US Cities (Top 1,000)
cities-1000
The 1,000 most populous US cities.
Median score
28
across 974 sites
Middle half
28–33
spread around the median
Full range
28–65
lowest to highest
Gated
926 of 974
block AI crawlers outright
Middle of 14 cohorts. All cohorts 50 · best cohort 58.
Where this list came from
The source, and how we filtered it
| Source | The 1,000 most populous US cities, Census Vintage 2025, US Census Bureau, with CISA and Wikidata (2025-vintage) |
|---|---|
| License | No restriction on the combined list. The roster is a work of the US federal government and carries no copyright, the CISA .gov registry is public domain, and Wikidata is CC0 1.0 Universal; the cohort goes out under the Census's CC BY-SA 4.0 like the rest. |
| How we filtered it | The roster is the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates (sub-est2025.csv) with SUMLEV 162, 19,483 incorporated places, sorted by POPESTIMATE2025 and cut at 1,000. The cutoff is a population of 41,319 (Friendswood, Texas), because the top thousand is not reproducible and a threshold is. Each city's address came from the CISA .gov registry, then Wikidata (P856, joined on the place FIPS code in P774), and 19 were resolved by hand and confirmed by loading the site. |
| Built | 2026-10-11 |
The filtering is ours and is disclosed as ours. The source published a list; the decision about which rows of it belong in a cohort was a judgment call, and it is written down so somebody can disagree with it.
Distribution
Where the 974 sites land
| Grade | Share of the cohort | Sites | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not ready | 887 | 91.1% | |
| Weak | 80 | 8.2% | |
| Adequate | 7 | 0.7% |
By dimension
What the cohort earns, dimension by dimension
The mean share of each dimension’s available points that this cohort earned. Low here means the whole sector is weak on it, not that one site dragged an average down. The per-site spread is in the dataset.
| Dimension | Mean share earned | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| #1 · Reach
These parameters determine the fundamental ease of access that AI has to your site information. |
46% | |
| #2 · Read
AI generally turns off JavaScript. Does your site information survive without it? |
22% | |
| #3 · Understand
Does a machine know who and what you are? |
19% | |
| #4 · Act
Sitemaps, redirects, 404s, licensing terms, and not wasting the crawl budget. |
72% |
How much of each site we read
The cap is 32 URLs and it is a ceiling, not a promise. A portal whose every link points at a different host yields one page; a university yields the full sample. The median here is 1, the range 1–32, published so that "we sampled 32 URLs per site" cannot become a claim the data does not support.
4 sites in this cohort served a certificate we could not verify. They were read anyway and scored normally, because reporting no response for a site every browser loads would describe our TLS stack rather than the site, and each one carries the finding in its row.
Where this cohort fails
14 tests almost nobody in this cohort passes
Universal — nobody passes these
| Test | What it asks | Failing | Of | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXT-11 | Have you marked the part of a page that answers a spoken question? | 974 | 0 | |
| EXT-12 | Do you tell search engines the moment a page changes? | 974 | 0 | |
| EXT-14 | Does your site offer its actions to AI browsers as tools? | 713 | 0 | |
| EXT-16 | Do you publish a card or a skills list for the agents you run? | 974 | 0 | |
| EXT-17 | Do you list your agents in your domain's DNS records? | 893 | 0 | |
| EXT-18 | Do you tell AI shoppers how they can pay? | 1 | 0 | |
| EXT-2 | Do you list your APIs and agent tools where agents look for them? | 5 | 0 | |
| EXT-7 | If you run real question-and-answer pages, are they marked as such? | 16 | 0 | |
| PST-2 | Have you posted a Content Signals statement about what AI may do with your content? | 974 | 0 | |
| RED-11 | Does each page tell machines where its Markdown copy is? | 1 | 1 | |
| RED-12 | If a machine asks for Markdown, does your site give it? | 974 | 2 | |
| UND-1 | Does your site say clearly who you are? | 974 | 2 | |
| UND-10 | Does your page code link to your official profiles elsewhere? | 974 | 2 | |
| UND-2 | Does your site use the page labels that search engines still read for what you publish? | 974 | 3 |
Near-universal — 95% and above
| Test | What it asks | Failing | Of | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXT-1 | Do you publish an llms.txt file for coding assistants? | 974 | 0 | |
| EXT-13 | Can an assistant ask your site a question directly? | 974 | 0 | |
| PST-4 | Have you reserved your text and data mining rights in a form machines can read? | 974 | 0 | |
| EXT-4 | Can an AI assistant connect to your site as a tool? | 974 | 0 | |
| UND-6 | Are your published and updated dates honest and visible? | 974 | 6 | |
| EXT-5 | Is your page code one connected description of your organization? | 974 | 0 | |
| RCH-3 | Does each page say which web address is the real one? | 974 | 2 | |
| RED-10 | Do you offer a plain-text (Markdown) copy of your pages? | 76 | 2 | |
| RED-13 | Is the page built from real page parts, like header, main and navigation? | 974 | 1 | |
| MSR-7 | Are you set up in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and do you read their AI reports? | 974 | 0 | |
| RED-5 | Do your PDFs and images have their own rules for search and quoting? | 77 | 1 | |
| UND-5 | Does the author label in your page code point to that person? | 60 | 1 | |
| RED-3 | Can a crawler trust the 'last changed' dates in your sitemap? | 974 | 2 | |
| RED-8 | Do you have sitemaps for your images and videos? | 974 | 1 | |
| RCH-2 | Does your website let those crawlers in, or does your security turn them away? | 974 | 12 |
Common — 90 to 95%
Coral bars mark tests worth 2 points or more, the failures that actually move a score.
