Kettering, UK, 23 December 2025 : A UK hosting provider has released what appears to be the first free diagnostic tool that tells you whether your website has done anything at all to prepare for AI-powered search. Nearly 200,000 sites worldwide are scrambling to make themselves visible to ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity, and most have no way of knowing if they've succeeded.
365i's AI Site Identity Tool went live on 22 December with zero login requirements. Founder Mark McNeece describes it as filling "the gap nobody's measuring" : businesses know AI visibility matters, but they've had no way to check whether they've actually done something about it.
The tool checks for llms.txt files and related AI identity signals. According to BuiltWith's December 2025 data, 193,522 live websites now use llms.txt. And yet, not a single major AI platform has officially committed to supporting the standard.
"Most websites haven't even checked whether AI can understand who they are. This tool answers that question in seconds."
Mark McNeece, Founder, 365i
The timing matters. MarkTechPost reports 8.4 billion voice assistants are active globally, more than one per person on Earth. McKinsey data shows 78% of organisations now deploy AI in at least one business function. The shift from experimental to mainstream happened faster than most website owners anticipated.
194,000 Adopters, Zero Platform Commitments
At the centre of AI visibility sits llms.txt, a markdown-based standard proposed by Australian developer Jeremy Howard on 3 September 2024. The format helps AI systems parse website identity without interpreting complex HTML.
Adoption has been rapid among technical communities. BuiltWith tracks 193,522 live implementations, including companies like Anthropic, Cloudflare, and Stripe.
The uncomfortable reality? Not one major AI platform has officially committed to using these files.
"Google doesn't support LLMs.txt and isn't planning to. Normal SEO practices are sufficient for ranking in AI Overviews."
Gary Illyes, Google Search Central Deep Dive, July 2025 (via llms-txt.io)
I remember reading that and thinking Gary had a point, but he was also missing the bigger picture. Google might not need llms.txt because they already crawl and index your HTML. But ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity? They don't have that luxury. They're parsing your site in real time with a fraction of the context Google has built over two decades. For those systems, structured identity files aren't a nice-to-have. They're the difference between getting mentioned and getting ignored.
Multiple publishers with large domain portfolios confirmed no mainstream AI agents download llms.txt files, "only niche crawlers like BuiltWith," according to the same July report.
This creates a market paradox. Hundreds of thousands of websites have implemented a standard that major platforms may never officially support. But the underlying problem persists: AI systems need structured identity signals, whether through llms.txt or something else.
What the Tool Actually Checks
The diagnostic takes a deliberately narrow approach. Unlike SEO audits or content analysis platforms, it checks only for the presence of AI-facing signals.
What it doesn't do: crawl your site, read content, analyse keywords, examine backlinks, assess architecture, or store data beyond the diagnostic report.
What it does: verify llms.txt and related files exist, confirm they're accessible, detect structured identity signals, and provide an instant binary diagnostic.
"We're not judging quality or guaranteeing visibility," McNeece explained. "We're answering one question: have you built an AI-facing identity at all? Most businesses don't know."
The tool processes requests in under three seconds. No account creation. No email capture. Enter domain, click check, get your answer.
Why December 2025 Matters
ChatGPT processes 2.5 billion prompts daily with 800 million weekly active users. Google's AI Overviews appear in standard search results. Nearly 40% of Americans use at least one AI chatbot monthly.
AI-powered search isn't experimental any more. It's infrastructure. It's reshaping how businesses get found.
But there's a critical information gap. Businesses know AI visibility matters. They've heard about llms.txt, ai.txt, brand.txt, structured data. What they don't have is a simple way to check whether any of those things are actually working on their site.
"The gap between knowing it matters and knowing what you've actually done became impossible to ignore," McNeece said. "People needed a binary answer: basics present, or not?"
365i has published detailed implementation guides throughout 2025. The confusion is widespread. Detailed guides help. But sometimes you just need to know: did I do this or not?
Who Needs AI Site Identity
AI site identity operates alongside traditional SEO and marketing. It's complementary, not competitive.
SEO ranks sites in search results for humans. Marketing persuades humans to choose you. AI site identity helps AI systems understand and confidently reference your business when answering real-time questions.
You can rank first on Google and still be invisible in AI-generated responses if identity signals are absent or unclear.
The tool serves specific groups:
- Business owners hearing "AI visibility" everywhere but lacking any way to check their own readiness
- Developers who've optimised performance and SEO without touching AI identity infrastructure
- Agencies managing multiple client sites and needing rapid assessments
- Founders noticing competitors appearing in AI recommendations while they don't
- WordPress site owners looking to optimise for AI search and citations
- Anyone who's queried ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity about their own business and got vague, incorrect, or empty responses
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Get the Plugin →"The tool doesn't promise visibility," McNeece said. "It removes one common reason AI systems hesitate or hallucinate: you never properly introduced yourself."
