Policies & inclusion rules

AI Inclusion Guidelines

This page explains how AI Rank, letter grades, and indexing eligibility work, what content is excluded, and what site owners can do to improve quality, trust signals, and crawlability.

1. AI Rank, Letter Grades & Indexing Eligibility

Every site evaluated by GoGuides receives:

• An AI Rank from 0 to 100
• A school-style letter grade (A+ to F)
• An indexing 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 is declined, 35 or higher is eligible, and stronger grades reflect stronger quality and trust signals.

How grades map into indexing eligibility

Declined · 0–34 (F) Below GoGuides quality standard — declined from indexing.
Low-quality, spammy, redirect-only, unreachable, deceptive, or restricted-category sites are not included in GoGuides search results.

Eligible · 35–69 (C- / B / A-) Meets minimum inclusion requirements — eligible for indexing review.
These sites meet the minimum quality bar. They are eligible for indexing and public trust signals, but still have room to improve.

Strong · 70–100 (A / A+) High quality website — strong trust and quality signals.
High-quality, well-maintained sites may earn stronger visibility, stronger trust signals, and better user confidence.

Eligibility is automated. Paying GoGuides does not buy organic ranking, inclusion, crawl priority, or a better AI Rank.

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.

Eligibility is automated. Paying GoGuides does not buy organic ranking, automatic inclusion, eligibility approval, or a better AI Rank. Trust Signal Activation may unlock webmaster tools for the activated domain, such as instant recrawl, verification, monitoring, trust-profile activation, public trust buttons, and trust-layer controls.

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 indexable in GoGuides AI Search.

Legal but sensitive categories

Some legal but high-risk categories may be excluded from GoGuides search to keep results safe, family-friendly, and brand-safe.

• The domain is treated as non-indexable for live search.
• 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 & How AI Applies These Rules

The same core rules used in the submit form guide GoGuides crawling and indexing:

• The crawler focuses on pages that meet minimum quality and technical standards.
• Restricted / red-line categories are blocked from the live index.
• Sites that decay over time (parked, spammy, broken) can lose AI Rank and visibility.
• Sites that improve can earn higher AI Rank and better inclusion treatment over time.

There is no “grandfathered” inclusion. All sites are subject to the same rules and technical standards.

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, resubmit via Submit a Site for a new AI evaluation.

6. Language & International Sites

GoGuides currently focuses on English-language websites for live inclusion in the search index to keep results consistent.

• Primarily English sites are eligible for normal indexing eligibility decisions.
• Primarily non-English sites may still use Submit a Site for AI Rank and technical feedback, but may not be added to the live index at this time.
• Mixed-language sites are evaluated case by case, with a preference for clear English main content.

This is a language policy, not a quality judgment. Language support may expand in the future.

7. Fairness, Automation & No Manual Favoritism

GoGuides is designed to be fair, consistent, and automated:

• No payment or Trust Signal activation changes AI Rank, organic ranking, or indexing eligibility.
• No manual whitelists for friends, partners, or advertisers.
• No hidden rules that apply only to certain domains.

The goal is simple: earn user trust by keeping results clean, relevant, and unbiased through clear, AI-enforced rules.

8. Favicon Trust Signals