Every site
Every 1,000, named, with a report for each
Whether or not it has been scanned. Rows with no website on record, sites that were unreachable and sites that turned us away stay in the table with the reason on them, and none of them enters an average: dropping them would shrink the population to the part that was easy to measure. A few points between two neighbors is noise. The box filters every row in the cohort, not only the page you are on; click a header to sort the rows on this page by name or by score.
Showing 101–200 of 1,000 · page 2 of 10
| Site | Score | Gated | Pages read | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, Virginia norfolk.govregistered as City of Norfolk, VA in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hialeah, Florida hialeahfl.govregistered as City of Hialeah in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Spokane, Washington spokane.govregistered as City of Spokane in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Tacoma, Washington tacoma.govregistered as City of Tacoma in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Santa Clarita, California santaclarita.govregistered as City of Santa Clarita in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fremont, California fremont.govregistered as City of Fremont in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Baton Rouge, Louisiana brla.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Bernardino, California sanbernardino.govregistered as City of San Bernardino in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fontana, California fontanaca.govregistered as City of Fontana in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Modesto, California modestogov.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Salt Lake City, Utah slc.govSalt Lake City Corporation (.gov registry) | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Moreno Valley, California moval.govregistered as City of Moreno Valley in the .gov registry | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts worcesterma.govregistered as City of Worcester in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sioux Falls, South Dakota siouxfalls.govregistered as City of Sioux Falls in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Yonkers, New York yonkersny.govregistered as City of Yonkers in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Des Moines, Iowa dsm.cityCity of Des Moines, verified by fetching the site; Wikidata pointed at the Catch Des Moines tourism site | 52 | Gated | 32 | |
| Grand Prairie, Texas gptx.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 41 | Gated | 32 | |
| Fayetteville, North Carolina fayettevillenc.govregistered as City of Fayetteville, North Carolina in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Little Rock, Arkansas littlerock.govregistered as City in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Rochester, New York cityofrochester.govregistered as City Of Rochester in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Amarillo, Texas amarillo.govregistered as City of Amarillo in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Tallahassee, Florida talgov.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 49 | No | 32 | |
| Overland Park, Kansas overlandparkks.govregistered as City of Overland Park in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Columbus, Georgia columbusga.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 43 | No | 26 | |
| Knoxville, Tennessee knoxvilletn.govregistered as City of Knoxville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia augustaga.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; a consolidated city-county government | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan grandrapidsmi.govregistered as City of Grand Rapids in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Peoria, Arizona peoriaaz.govregistered as City of Peoria, Arizona in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Mobile, Alabama cityofmobile.govregistered as City of Mobile in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Vancouver, Washington vancouver.govregistered as City of Vancouver in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Oxnard, California oxnard.govregistered as City Manager's Office in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Birmingham, Alabama birminghamal.govregistered as City of Birmingham in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Providence, Rhode Island providenceri.govregistered as City of Providence in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Montgomery, Alabama montgomeryal.govregistered as City of Montgomery in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Chattanooga, Tennessee chattanooga.govregistered as City of Chattanooga in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Brownsville, Texas brownsvilletx.govregistered as City of Brownsville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Huntington Beach, California huntingtonbeachca.govregistered as City of Huntington Beach in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Tempe, Arizona tempe.govregistered as City of Tempe in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Akron, Ohio akronohio.govregistered as City of Akron, Ohio in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Clarksville, Tennessee clarksvilletn.govregistered as City of Clarksville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fort Lauderdale, Florida fortlauderdale.govregistered as City of Ft. Lauderdale in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Glendale, California glendaleca.govregistered as City of Glendale in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Ontario, California ontarioca.govregistered as City of Ontario in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Elk Grove, California elkgrove.govregistered as City of Elk Grove, CA in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Cary, North Carolina carync.govregistered as Town of Cary in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Newport News, Virginia newportnewsva.govregistered as City of Newport News in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Salem, Oregon salemor.govregistered as City of Salem in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Aurora, Illinois aurora-il.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 50 | Gated | 1 | |
