agentspeed.

substack.com

scanned 7/27/2026, 12:40:46 PM · cached · refresh in 21h · rubric 2026.08.1
robots.txt present: passrobots.txt allows AI agents: passContent-Signal directives: failllms.txt present: passSitemap present: passLink response headers: failCanonical URL: passMCP server card: failOAuth authorization metadata: passOAuth resource metadata: failAPI catalog / OpenAPI: failWeb Bot Auth: failMarkdown negotiation: failText-to-markup ratio: failContent without JavaScript: skipHeading hierarchy: warnCookie wall blocks content: passDeclared language: passPage title: passMeta description: warnJSON-LD present: failStructured data validates: skipSchema type coverage: passPaywall / login wall: passAgent Skills manifest: failWebMCP actions: failPrimary action reachable: passReachability: passTime to first byte: passFull render time: skipPage weight: pass67/ 100 · D
Needs work

This is how AI agents (not browsers) experience substack.com. The score weights five categories of machine-readability; the ticks on the arc are the 31 individual checks behind it.

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Top fixes

Checks tagged “emerging” are 2026 agent-protocol standards most of the web hasn’t adopted yet — adopting early is an edge, not a defect.

failJSON-LD presentStructured data

No JSON-LD blocks found. Add a <script type="application/ld+json"> with a schema.org type for this page.

Fix: Add a <script type="application/ld+json"> describing the page (Organization, Article, Product, FAQPage).

failLink response headersDiscoverability

No HTTP Link: response headers. Emit canonical/alternate/describedby relations so HEAD-only or stream-rendering agents get them without parsing HTML.

Fix: Emit `Link:` headers for canonical, alternate-language, and describedby relations. Agents that fetch HEAD-only or stream-render rely on these.

failText-to-markup ratioReadability

Visible text is 0.4% of HTML weight (1312/292078 bytes). Low. Markup may be crowding out agent-usable text.

Fix: Heavy ad or navigation markup crowds out agent-usable text. Aim for a text-to-DOM ratio above 15%.

warnMeta descriptionReadability

Meta description is 30 characters; aim for 50–200 so it's neither thin nor truncated.

Fix: Add `<meta name="description" content="...">` to your primary pages. Agents frequently use it as a summary.

warnHeading hierarchyReadability

Heading issues: no <h1>.

Fix: Use a single H1 and avoid skipping heading levels (H1 → H3).

failContent-Signal directivesemergingDiscoverability

No Content-Signal directives. Add e.g. `Content-Signal: ai-train=no, ai-summarize=yes` to declare granular AI usage policy beyond binary allow/disallow.

Fix: Add `Content-Signal:` directives to your robots.txt. This is the emerging standard (Cloudflare-driven) for declaring fine-grained AI usage policy beyond a binary allow/disallow.

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Fix it

Generated, ready-to-ship files for the gaps above — copy them or download and drop them into your repo.

Add JSON-LD structured data
Paste inside <head>. Use Article/Product instead of Organization on those page types.
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Substack",
  "url": "https://substack.com/",
  "description": "The app for independent voices"
}
</script>
Does AI actually recommend substack.com?

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This scan graded one page. Your site is more than one page.

This graded your homepage. Your pricing, docs, and checkout live on other pages — the ones assistants actually quote when they recommend you — and a 67/100 here means agents are already missing things on the page you polish most. The $29 Deep Scan audits the whole site against all 31 checks, then emails a PDF with every failing check and its exact fix, ranked by what costs you the most visibility. One-time, delivered in minutes, no subscription.

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What the agent receives

The agent’s-eye view
Substack Home Subscriptions Chat Activity Explore Profile Create Make money doing the work you believe in Start your Substack Learn more For you Aaron Parnas 1d Subscribe Shoutout to Kaitlan Collins 3.2K 56 404 The Conscious Lee 1d Subscribe 17 year old boy murdered by Cops for water bottle mistaken as gun… 406 34 163 Sari Botton 1h Subscribe “Each year in the U.S. about 2 million couples make their way toward the altar, uttering the magic words “I do.” But maybe they should be asking questions, instead.” - Another great illustrated essay by Oldster Magazine contributor Peter Moore . Oldster Magazine The Six Big Questions of Married Life 10 1 2 You made it, you own it You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in. Start your Substack Learn more Fit Foodie Stasia 7d Subscribe The Fit Foodie Community Roasted Honey Mustard Chicken &amp; Broccoli 18 2 2 Ella Emhoff 21h Subscribe Everyone say hi to Dean. 294 17 4 Great discussions Join the most interesting and insightful discussions. Start your Substack Learn more Rosie Birkett 4h Subscribe First cosmos! 9 2 Log in or sign up Join the most interesting and insightful discussions. Start your Substack Sign in Get app

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AgentSpeed score for substack.com
<a href="https://agentspeed.com/scan/substack.com"><img src="https://agentspeed.com/badge/substack.com" alt="AgentSpeed agent-readiness score" height="56"></a>

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This score says whether an AI agent could read substack.com. AI traffic analytics says whether one actually came — and which pages turned it away.

