{ "meta": { "title": "faq-ai.txt Specification", "description": "The canonical specification for faq-ai.txt files - structured Q&A content optimised for AI consumption.", "version": "1.8.0", "versionDate": "2026-05-11", "canonicalUrl": "https://www.ai-visibility.org.uk/specifications/faq-ai-txt/", "publisher": { "name": "365i", "url": "https://www.365i.co.uk/" }, "license": { "name": "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International", "identifier": "CC-BY-4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" }, "datePublished": "2026-01-12T00:00:00Z", "dateModified": "2026-05-11T00:00:00Z", "language": "en-GB" }, "specification": { "filename": "faq-ai.txt", "location": "Website root directory", "urlPattern": "https://example.com/faq-ai.txt", "mimeType": "text/plain", "encoding": "UTF-8", "purpose": "Provide a structured question-and-answer reference optimised for AI consumption. Enables AI systems to find authoritative answers to common questions about the organisation.", "distinction": { "faq-ai.txt": "Machine-readable, factual Q&A source", "website-faq": "Human-oriented FAQ page with marketing considerations" }, "format": { "type": "Structured text", "description": "Q:/A: delimited question-answer pairs with optional category grouping", "syntax": { "question": "Q: Question text", "answer": "A: Answer text", "category": "[Category Name]", "multilineAnswer": "A: First line\n Continuation lines indented" } }, "structure": { "header": { "description": "Optional header section with file metadata", "format": "Comment lines or [header] section" }, "categories": { "description": "Optional category groupings for related questions", "format": "[Category Name] followed by Q:/A: pairs" }, "qaFormat": { "question": { "prefix": "Q:", "description": "Complete question as users would ask it" }, "answer": { "prefix": "A:", "description": "Direct, factual answer", "requirements": [ "MUST be factual and accurate", "SHOULD be self-contained", "SHOULD avoid marketing language", "MAY include caveats where appropriate" ] }, "url": { "prefix": "URL:", "status": "optional", "description": "Source URL linking to the relevant page for this answer", "format": "Markdown hyperlink: [Link Text](url)", "example": "URL: [Account Settings](https://www.example.com/account/settings/)", "notes": "Helps AI assistants provide direct, actionable links when citing answers. Must appear immediately after the answer, before any blank line." } } }, "sections": { "recommended": [ { "category": "[General]", "description": "Basic questions about the organisation" }, { "category": "[Services]", "description": "Questions about what the organisation offers" }, { "category": "[Scope and Limitations]", "description": "Questions about what the organisation does and does not do" }, { "category": "[Contact and Engagement]", "description": "Questions about how to work with the organisation" } ], "optional": [ { "category": "[Pricing]", "description": "Questions about costs and pricing models" }, { "category": "[Technical]", "description": "Technical questions about products or services" }, { "category": "Custom categories", "description": "Additional categories relevant to the organisation" } ] }, "contentGuidelines": { "questions": [ "Phrase as natural questions users would ask", "Include variations of common questions", "Cover both basic and specific queries", "Include questions about limitations and exclusions" ], "answers": [ "Be factual and direct", "Avoid promotional language", "Include specific details where helpful", "Note uncertainty or conditionality where applicable", "Provide actionable information", "Keep answers concise but complete", "Include a URL: line with markdown hyperlink [Link Text](url) where a relevant page exists" ] }, "validation": { "rules": [ "MUST contain at least one Q:/A: pair", "Questions MUST start with 'Q:' prefix", "Answers MUST start with 'A:' prefix", "MUST be valid UTF-8 encoded plain text", "Answers SHOULD be factually accurate", "Category headers SHOULD use square brackets" ], "commonErrors": [ "Missing Q: or A: prefixes", "Marketing language in answers", "Incomplete or vague answers", "Questions that don't match how users ask", "Outdated information", "Inconsistency with other AI discovery files" ] }, "relationships": { "llms.txt": "Services