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 601–700 of 1,000 · page 7 of 10
| Site | Score | Gated | Pages read | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammamish, Washington sammamishwa.govregistered as City of Sammamish in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Parker, Colorado parkerco.govregistered as Town of Parker in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Palatine, Illinois palatineil.govregistered as Village of Palatine in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Yorba Linda, California yorbalindaca.govregistered as City of Yorba Linda in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Apopka, Florida apopka.govregistered as City of Apopka in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Marana, Arizona maranaaz.govregistered as Town of Marana in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Muncie, Indiana cityofmuncie.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lorain, Ohio cityoflorain.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 41 | Gated | 14 | |
| Union City, California unioncityca.govregistered as City of Union City in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Richland, Washington richlandwa.govregistered as City of Richland in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Burnsville, Minnesota burnsvillemn.govregistered as City of Burnsville in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kenner, Louisiana kenner.la.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 51 | No | 17 | |
| North Little Rock, Arkansas northlittlerock.ar.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Waltham, Massachusetts city.waltham.ma.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 50 | No | 9 | |
| South San Francisco, California ssfca.govregistered as City of South San Francisco in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bellevue, Nebraska bellevue.netweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hamilton, Ohio hamilton-oh.govregistered as City of Hamilton, Ohio in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Fulshear, Texas fulsheartexas.govregistered as City of Fulshear in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Celina, Texas celina-tx.govregistered as City of Celina in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hendersonville, Tennessee hvilletn.govregistered as City of Hendersonville in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Coon Rapids, Minnesota coonrapidsmn.govregistered as City of Coon Rapids in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Laguna Niguel, California ci.laguna-niguel.ca.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Millcreek, Utah millcreekut.govregistered as Millcreek in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Palm Beach Gardens, Florida pbgfl.govregistered as City of Palm Beach Gardens in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Wylie, Texas wylietexas.govregistered as City of Wylie in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Moore, Oklahoma cityofmooreok.govregistered as City of Moore in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Marietta, Georgia mariettaga.govregistered as City of Marietta in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Chapel Hill, North Carolina chapelhillnc.govregistered as Town of Chapel Hill in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lynwood, California lynwoodca.govregistered as City of Lynwood in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Smyrna, Tennessee townofsmyrna-tn.govregistered as Town of Smyrna in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Herriman, Utah herriman.govregistered as Herriman City in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bossier City, Louisiana bossiercity.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Porterville, California ci.porterville.ca.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Eden Prairie, Minnesota edenprairiemn.govregistered as City of Eden Prairie in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bentonville, Arkansas bentonvillear.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Utica, New York uticany.govregistered as City of Utica in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| White Plains, New York whiteplainsny.govregistered as City of White Plains in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lakewood, Washington lakewoodwa.govregistered as City of Lakewood in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Little Elm, Texas littleelm.govregistered as Town of Little Elm, Texas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Vineland, New Jersey vinelandcity.govregistered as City of Vineland in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Council Bluffs, Iowa councilbluffs-ia.govregistered as City of Council Bluffs in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Wellington, Florida wellingtonfl.govregistered as Village of Wellington in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Taunton, Massachusetts taunton-ma.govregistered as City of Taunton in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Woodland, California cityofwoodland.govregistered as City of Woodland in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Jupiter, Florida jupiterfl.govregistered as Town of Jupiter in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bristol, Connecticut bristolct.govregistered as City of Bristol in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Winter Haven, Florida winterhaven.govregistered as City of Winter Haven in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hanford, California hanfordca.govregistered as City of Hanford in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Clemente, California sanclemente.govregistered as City of San Clemente in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pontiac, Michigan pontiacmi.govregistered as City of Pontiac in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Santa Cruz, California santacruzca.govregistered as City of Santa Cruz in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kannapolis, North Carolina kannapolisnc.govregistered as City of Kannapolis in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Blue Springs, Missouri bluespringsmo.govregistered as City of Blue Springs in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Corvallis, Oregon corvallisoregon.govregistered as City of Corvallis in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Burlington, North Carolina burlingtonnc.govregistered as City of Burlington in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| St. Peters, Missouri stpetersmo.netblockedweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Springfield, Oregon springfield-or.govregistered as City of Springfield, Oregon in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Saratoga Springs, Utah saratogasprings-ut.govregistered as City of Saratoga Springs in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Stonecrest, Georgia stonecrestga.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Spring Hill, Tennessee springhilltn.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Taylor, Michigan cityoftaylormi.govregistered as City of Taylor in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| La Habra, California lahabra.govregistered as City of La Habra in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Owensboro, Kentucky owensboroky.govregistered as City of Owensboro in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| North Miami, Florida northmiamifl.govregistered as City of North Miami in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Beaumont, California beaumontca.govregistered as City of Beaumont in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Meriden, Connecticut meridenct.govregistered as City of Meriden in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Gilroy, California ci.gilroy.ca.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Encinitas, California encinitasca.govregistered as City of Encinitas in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Montebello, California montebelloca.govregistered as City of Montebello in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Dearborn Heights, Michigan dearbornheights.govregistered as City of Dearborn Heights in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lenexa, Kansas lenexa-ks.govregistered as City of Lenexa, Kansas in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Grand Forks, North Dakota grandforksgov.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Great Falls, Montana greatfallsmt.govregistered as City of Great Falls in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Revere, Massachusetts revere.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 53 | Gated | 32 | |
| West Allis, Wisconsin westalliswi.govregistered as City of West Allis in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Margate, Florida margatefl.comweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 37 | Gated | 20 | |
| Euless, Texas eulesstx.govregistered as City of Euless, TX in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Kokomo, Indiana cityofkokomo.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 40 | Gated | 32 | |
| La Mesa, California cityoflamesa.govregistered as City of La Mesa in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Medford, Massachusetts medford-ma.govregistered as City of Medford in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hempstead, New York hempsteadny.govregistered as Town of Hempstead in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Weymouth Town, Massachusetts weymouth.ma.usweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Texas City, Texas texascitytx.govregistered as City of Texas City in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Petaluma, California cityofpetaluma.govregistered as City of Petaluma in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Brookhaven, Georgia brookhavenga.govregistered as City of Brookhaven in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| San Rafael, California sanrafael.govregistered as City of San Rafael in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lake Havasu City, Arizona lhcaz.govregistered as Lake Havasu City in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Dubuque, Iowa dubuque.govregistered as City of Dubuque in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Hoboken, New Jersey hobokennj.govregistered as City of Hoboken in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pico Rivera, California pico-rivera.govregistered as City of Pico Rivera in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Lacey, Washington laceywa.govregistered as City of Lacey in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Youngstown, Ohio youngstownohio.govregistered as City of Youngstown in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Bozeman, Montana bozemanmt.govregistered as City of Bozeman in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Midwest City, Oklahoma midwestcityok.orgweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Des Plaines, Illinois desplainesil.govregistered as City of Des Plaines in the .gov registry | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| Pocatello, Idaho pocatello.govregistered as City of Pocatello in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Casper, Wyoming casperwy.govregistered as City of Casper in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Terre Haute, Indiana terrehaute.in.govweb address from Wikidata (P856), not the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Coconut Creek, Florida coconutcreek.govregistered as City of Coconut Creek in the .gov registry | 28 | Gated | 1 | |
| Carson City, Nevada carsoncity.govregistered as City of Carson City in the .gov registry; a consolidated city-county government | 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