UK Councils
Search every site in this cohortuk-councils
Every principal local authority in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Median score
61
across 320 sites
Middle half
54–66
spread around the median
Full range
29–77
lowest to highest
Gated
97 of 320
block AI crawlers outright
Middle of 31 cohorts. All cohorts 54 · best cohort 63.
Where this list came from
The source, and how we filtered it
| Source | GOV.UK Local Links Manager, Government Digital Service (GOV.UK) (2026-11-02) |
|---|---|
| License | Crown copyright, published by GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0, which permits copying, publishing and adapting the information, including commercially, with attribution. |
| Cite as | Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
| How we filtered it | Took every authority (name and GSS code) in Local Links Manager's nightly export (last modified 2026-11-02). For each, asked the Local Links Manager API (/api/local-authority?authority_slug=) with a slug derived from the name, or a variant (18 listed in the script). The answer is accepted only when the API returns the same GSS code; homepage, tier and country come from the API. Three authorities abolished in 2019 and 2021 were dropped, since the API maps their old slugs to the councils that replaced them. Homepages were trimmed, the host lowercased and cut to the root (6 had a path, noted). |
| Instead of | ONS code lists alone (no websites); the .gov.uk register (domains, not homepages); guessing homepages from names. |
| Built | 2026-11-02 |
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 320 sites land
| Grade | Share of the cohort | Sites | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adequate | 174 | 54.4% | |
| Not ready | 8 | 2.5% | |
| Weak | 134 | 41.9% | |
| Strong | 4 | 1.2% |
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. |
81% | |
| #2 · Read
AI generally turns off JavaScript. Does your site information survive without it? |
55% | |
| #3 · Understand
Does a machine know who and what you are? |
23% | |
| #4 · Act
Sitemaps, redirects, 404s, licensing terms, and not wasting the crawl budget. |
88% |
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 32, the range 1–32, published so that "we sampled 32 URLs per site" cannot become a claim the data does not support.
6 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
12 tests almost nobody in this cohort passes
Universal — nobody passes these
| Test | What it asks | Failing | Of | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT-3 | If you have a public API, is it described in a standard file? | 1 | 2 | |
| EXT-1 | Do you publish an llms.txt file for coding assistants? | 320 | 0 | |
| EXT-11 | Have you marked the part of a page that answers a spoken question? | 320 | 0 | |
| EXT-12 | Do you tell search engines the moment a page changes? | 320 | 0 | |
| EXT-14 | Does your site offer its actions to AI browsers as tools? | 317 | 0 | |
| EXT-15 | Can an AI agent find out how to sign in to your site? | 1 | 0 | |
| EXT-16 | Do you publish a card or a skills list for the agents you run? | 320 | 0 | |
| EXT-17 | Do you list your agents in your domain's DNS records? | 316 | 0 | |
| EXT-2 | Do you list your APIs and agent tools where agents look for them? | 16 | 0 | |
| EXT-7 | If you run real question-and-answer pages, are they marked as such? | 33 | 0 | |
| RED-10 | Do you offer a plain-text (Markdown) copy of your pages? | 292 | 2 | |
| RED-12 | If a machine asks for Markdown, does your site give it? | 320 | 2 |
Near-universal — 95% and above
| Test | What it asks | Failing | Of | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UND-2 | Does your site use the page labels that search engines still read for what you publish? | 320 | 3 | |
| UND-5 | Does the author label in your page code point to that person? | 279 | 1 | |
| UND-1 | Does your site say clearly who you are? | 320 | 2 | |
| PST-2 | Have you posted a Content Signals statement about what AI may do with your content? | 320 | 0 | |
| UND-10 | Does your page code link to your official profiles elsewhere? | 320 | 2 | |
| UND-6 | Are your published and updated dates honest and visible? | 320 | 6 | |
| EXT-13 | Can an assistant ask your site a question directly? | 320 | 0 | |
| PST-4 | Have you reserved your text and data mining rights in a form machines can read? | 320 | 0 | |
| EXT-4 | Can an AI assistant connect to your site as a tool? | 320 | 0 |
Common — 90 to 95%
| Test | What it asks | Failing | Of | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXT-5 | Is your page code one connected description of your organization? | 320 | 0 |
Coral bars mark tests worth 2 points or more, the failures that actually move a score.
