Related guides: The API and MCP reference.
4 of the hundred checks are in this group. Each is listed with its weight in the score and whether it affects AI search directly, and for each: why it matters, and what to do. The hub page has the other groups and how the score is made.
MCP server card
mediumNo effect on AI search
Why it matters. Agents can only use tools they can discover. Without a server card an AI agent has no way to learn your site exposes an API it could call, so it is reduced to scraping your HTML like a person — slower, more fragile, and far more likely to give up and use a competitor.
What to do. Publish /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json per SEP-1649 describing your MCP server's transport and tools. Note the spec is still a proposal; expect changes.
When it is not scored. Not present — only needed if you run an MCP server for AI agents. Not scored.
A2A agent card
lowNo effect on AI search
Why it matters. The other half of the discovery question the MCP card asks. MCP advertises tools an agent can call on your behalf; A2A advertises an agent of yours that another agent can hand a task to. A2A reached v1.0 under the Linux Foundation, so the shape is settled — but publication is not: probed across 42 real sites, including the AI- and agent-forward ones where it would appear first, exactly one served a card. Read absence here as the normal state, not as a gap to close.
What to do. Only if you actually run an A2A agent. Publish /.well-known/agent-card.json naming the agent, its service endpoint, its authentication scheme and its skills. A card pointing at an endpoint that does not answer is worse than none, because a client spends a request to learn nothing.
When it is not scored. Not present — only needed if you run an agent other agents should be able to delegate to. Not scored.
MCP manifest
lowNo effect on AI search
Why it matters. A competing discovery proposal (SEP-1960) to the server card. Both are in flight; neither is final.
What to do. Implement the server-card form first. Add this only if a client you care about requires it.
When it is not scored. Not present — only needed if you run an MCP server. Not scored.
OAuth discovery
mediumNo effect on AI search
Why it matters. If your MCP server requires a login, agents cannot complete the authorization handshake without these discovery documents. The integration does not error loudly — it just silently fails to connect.
What to do. Serve /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource and /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server. Only needed if your MCP server is authenticated.
When it is not scored. Not present — only needed if your MCP server requires a login. Not scored.