Full breakdown

15 pass2 warn11 fail3 skip
Discoverability
pass
robots.txt present
A robots.txt is reachable at the site root.
100/100
pass
robots.txt allows AI agents
All 9 answer-time access agents allowed.
100/100
fail
Content-Signal directivesemerging
No Content-Signal directives. Add e.g. `Content-Signal: ai-train=no, ai-summarize=yes` to declare granular AI usage policy beyond binary allow/disallow.
0/100
pass
llms.txt present
Found /llms.txt but missing H1 header and markdown links. Not scored.
100/100
pass
Sitemap present
sitemap.xml reachable and referenced from robots.txt.
100/100
fail
Link response headers
No HTTP Link: response headers. Emit canonical/alternate/describedby relations so HEAD-only or stream-rendering agents get them without parsing HTML.
0/100
pass
Canonical URL
Canonical points to self: https://substack.com/.
100/100
fail
MCP server cardemerging
No valid MCP Server Card at /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json. Publish one so agents can discover your tools without HTML scraping.
0/100
pass
OAuth authorization metadataemerging
OAuth authorization-server metadata (RFC 8414) is published, so agents can discover authorization endpoints without out-of-band setup.
100/100
fail
OAuth resource metadataemerging
No RFC 9728 metadata at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource. Publish it so agents can discover required scopes without hand-coded credentials.
0/100
fail
API catalog / OpenAPIemerging
No /.well-known/api-catalog (RFC 9727) and no /openapi.json|yaml. Publish one so agents that integrate with APIs can discover your endpoints.
0/100
fail
Web Bot Authemerging
No Web Bot Auth JWKS at /.well-known/http-message-signatures-directory.json. Publish one to allow trusted agents while keeping a default-deny posture for the rest.
0/100
Readability
fail
Markdown negotiationemerging
Accept: text/markdown returns HTML, not markdown. Serve a markdown variant of primary content when requested; agents summarize and cite it more reliably.
0/100
fail
Text-to-markup ratio
Visible text is 0.4% of HTML weight (1312/292078 bytes). Low. Markup may be crowding out agent-usable text.
3/100
skip
Content without JavaScript
Browser pass unavailable; cannot measure JS dependency.
warn
Heading hierarchy
Heading issues: no <h1>.
75/100
pass
Cookie wall blocks content
No common consent-modal markers detected.
100/100
pass
Declared language
Declared lang="en".
100/100
pass
Page title
A concise <title> is present (8 chars).
100/100
warn
Meta description
Meta description is 30 characters; aim for 50–200 so it's neither thin nor truncated.
60/100
Structured data
fail
JSON-LD present
No JSON-LD blocks found. Add a <script type="application/ld+json"> with a schema.org type for this page.
0/100
skip
Structured data validates
No JSON-LD blocks present; nothing to validate (covered by structured_data.jsonld_present).
pass
Schema type coverage
Page intent unclear; no specific schema.org type expected.
100/100
Actionability
pass
Paywall / login wall
No paywall or login-wall detected on the landing URL.
100/100
fail
Agent Skills manifestemerging
No Agent Skills manifest at /.well-known/agent-skills.json. Enumerate the tasks agents can perform (search, add-to-cart, contact-support) so they pick the right one without scraping.
0/100
fail
WebMCP actionsemerging
No WebMCP detected. On pages with first-class actions (cart, support, account), embed a WebMCP server so on-page agents invoke tools directly.
0/100
pass
Primary action reachable
Primary offering identified ("newsletter and subscription platform") with price/CTA ("Start your Substack").
100/100
pass
Reachability
HTTP 200.
100/100
Performance
pass
Time to first byte
TTFB 414ms. Healthy.
80/100
skip
Full render time
Full-render time unavailable (browser pass skipped or failed).
pass
Page weight
Initial document is a lean 285 KB.
100/100
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