Policies & inclusion rules

Live Index & AI Inclusion Guidelines

This page explains how AI Rank, letter grades, Live Index eligibility, paid inclusion, policy exclusions, crawling, and machine-readable trust signals work.

1. AI Rank, Letter Grades & Live Index Eligibility

Every site evaluated by GoGuides receives:

• An AI Rank from 0 to 100
• A school-style letter grade (A+ to F)
• A Live Index eligibility decision based on quality, safety, and policy rules

Letter grades from your AI Rank

There is no separate “D” range. Scores go from F straight into the C range, then up through B and A. This keeps the scale simple: 34 or below does not meet the minimum score for Live Index submission, while 35 or higher meets the minimum score threshold subject to policy requirements. Higher grades reflect stronger measured quality signals.

How grades map into Live Index eligibility

Declined · 0–34 (F) Below the minimum GoGuides quality threshold — not eligible for paid Live Index submission.
Low-quality, spammy, redirect-only, unreachable, deceptive, or restricted-category sites may still be observed by GoGuides crawling, but they are not eligible for Live Index inclusion.

Eligible · 35–69 (C- / B / A-) Meets the minimum score threshold for Live Index eligibility.
These sites may proceed toward paid submission if they also satisfy GoGuides policy requirements. Payment does not alter their AI Rank or evaluation.

Strong · 70–100 (A / A+) High-quality website — strong measured quality and trust signals.
These domains meet the score threshold for Live Index eligibility, subject to the same policy requirements as every other domain.

Eligibility and AI Rank are evaluated independently of payment. The $69.95 submission fee buys approved Live Index inclusion and associated services; it does not buy a higher AI Rank, better grade, favorable evaluation, organic ranking position, or crawl priority.

2. What AI Rank Looks At

AI Rank is based on a combination of technical, content, and trust/experience signals from publicly accessible pages. Examples include:

• Transport security (HTTPS vs. insecure HTTP).
• Content depth & usefulness — thin vs. rich, in-depth content.
• Page structure — titles, headings, readable body text.
• Mobile friendliness — responsive layout & viewport meta tags.
• Clarity of purpose — what the site does and who it serves.
• Spam & abuse signals — deceptive patterns, keyword stuffing, etc.
• Technical health — fetchability, response stability, and basic host reliability.

Paying GoGuides does not buy eligibility approval, a higher AI Rank, a better grade, or favorable treatment. For an approved domain, the paid submission places the domain into the GoGuides Live Index and machine-readable trust feeds and includes the current owner tools and Trust Signal services associated with the submission.

3. Restricted & Permanently Excluded Categories

To protect end users and keep GoGuides safe and brand-friendly, some categories are permanently excluded from the index — even if the underlying site appears technically strong.

Never eligible for inclusion:

• Illegal content or activity under applicable law.
• Child exploitation or abuse in any form.
• Extreme hate or violence promotion.
• Malicious behavior such as phishing, malware, or attempts to hijack devices or accounts.

These are hard red-lines: they are not eligible for inclusion in the GoGuides Live Index.

Legal but sensitive categories

Some legal but high-risk categories may be excluded from the GoGuides Live Index under GoGuides safety and policy rules.

• The domain is treated as ineligible for Live Index inclusion.
• The submit tool may still show technical/quality feedback so owners can see how the site scores — even if it’s not eligible for inclusion.

4. Crawling, Observation & Ongoing Evaluation

GoGuides crawling and Live Index inclusion are related, but they are not the same thing:

• GoGuides crawls and observes the open web to build and refresh its independent web corpus.
• Observed domains can have machine-readable measurements and provenance history without being paid Live Index submissions.
• Restricted or policy-blocked domains are not eligible for Live Index inclusion.
• Changes in content, structure, technical health, policy state, and other measured signals can change AI Rank over time.
• Payment does not freeze or protect a score. An included domain remains subject to ongoing GoGuides measurement and policy enforcement.

Paid inclusion is not a permanent exemption from GoGuides standards. Live Index domains remain subject to continuing evaluation.

5. How to Improve Your AI Rank

If your site is declined or eligible but weak, focus on fundamentals that improve quality, trust, crawlability, and user value:

• Use HTTPS everywhere.
• Publish real, original content written for humans (not filler).
• Improve mobile usability with responsive design + viewport meta tag.
• Speed & reliability: avoid slow, broken, or frequently offline hosting.
• Remove spammy patterns: excessive ads, pop-ups, deceptive redirects, keyword stuffing.
• Make your purpose clear: who you are, what you do, and why users should trust you.

After significant improvements, use the submission and eligibility flow to recheck the domain before proceeding with Live Index submission.

6. Language & International Sites

The GoGuides Live Index currently supports primarily English-language websites. This restriction applies to Live Index inclusion, not to GoGuides' ability to encounter or observe domains while crawling the open web.

• Primarily English-language websites may qualify for paid Live Index submission if they meet GoGuides score and policy requirements.
• Primarily non-English websites are not currently eligible for Live Index inclusion.
• Non-English domains may still be encountered and measured as part of GoGuides' broader web observation and provenance systems.
• Mixed-language websites are evaluated according to whether their primary public content is sufficiently English-language for current Live Index support.

This is a Live Index language-support policy, not a judgment about the quality or trustworthiness of non-English websites. Language support may expand in the future.

7. Separation of Payment, Measurement & Policy

GoGuides deliberately separates commercial inclusion from measurement:

• Payment is required for an approved domain to enter the paid GoGuides Live Index.
• Payment does not increase AI Rank, improve a grade, override policy, or purchase favorable treatment.
• Observed web-state and provenance records are based on GoGuides measurements, not customer claims.
• Live Index domains remain subject to the same ongoing measurement and policy rules after payment.

The goal is to keep the commercial transaction clear while preserving the independence of GoGuides measurements and machine-readable trust records.

8. Machine-Readable Trust & Favicon Signals