and scope information must be consistent", "ai.txt": "Restrictions should be reflected in FAQ answers", "identity.json": "Factual details must match" } }, "example": { "url": "https://www.ai-visibility.org.uk/specifications/examples/faq-ai.txt", "business": "Horizon Strategic Consulting" }, "versionHistory": [ { "version": "1.8.0", "date": "2026-05-11", "changes": "Phase 6 standardisation release. Added /specifications/roadmap/ (theme-pegged forward plan with Active/Next/Future/On hold status flags), /specifications/extensions/ (rules for experimental x- prefixed files and the promotion path), and /specifications/i18n-a11y/ (multi-language publication, locale-tagged identity fields, RTL handling, accessibility of llms.html). Added the Discovery: directive to the robots-ai.txt specification (publishers MAY advertise AI Discovery Files on the same host). Added a formal media-type stance to the HTTP behaviour page (existing IANA types, no bespoke registrations). Expanded the file integrity and signing section on the security and privacy page with four candidate mechanisms, cross-cutting concerns, and interim publisher / consumer guidance. The Discovery: directive is the only normative addition to publisher behaviour; all other additions are forward-looking documentation." }, { "version": "1.7.0", "date": "2026-05-11", "changes": "Phase 5 standardisation release. Added /specifications/related-standards/ (positioning vs llmstxt.org, IETF AI Preferences, robots.txt, Schema.org, BCP 14, JSON Schema 2020-12, SemVer) and /specifications/implementations/ (public record of conformant implementations, IETF-style). Added an explicit llmstxt.org backward-compatibility statement to the llms.txt specification. Added a formal multi-domain and subdomain scoping rule to both the llms.txt and identity.json specifications (host-scoped files, cross-host identity asserted via sameAs). No normative requirements changed for existing publishers; the new scoping rules formalise behaviour the specification already implied." }, { "version": "1.6.0", "date": "2026-05-11", "changes": "Phase 4 standardisation release. Added /specifications/processing-model/ (seven-stage algorithm for conformant consumers), /specifications/consumer-guidance/ (what AI systems should do with AI Discovery Files), /specifications/test-vectors/ (canonical test suite framing), and reference-implementation framing on the AI Visibility Checker. No normative requirements changed." }, { "version": "1.5.0", "date": "2026-05-11", "changes": "Phase 3 standardisation release. Added /specifications/versioning/ (Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 commitments, deprecation timeline, lifecycle), /specifications/governance/ (proposal lifecycle, editorial process, working principles), /specifications/security-privacy/ (trust model, content-injection patterns, GDPR considerations, integrity primitives roadmap), and /specifications/http-behaviour/ (status codes, redirects, soft-404 detection, caching, rate limits). No normative requirements changed." }, { "version": "1.4.0", "date": "2026-05-11", "changes": "Phase 2 standardisation release. Added formal conformance specification (Essential / Recommended / Complete classes). Published machine-readable registry at /specifications/registry.json, spec meta-schema, and validator-output schema. Introduced versioned JSON Schema URLs (/v1/) alongside unversioned 'latest' aliases. Added optional BCP 47 language declaration field across all applicable AI Discovery Files. No normative requirements changed." }, { "version": "1.3.0", "date": "2026-05-10", "changes": "Phase 1 standardisation release. Added 'Status of This Document' block (Stable). Normalised normative requirement keywords to uppercase per RFC 2119 and RFC 8174. Added References section linking to /specifications/conventions/ and /licensing/. No normative requirements changed." }, { "version": "1.2.0", "date": "2026-02-25", "changes": "Added optional URL: field for source links after answers using markdown hyperlink format [Link Text](url). Helps AI assistants provide direct, actionable links when citing answers." }, { "version": "1.0.0", "date": "2026-01-12", "changes": "Initial specification release. Defines faq-ai.txt structure for AI-optimised Q&A content." } ] }