| Santa Rosa, California santarosaca.govregistered as City of Santa Rosa in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Eugene, Oregon eugene-or.govregistered as City of Eugene ISD in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Rancho Cucamonga, California ranchocucamonga.govregistered as City of Rancho Cucamonga in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pembroke Pines, Florida ppines.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Shreveport, Louisiana shreveportla.govregistered as City of Shreveport in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Surprise, Arizona surpriseaz.govregistered as City of Surprise in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fort Collins, Colorado fortcollins.govregistered as City of Fort Collins in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Murfreesboro, Tennessee murfreesborotn.govregistered as City of Murfreesboro in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Oceanside, California ci.oceanside.ca.usblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Akamai) | — | No | — | |
| Garden Grove, California gardengroveca.govregistered as City of Garden Grove in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lancaster, California cityoflancasterca.govregistered as City of Lancaster in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Springfield, Missouri springfieldmo.govregistered as City of Springfield, State of Missouri in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Denton, Texas cityofdenton.govregistered as City of Denton in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Roseville, California roseville.ca.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Killeen, Texas killeentexas.govregistered as City of Killeen, Texas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Palmdale, California cityofpalmdaleca.govregistered as City of Palmdale in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Paterson, New Jersey patersonnj.govregistered as City of Paterson in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Corona, California coronaca.govregistered as City of Corona in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Alexandria, Virginia alexandriava.govregistered as City of Alexandria in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Charleston, South Carolina charleston-sc.govregistered as City of Charleston in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Salinas, California salinas.govregistered as City of Salinas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kansas City, Kansas wycokck.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 43 | Gated | 32 | |
| Macon-Bibb County, Georgia maconbibb.govregistered as Macon Bibb County Government in the .gov registry; a consolidated city-county government | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hayward, California hayward-ca.govregistered as CITY OF HAYWARD in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hollywood, Florida hollywoodfl.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 20 | |
| Lakewood, Colorado lakewoodco.govregistered as City of Lakewood in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sunnyvale, California sunnyvale.ca.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Springfield, Massachusetts springfieldma.govregistered as City of Springfield in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bellevue, Washington bellevuewa.govregistered as City of Bellevue in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Naperville, Illinois naperville.govregistered as City of Naperville in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bridgeport, Connecticut bridgeportct.govregistered as City of Bridgeport in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Joliet, Illinois joliet.govregistered as City of Joliet in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Mesquite, Texas mesquitetx.govregistered as City of Mesquite Texas in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| McAllen, Texas mcallen.netblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Sucuri) | — | No | — | |
| Olathe, Kansas olatheks.govregistered as City of Olathe in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Savannah, Georgia savannahga.govregistered as City of Savannah, GA in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Gainesville, Florida gainesvillefl.govregistered as City of Gainesville in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pasadena, Texas pasadenatx.govregistered as City of Pasadena, Texas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Palm Bay, Florida palmbayfl.govregistered as City of Palm Bay in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pomona, California pomonaca.govregistered as City of Pomona in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Waco, Texas wacotx.govregistered as City of Waco in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Thornton, Colorado thorntonco.govregistered as City of Thornton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Midland, Texas midlandtexas.govregistered as City of Midland Texas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Rockford, Illinois rockfordil.govregistered as City of Rockford in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Columbia, South Carolina columbiasc.govregistered as City of Columbia, SC in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Visalia, California visalia.govregistered as City of Visalia in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Escondido, California escondido.govregistered as City of Escondido in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Syracuse, New York syr.govregistered as City of Syracuse in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Meridian, Idaho meridiancity.orgblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Miramar, Florida miramarfl.govregistered as The City of Miramar in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Elizabeth, New Jersey elizabethnj.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Victorville, California victorvilleca.govregistered as City of Victorville in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 |
Scores are for the population, not for ranking two named sites against each other. A few points between neighbors is noise. See what these numbers can and cannot support. Data: sites.csv · checks.csv · summary.json