Every site
Every 382, 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 201–300 of 382 · page 3 of 4
| Site | Score | Gated | Pages read | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council nuneatonandbedworth.gov.ukregister id E07000219; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 54 | No | 32 | |
| Oadby and Wigston Borough Council oadby-wigston.gov.ukregister id E07000135; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 52 | Gated | 5 | |
| Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council oldham.gov.ukregister id E08000004; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | No | 32 | |
| Oxford City Council oxford.gov.ukregister id E07000178; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 66 | No | 32 | |
| Oxfordshire County Council oxfordshire.gov.ukregister id E10000025; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 68 | No | 32 | |
| Pendle Borough Council pendle.gov.ukregister id E07000122; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 62 | No | 32 | |
| Peterborough City Council peterborough.gov.ukregister id E06000031; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 54 | No | 32 | |
| Plymouth City Council plymouth.gov.ukregister id E06000026; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | Gated | 32 | |
| Portsmouth City Council portsmouth.gov.ukregister id E06000044; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 64 | No | 32 | |
| Preston City Council preston.gov.ukregister id E07000123; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 53 | Gated | 32 | |
| Reading Borough Council reading.gov.ukregister id E06000038; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 45 | No | 32 | |
| Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council redcar-cleveland.gov.ukblockedregister id E06000003; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 | — | No | — | |
| Redditch Borough Council redditchbc.gov.ukregister id E07000236; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 56 | Gated | 32 | |
| Reigate and Banstead Borough Council reigate-banstead.gov.ukregister id E07000211; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 66 | No | 32 | |
| Ribble Valley Borough Council ribblevalley.gov.ukregister id E07000124; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 68 | No | 32 | |
| Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council rochdale.gov.ukregister id E08000005; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 67 | No | 32 | |
| Rochford District Council rochford.gov.ukregister id E07000075; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 73 | No | 32 | |
| Rossendale Borough Council rossendale.gov.ukregister id E07000125; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 68 | No | 32 | |
| Rother District Council rother.gov.ukregister id E07000064; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 56 | Gated | 32 | |
| Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council rotherham.gov.ukregister id E08000018; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 69 | No | 32 | |
| Royal Borough of Greenwich royalgreenwich.gov.ukblockedregister id E09000011; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea rbkc.gov.ukregister id E09000020; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | Gated | 32 | |
| Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames kingston.gov.ukregister id E09000021; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 63 | No | 31 | |
| Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead rbwm.gov.ukregister id E06000040; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 48 | No | 1 | |
| Rugby Borough Council rugby.gov.ukregister id E07000220; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 62 | No | 6 | |
| Runnymede Borough Council runnymede.gov.ukregister id E07000212; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 61 | No | 32 | |
| Rushcliffe Borough Council rushcliffe.gov.ukregister id E07000176; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 66 | No | 1 | |
| Rushmoor Borough Council rushmoor.gov.ukregister id E07000092; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 49 | Gated | 32 | |
| Rutland County Council rutland.gov.ukregister id E06000017; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | No | 23 | |
| Salford City Council salford.gov.ukregister id E08000006; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | Gated | 32 | |
| Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council sandwell.gov.ukregister id E08000028; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | No | 32 | |
| Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council sefton.gov.ukregister id E08000014; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | No | 32 | |
| Sevenoaks District Council sevenoaks.gov.ukregister id E07000111; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 69 | No | 32 | |
| Sheffield City Council sheffield.gov.ukregister id E08000019; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 74 | No | 32 | |
| Shropshire Council next.shropshire.gov.ukregister id E06000051; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 72 | No | 32 | |
| Slough Borough Council slough.gov.ukregister id E06000039; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 70 | No | 32 | |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council solihull.gov.ukunreachableregister id E08000029; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | — | No | — | |
| Somerset Council somerset.gov.ukregister id E10000027; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 53 | Gated | 32 | |
| South Cambridgeshire District Council scambs.gov.ukregister id E07000012; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 69 | No | 32 | |
| South Derbyshire District Council southderbyshire.gov.ukregister id E07000039; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 54 | Gated | 32 | |
| South Gloucestershire Council southglos.gov.ukregister id E06000025; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 33 | Gated | 1 | |
| South Hams District Council southhams.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000044; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| South Holland District Council sholland.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000140; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| South Kesteven District Council southkesteven.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000141; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| South Norfolk District Council southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.ukregister id E07000149; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | No | 32 | |
| South Oxfordshire District Council southoxon.gov.ukregister id E07000179; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | No | 32 | |
| South Ribble Borough Council southribble.gov.ukregister id E07000126; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 67 | No | 32 | |
| South Staffordshire Council sstaffs.gov.ukregister id E07000196; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 63 | No | 32 | |
| South Tyneside Council southtyneside.gov.ukblockedregister id E08000023; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Southampton City Council southampton.gov.ukregister id E06000045; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 73 | No | 32 | |
