Direct answer: This is a 12-clause draft that turns "AI readability" into testable deliverables: robots by bot and path, static text, one H1, structured data, hreflang, inquiry path, evidence, pass criteria, remediation and boundaries. It can be adapted into a website contract or acceptance sheet, but it cannot guarantee rankings, AI mentions or citations.
The clauses come from three places: our 2026 scans (30 equipment makers' robots policies and 15 product entry pages), public robots rules, and recurring acceptance disputes—screenshots instead of tests, "already optimised" claims, and promises for outcomes the vendor does not control. This is a draft, not legal advice.
Accept verifiable deliverables, not "indexed/cited".
Evidence needs URL, time, user agent and raw HTML; a screenshot is not enough.
Trim clauses freely, but keep evidence, pass criteria and boundaries.
The 12 clauses at a glance
| Clause | What to specify | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Scope and page list | Homepage, number of product entry pages, inquiry page, English homepage; redesign triggers re-acceptance | Page list CSV |
| 2 robots policy | Per GPTBot / OAI-SearchBot / PerplexityBot / Bytespider / ClaudeBot and per path | robots.txt + verdict table |
| 3 Static text | Company, product and contact text visible with JS disabled | Screenshot + HTML |
| 4 Heading structure | One H1 per page, no skipped levels | H1 count and text |
| 5 Structured data | Organization, Product/Service or FAQPage matching visible content; no invented ratings | Validation + JSON-LD |
| 6 Language | hreflang only for real alternates, with x-default; correct lang | hreflang and language list |
| 7 Inquiry path | Within two clicks; static form or mailto/tel; privacy notice | Screenshot + HTML |
| 8 Performance proxy | TTFB, HTML and image weight; not CrUX | Measurement record |
| 9 Evidence and recheck | URL, time, UA, tool version, raw HTML; kept 90 days | Evidence pack |
| 10 Pass criteria | Priority 1 all pass; priority 2 meets an agreed ratio | Item-by-item verdicts |
| 11 Remediation | Fix window, recheck scope, what happens if it still fails | Recheck record |
| 12 Boundaries | No ranking/citation/traffic/inquiry promise; law and platform rules prevail | Signature page |
The full text is in the downloadable Markdown template with placeholders, a test table and a signature block.
The acceptance test table
| Test | Method | Pass |
|---|---|---|
| robots | Fetch /robots.txt, match bot and path | Matches the agreed policy, no accidental block |
| Static text | Reload homepage and product page with JS off | Product, description and contact visible |
| One H1 | Inspect HTML | Exactly one H1 |
| Structured data | Validate JSON-LD | Parses and matches visible content |
| Inquiry path | Click from homepage to inquiry page | Within two clicks; form/email/phone visible |
Five red flags
- "We guarantee AI indexing/citation." The vendor does not control it; accept verifiable deliverables instead.
- Screenshots only. Without URL, time, UA and HTML, the result cannot be rechecked or versioned.
- One line "AI allowed". It hides which bot and which path, and invites accidental blocks.
- Homepage treated as the whole site. Product, solution and download paths can differ.
- Launch and done. No remediation window or recheck pushes the problem to "next redesign".
Who it is for, and who it is not for
For: procurement and marketing owners signing a build/redesign contract, vendors doing delivery acceptance, buyers screening supplier websites. Not for: third-party audit reports, legal opinions, rankings or competitor benchmarking; use separate contracts, counsel and measurement data.
How to use it (20 minutes)
- Download the Markdown template and fill in the project, domain, vendor and page list.
- Trim clauses; keep 9, 10 and 12 (evidence, pass criteria, boundaries).
- Give the test table to the person running it and record evidence; recheck failed items only.
- Have legal/procurement confirm before signing; the template is not a full contract.
Related: the 20-check AI readability self-audit scores the items; the 30-company robots scan and the 15 product-page pilot provide the observations behind the clauses.
Boundaries
- Not legal advice: wording, liability, payment and data protection need legal/procurement review.
- Not all of acceptance: visual design, browser support, accessibility, performance scores and content accuracy need separate terms.
- No outcome promise: rankings, AI mentions, citations, traffic and inquiries are not guaranteed by the vendor.
- Platforms change: robots and AI crawling policies may change; acceptance describes the delivery date only.
Download
Markdown template (Chinese): geo-acceptance-clauses-template-2026.md — 12 clauses, test table and signature block, with bracketed placeholders.
Sources and definitions
- RFC 9309, Robots Exclusion Protocol: rfc-editor.org.
- schema.org Organization / Product: schema.org.
- Sample observations: 30-company robots scan; 15 product entry pages.