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Mark McNeece

Founder, AI Visibility

Kettering, Northamptonshire

About the author

Mark McNeece

Mark created the AI Visibility Definition in 2025 after spending three decades building web infrastructure and watching the gap widen between what websites publish and what AI systems can actually read. His background in managed WordPress hosting, performance engineering, and technical SEO gave him a front-row seat to a problem most site owners didn't know they had: their businesses were invisible to AI.

That observation became the AI Discovery Files Specification, a set of 10 machine-readable files that give AI systems the structured identity, permissions, and context they need to represent a business accurately. Mark wrote the specification, built the AI Visibility Checker to validate it, launched a quarterly research programme to measure adoption, and published a WordPress plugin so site owners can generate the files without touching code.

Practical systems that work. Clear structure over clever complexity. If AI can't read it, it doesn't exist. — Mark McNeece, Founder, AI Visibility
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Mark McNeece, Founder of AI Visibility

Mark's career in web technology started in the mid-1990s when he built and operated Boots Board, a bulletin board system that grew into one of Britain's earliest internet service providers. He sold the business in 1997, moved into enterprise consulting, and founded BSolve IT Limited in 2001 (Company No. 4607330). In 2005 he created 365i, a managed WordPress hosting platform that now serves businesses across the UK. In 2025, recognising that AI systems lacked any standardised way to discover and verify website identity, he created the AI Visibility Definition and published it under a Creative Commons licence.

Areas of Expertise

AI Visibility & Readiness AI Discovery File Standards Web Standards & Specifications WordPress Plugin Development Managed WordPress Hosting PHP & Web Infrastructure Technical SEO Schema.org & Structured Data Performance Optimisation CDN & Edge Caching

Career & Background

Career Timeline

Mid-1990s

Boots Board BBS & ISP

Built and operated one of Britain's earliest online communities. Expanded into a full internet service provider with leased lines and a dedicated Class C IP block.

2001

Founded BSolve IT Limited

Established a consulting and development company (No. 4607330), delivering web solutions for businesses across the UK.

2005

Created 365i Hosting

Launched a specialist managed WordPress hosting platform serving businesses with hosting, web design, and technical SEO.

2025

Created AI Visibility

Published the canonical AI Visibility Definition and the 10-file AI Discovery Files Specification. Built the AI Visibility Checker and launched quarterly adoption research.

Freedom of the City of London

25th November 1993

Granted as "A Computer Analyst/Programmer"

Education & Qualifications

  • BSc (Honours) in Computer Science
    Began 1992
  • Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
  • ScotVec qualifications in IT disciplines
    Including COBOL and electronic engineering
  • IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists)
    Qualified advanced motorcycle rider
  • Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow

Creator & Maintainer

AI Visibility Definition

Mark created the AI Visibility Definition, establishing a precise technical standard for the degree to which a website can be discovered, interpreted, trusted, and safely used by AI systems. The accompanying AI Discovery Files Specification defines 10 machine-readable files — including llms.txt, ai.txt, identity.json, and brand.txt — that let AI systems verify a website's identity, permissions, and context.

The Q1 2026 Adoption Study crawled 1,460 domains across the top 1,000 global and top 1,000 UK websites, measuring file adoption rates, validity, and AI crawler policies. The first dataset is published as open data under CC BY 4.0, with future crawls running quarterly.

On the tooling side, Mark built the AI Visibility Checker for free, instant website analysis, and released the AI Discovery Files WordPress plugin so site owners can generate all 10 files from their dashboard. The specifications and all related tools are published under CC BY 4.0.

Is Your Website Visible to AI?

Mark built the AI Visibility Checker so you can find out. Paste any URL and it scans your AI Discovery Files, tests crawler access against all 10 file types, checks identity consistency, and scores structural readiness. The whole thing takes about 15 seconds.

He also created free downloadable templates for every AI Discovery File type: grab them, fill in your details, and you're done.

No account needed. No personal data collected.

17
Articles Published
6
Topics Covered
30+
Years in Tech

Latest articles

Google I/O's Agentic Search Demos Have a Visibility Problem. The Answer Is Already a Standard.
News 10 min read

Google I/O's Agentic Search Demos Have a Visibility Problem. The Answer Is Already a Standard.

Google I/O 2026 showed Universal Cart, agentic booking, and information agents picking which businesses to recommend on the customer's behalf. Search Engine Journal called it the new business visibility problem on 30 May. Six named industry experts agree there is a problem. Nobody is connecting the answer. The fix is already a published standard, and it is deployable today.

Read article