Policies & inclusion rules

AI Inclusion Guidelines

This page explains how AI Rank, letter grades, and tiers work, what content is excluded, and what site owners can do to improve for free inclusion.

1. AI Rank, Letter Grades & Tiers

Every site evaluated by GoGuides receives:

• An AI Rank from 0 to 100
• A school-style letter grade (A+ to F)
• An inclusion tier that controls how (or if) it appears in GoGuides search

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: anything below 35 is clearly below standard (F), and 70+ is clearly excellent (A / A+).

How grades map into tiers

Tier 1 · 0–34 (F) Below GoGuides quality standard — cannot be indexed.
Low-quality, spammy, redirect-only, unreachable, or restricted-category sites are not included in GoGuides search results.

Tier 2 · 35–69 (C / B / A-) Meets minimum inclusion requirements — eligible for paid indexing.
Acceptable quality content that can be included with a paid indexing package and crawl quota. Tier 2 sites are often “good, but not yet great.”

Tier 3 · 70–100 (A / A+) High quality website — free inclusion & indexing.
High-quality, well-maintained sites. Tier 3 sites are eligible for free inclusion, subject to technical and policy limits.

Tier placement is automated. Paying for indexing never changes your grade; it only affects whether a Tier 2 site can be included and crawled.

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.

AI Rank does not use personal data about users or site owners. Scoring is based on publicly visible pages and technical signals.

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 you’re Tier 1 or Tier 2 and want Tier 3 (70+ / A or A+), focus on fundamentals:

• 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.

If you want a plain-language explanation of your score, use: Ask GoGuides AI about your site →

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 tier decisions and inclusion.
• 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 paid “priority review” that changes AI Rank.
• 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