or agents.md. It doesn't audit structured data or schema.

Should I block AI training bots like GPTBot?

That's your call. Blocking training bots keeps your pages out of model training and doesn't stop answers, so Stride doesn't count it against you. It flags blocked answer bots, such as OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT. Google AI Overviews reads your site through Googlebot.

If robots.txt allows AI bots, can they always read my site?

Not always. A firewall or CDN rule, such as a Cloudflare bot setting, can still turn a bot away, and a scan from outside can't see that. Crawler logs, in beta on Scale, show which AI bots actually reached your pages.

Will Stride change my robots.txt or add an llms.txt file?

No. Stride shows what's wrong and exactly what to change. You or your developer make the change, then refresh the scan to confirm the check passes.