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 301–400 of 1,000 · page 4 of 10
| Site | Score | Gated | Pages read | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane Valley, Washington spokanevalleywa.govregistered as City of Spokane Valley in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sugar Land, Texas sugarlandtx.govregistered as City of Sugar Land in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lee's Summit, Missouri lees-summit.mo.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 43 | No | 1 | |
| Bend, Oregon bendoregon.govregistered as City of Bend in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Jurupa Valley, California jurupavalley.govregistered as City of Jurupa Valley in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Georgetown, Texas georgetowntexas.govregistered as City of Georgetown Texas in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Green Bay, Wisconsin greenbaywi.govregistered as City of Green Bay in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fayetteville, Arkansas fayetteville-ar.govregistered as City of Fayetteville in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Rialto, California rialtoca.govregistered as City of Rialto in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Brockton, Massachusetts brockton.govregistered as City of Brockton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Boulder, Colorado bouldercolorado.govregistered as City of Boulder in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Carmel, Indiana carmelindiana.govregistered as City of Carmel in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Dearborn, Michigan dearborn.govregistered as City of Dearborn in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| West Covina, California westcovina.govregistered as City of West Covina in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Yuma, Arizona yumaaz.govregistered as City of Yuma in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Chico, California chicoca.govregistered as City of Chico in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| El Monte, California elmonteca.govregistered as City of El Monte in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sandy Springs, Georgia sandyspringsga.govregistered as City of Sandy Springs in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Renton, Washington rentonwa.govregistered as City of Renton in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fishers, Indiana fishersin.govregistered as City of Fishers in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Suffolk, Virginia suffolkva.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lynn, Massachusetts lynnma.govregistered as City of Lynn Ma. in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Vacaville, California cityofvacaville.govregistered as City of Vacaville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Mateo, California cityofsanmateoca.govregistered as City of San Mateo in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| South Bend, Indiana southbendin.govregistered as City of South Bend in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Quincy, Massachusetts quincyma.govregistered as City of Quincy in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Burbank, California burbankca.govregistered as City of Burbank in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hesperia, California hesperiaca.govregistered as City Of Hesperia in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Wichita Falls, Texas wichitafallstx.govregistered as City of Wichita Falls in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Tracy, California cityoftracyca.govregistered as City of Tracy in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| New Bedford, Massachusetts newbedford-ma.govregistered as City of New Bedford in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| El Cajon, California elcajon.govregistered as City of El Cajon in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Albany, New York albanyny.govregistered as City of Albany in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Inglewood, California cityofinglewood.govregistered as City of Inglewood in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Boca Raton, Florida bocaraton-fl.govregistered as City of Boca Raton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fort Myers, Florida fortmyers.govregistered as City Of Fort Myers in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Daly City, California dalycity.govregistered as City of Daly City in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Avondale, Arizona avondaleaz.govregistered as City of Avondale in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Angelo, Texas sanangelo.govregistered as City of San Angelo in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Edmond, Oklahoma edmondok.govregistered as City of Edmond in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Davenport, Iowa cityofdavenportiowa.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 54 | No | 1 | |
| Deltona, Florida deltonafl.govregistered as City Of Deltona in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Longmont, Colorado longmont.govregistered as City of Longmont in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Federal Way, Washington federalwaywa.govregistered as City of Federal Way in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Merced, California cityofmerced.govregistered as City of Merced in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kenosha, Wisconsin kenosha.orgblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Plantation, Florida plantation.orgblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Akamai) | — | No | — | |
| Roanoke, Virginia roanokeva.govregistered as City of Roanoke in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sunrise, Florida sunrisefl.govregistered as City of Sunrise in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Temple, Texas templetx.govregistered as City of Temple, Texas in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Vista, California vista.govregistered as City of Vista in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Beaverton, Oregon beavertonoregon.govregistered as City of Beaverton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Yakima, Washington yakimawa.govregistered as City of Yakima in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kirkland, Washington kirklandwa.govregistered as City of Kirkland in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Norwalk, California norwalkca.govregistered as City of Norwalk in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Chino, California cityofchino.govregistered as City of Chino in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Portsmouth, Virginia portsmouthva.govregistered as City of Portsmouth, VA in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Manteca, California manteca.govregistered as City of Manteca in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| North Port, Florida northportfl.govregistered as City of North Port in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Greenville, North Carolina greenvillenc.govregistered as City of Greenville, NC in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bellingham, Washington bellinghamwa.govregistered as City of Bellingham in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lawrence, Kansas lawrenceks.govregistered as City of Lawrence, KS in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| O'Fallon, Missouri ofallonmo.govregistered as City of O'Fallon, Missouri in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Reading, Pennsylvania readingpa.govregistered as City of Reading in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Mount Pleasant, South Carolina tompsc.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lehi, Utah lehifibernetwork.govregistered as Lehi City in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fall River, Massachusetts fallriverma.govregistered as City of Fall River in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Orem, Utah orem.govregistered as City of Orem in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Marcos, California sanmarcosca.govregistered as City of San Marcos California in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Norwalk, Connecticut norwalkct.govregistered as City of Norwalk in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Indio, California indioca.govregistered as City of Indio in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Redding, California cityofredding.govregistered as City of Redding in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hemet, California hemetca.govregistered as City of Hemet in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hoover, Alabama hooveral.govregistered as City of Hoover in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Asheville, North Carolina ashevillenc.govregistered as City of Asheville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Livonia, Michigan livonia.govregistered as City of Livonia in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Nashua, New Hampshire nashuanh.govregistered as City of Nashua in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Sandy, Utah sandy.utah.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Frederick, Maryland frederickmd.govregistered as City of Frederick in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bryan, Texas bryantx.govregistered as City of Bryan, TX in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Folsom, California folsom.govregistered as City of Folsom in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Erie, Pennsylvania erie.pa.usCity of Erie, verified by fetching the site | 45 | Gated | 32 | |
| Trenton, New Jersey trentonnj.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 12 | |
| Roswell, Georgia roswellgov.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 58 | No | 32 | |
| Champaign, Illinois champaignil.govregistered as City of Champaign in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Leander, Texas leandertx.govregistered as City of Leander in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Clifton, New Jersey cliftonnj.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fort Smith, Arkansas fortsmithar.govregistered as City of Fort Smith in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Carson, California carsonca.govregistered as City of Carson, California in the .gov registry; a consolidated city-county government | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Newton, Massachusetts newtonma.govregistered as City of Newton, Massachusetts in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Springdale, Arkansas springdalear.govregistered as City of Springdale in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lawton, Oklahoma lawtonok.govregistered as City of Lawton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Compton, California comptoncity.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 51 | No | 1 | |
| Mission Viejo, California missionviejo.govregistered as City of Mission Viejo in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Franklin, Tennessee franklintn.govregistered as CIty of Franklin in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Santa Monica, California santamonicaca.govregistered as City of Santa Monica in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| South Gate, California cityofsouthgate.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 41 | Gated | 32 | |
| Santa Fe, New Mexico santafenm.govregistered as City of Santa Fe in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Queen Creek, Arizona queencreekaz.govregistered as Town of Queen Creek in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Ogden, Utah ogdencity.govregistered as Ogden City in the .gov registry | 28 | 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