Organic Traction Signals Demand
Within hours of the 22 December launch, organic traffic started arriving.
No paid advertising. No influencer campaigns. No press releases. Just organic discovery from users searching "AI site identity," "llms.txt checker," "ChatGPT visibility tool," and related queries.
"The simplicity seems to resonate," McNeece observed. "No login wall. No email capture pretending to be free. Enter domain, click check, get answer. When you solve an actual problem without adding friction, people notice."
The immediate response suggests real latent demand for AI readiness diagnostics, a market need that wasn't being addressed.
365i's Own Test Results
Before the public launch, 365i ran the diagnostic against its own infrastructure.
The 365i.co.uk domain scored well on foundational signals. llms.txt, llms-full.txt, and structured identity files have been live since mid-2025, partly driven by the company's ongoing coverage of Google's testing of llms.txt and AI Mode.
Even with deliberate preparation, the checker flagged minor inconsistencies. Anchor links needing refinement. Schema markup that could be tighter. Small details that matter when AI systems parse sites in milliseconds.
"That internal testing informed how the tool presents results," McNeece explained. "Clear enough to be actionable, detailed enough to be useful, but not so granular it overwhelms."
365i's managed WordPress hosting platform reliably delivers strong real-world performance, with Time to First Byte typically under 200ms and Largest Contentful Paint consistently under 1.2 seconds. Sites built and tuned on the platform routinely score 100/100 mobile PageSpeed across Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. Speed matters here: faster sites give AI crawlers less reason to skip you.
The Visibility Shift Nobody's Talking About
Here's the uncomfortable part.
AI-powered search is reshaping business discovery right now. Google's AI Overviews. ChatGPT's Browse mode. Perplexity's citations. Voice search through LLMs processing billions of daily queries.
UK small businesses are already invisible to ChatGPT, and generative engine optimisation is becoming as important as traditional SEO. Yet most websites, including successful, profitable ones, have done nothing to prepare.
Not because they're lazy. Because nobody's been checking whether the basics are in place.
The AI Site Identity Tool exists to answer that question. Not to sell you something. Not to panic you into action. Just to provide a clear diagnostic: are foundational AI identity signals present or not?
What you do with that information is entirely up to you.
Try It
AI search isn't coming. It's here. And it doesn't work like Google ever did.
Instead of ten blue links, AI tools now decide who to mention, what to trust, and whether your site even exists in their answers. Most websites have no idea how they look to AI systems.
The AI Site Identity Tool doesn't crawl your content, judge your copy, or try to be clever. It checks whether the basic AI identity signals are there at all. The stuff every site should have, but most don't.
Enter your domain. Click check. See what AI can (and can't) understand about your site.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does the AI Site Identity Tool check?
It checks for the presence of foundational AI-facing signals and files that help AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini, and Perplexity understand your business identity. It doesn't crawl your content or judge quality. It simply detects whether you've built basic AI identity infrastructure at all.
Is the AI Site Identity Tool really free?
Yes. It's entirely free with no login required, no account creation, and no email capture. Enter a domain, click check, get a diagnostic report. No hidden paywall or upgrade upsell.
How is AI site identity different from SEO?
SEO helps your site rank in search engine results for humans to find. AI site identity helps AI systems understand and confidently reference your business when answering questions in real time. You can rank perfectly well in Google and still be invisible in AI-generated responses if your AI identity signals are missing.
Does the tool crawl my entire website?
No. It doesn't crawl your site, read your content, or analyse your pages. It checks for specific publicly accessible files and signals that AI systems use to understand website identity. Think of it as a diagnostic, not an audit.
Why was this tool launched in December 2025?
By late 2025, AI-powered search through ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity had gone mainstream, but most websites still hadn't implemented basic AI identity signals. The gap between "AI visibility matters" and "have I actually done anything about it" became impossible to ignore.
What should I do if my site fails the check?
Failing means your website hasn't yet defined a clear AI-facing identity, which describes most sites right now. You can implement the signals yourself using available guides, use 365i's done-for-you service, or simply decide it's not a priority yet. No pressure either way.
Will this tool guarantee my site shows up in AI responses?
No. Nobody can guarantee that. The tool identifies whether you've built the foundational infrastructure that helps AI systems understand and reference you correctly. It removes one common reason AI hesitates or hallucinates: the lack of clear identity signals.
Who built the AI Site Identity Tool?
365i, a UK-based WordPress hosting provider established in 2001 and headquartered in Kettering, Northamptonshire. 365i has been publishing detailed guides on AI optimisation for WordPress sites throughout 2025 and tested the tool on their own infrastructure before public launch.
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Published: · Last reviewed: · Written by: Mark McNeece, Founder & Managing Director, 365i
Editorially reviewed by: Mark McNeece on · Our editorial standards