| Southend-on-Sea City Council southend.gov.ukregister id E06000033; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 63 | No | 32 | |
| Spelthorne Borough Council spelthorne.gov.ukregister id E07000213; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 47 | Gated | 32 | |
| St Albans City and District Council stalbans.gov.ukregister id E07000240; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 65 | No | 29 | |
| St Helens Council sthelens.gov.ukregister id E08000013; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | No | 31 | |
| Stafford Borough Council staffordbc.gov.ukregister id E07000197; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | No | 32 | |
| Staffordshire County Council staffordshire.gov.ukregister id E10000028; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | Gated | 32 | |
| Staffordshire Moorlands District Council staffsmoorlands.gov.ukregister id E07000198; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 64 | No | 32 | |
| Stevenage Borough Council stevenage.gov.ukregister id E07000243; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | No | 32 | |
| Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council stockport.gov.ukblockedregister id E08000007; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council stockton.gov.ukblockedregister id E06000004; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Stoke-on-Trent City Council stoke.gov.ukregister id E06000021; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 62 | No | 32 | |
| Stratford-on-Avon District Council stratford.gov.ukregister id E07000221; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 73 | No | 32 | |
| Stroud District Council stroud.gov.ukregister id E07000082; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 66 | No | 20 | |
| Suffolk County Council suffolk.gov.ukregister id E10000029; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | No | 32 | |
| Sunderland City Council sunderland.gov.ukblockedregister id E08000024; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Surrey County Council surreycc.gov.ukregister id E10000030; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 58 | No | 32 | |
| Surrey Heath Borough Council surreyheath.gov.ukregister id E07000214; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 56 | Gated | 24 | |
| Swale Borough Council swale.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000113; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Swindon Borough Council swindon.gov.ukregister id E06000030; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 69 | No | 32 | |
| Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council tameside.gov.ukregister id E08000008; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 68 | No | 32 | |
| Tamworth Borough Council tamworth.gov.ukregister id E07000199; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 76 | No | 32 | |
| Tandridge District Council tandridge.gov.ukregister id E07000215; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | No | 18 | |
| Teignbridge District Council teignbridge.gov.ukregister id E07000045; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 62 | Gated | 32 | |
| Telford & Wrekin Council telford.gov.ukregister id E06000020; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | Gated | 28 | |
| Tendring District Council tendringdc.gov.ukregister id E07000076; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 45 | Gated | 32 | |
| Test Valley Borough Council testvalley.gov.ukregister id E07000093; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 64 | No | 31 | |
| Tewkesbury Borough Council tewkesbury.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000083; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 | — | No | — | |
| Thanet District Council thanet.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000114; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Three Rivers District Council threerivers.gov.ukregister id E07000102; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 63 | No | 32 | |
| Thurrock Council thurrock.gov.ukregister id E06000034; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 62 | No | 27 | |
| Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council tmbc.gov.ukregister id E07000115; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 52 | No | 32 | |
| Torbay Council torbay.gov.ukregister id E06000027; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 70 | No | 5 | |
| Torridge District Council torridge.gov.ukregister id E07000046; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | No | 32 | |
| Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council trafford.gov.ukblockedregister id E08000009; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| Tunbridge Wells Borough Council tunbridgewells.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000116; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Uttlesford District Council uttlesford.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000077; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; Local Links Manager gives https://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/home; cut back to the site root; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| Vale of White Horse District Council whitehorsedc.gov.ukregister id E07000180; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 59 | No | 32 | |
| Wakefield Metropolitan District Council wakefield.gov.ukregister id E08000036; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 54 | Gated | 32 | |
| Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council go.walsall.gov.ukregister id E08000030; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 71 | No | 32 | |
| Warrington Borough Council warrington.gov.ukregister id E06000007; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 66 | No | 32 | |
| Warwick District Council warwickdc.gov.ukregister id E07000222; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 51 | Gated | 32 | |
| Warwickshire County Council warwickshire.gov.ukregister id E10000031; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 57 | Gated | 32 | |
| Watford Borough Council watford.gov.ukregister id E07000103; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 61 | No | 32 | |
| Waverley Borough Council waverley.gov.ukregister id E07000216; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 60 | No | 32 | |
| Wealden District Council wealden.gov.ukregister id E07000065; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 39 | Gated | 1 | |
| Welwyn Hatfield Council welhat.gov.ukregister id E07000241; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 58 | No | 27 | |
| West Berkshire Council westberks.gov.ukblockedregister id E06000037; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) | — | No | — | |
| West Devon Borough Council westdevon.gov.ukblockedregister id E07000047; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it; not measured: HTTP 403 (CloudFront) | — | No | — | |
| West Lancashire Borough Council westlancs.gov.ukregister id E07000127; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 65 | No | 29 | |
| West Lindsey District Council west-lindsey.gov.ukregister id E07000142; address from GOV.UK Local Links Manager (high confidence), not checked by loading it | 61 | No | 32 |
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. Headline figures: summary.json (CC BY 4.0). The site-by-site data on this page is licensed; a bulk copy is from TEN7 for a fee.