=== AI Mention Visibility ===
Contributors: aimention
Tags: ai, seo, crawlers, analytics, bot detection
Requires at least: 6.2
Tested up to: 7.0
Requires PHP: 7.2
Stable tag: 1.0.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

See which AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Perplexity and more) reach your site, and the visitors AI sends you. Verified, and free.

== Description ==

AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini and Perplexity increasingly send crawlers to read websites so they can decide what to recommend. **Is AI reading yours?** This plugin tells you, right inside your WordPress dashboard.

It records verified visits from AI crawlers to your site and shows them on a dashboard inside WordPress: which assistant came, what it was doing (training, search indexing, or fetching a page for a user), which pages it read most, and whether real people are arriving from AI answers. It also runs a readiness check on whether AI can read your site at all.

**Verified, not guessed.** A user-agent string that says "GPTBot" is trivial to fake. This plugin confirms each visit against the official published IP ranges and reverse-DNS records for each crawler before it counts. Anything that fails verification is excluded, not counted.

**Private by design.** Only AI-crawler visits are reported. Ordinary human page views are never recorded or sent. Raw IP addresses are used only on your own server, for verification, and never leave it - only a non-reversible token does.

**No slowdown.** Detection is a single lightweight check; all verification and reporting happen in the background, never while a visitor waits.

= What you see =

* Which AI crawlers reached your site (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, Googlebot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot, Applebot, ClaudeBot and more as they are added).
* What each one was doing: training, search, or a user-triggered fetch - kept separate, never merged.
* The pages AI reads most, and whether real visitors are arriving from AI answers.
* A "can AI read your site?" readiness check with plain-English fixes.

= Free account =

The plugin needs a free AI Mention account to store and display your data. You can create one **without leaving WordPress** - the first-run screen has a "Create your free account" button that sets it up and connects your site in one step. No card required. If you already have an account, paste your collection key on the Settings tab instead.

= Honest about limits =

We show what reaches your WordPress server. Bots served entirely from a full-page cache or a CDN edge may not touch WordPress, so they may not appear here. We would rather undercount than overcount.

== External services ==

This plugin connects to the AI Mention service (https://ai-mention.co.uk) to do its job. It makes no external connection at all until you connect your site (create a free account or add a collection key from within the plugin); a fresh, unconnected install is completely silent. Once connected, it communicates with AI Mention in these cases:

1. **Crawler directory** (once you connect, then once daily): as soon as you connect, and once a day after that, the plugin downloads the current list of known AI crawlers (user-agent patterns and published IP ranges) so it can identify them on your own server. No data about your site is sent in this request.

2. **Reporting AI-crawler visits** (automatic, in the background, only once a collection key is set): when a verified AI crawler visits your site, the plugin sends the visited path, the crawler's identity and verification verdict, a non-reversible hashed token of the crawler's IP address (never the raw IP), and your collection key. Ordinary human page views are never sent.

3. **Loading your dashboard** (when you open the plugin's Dashboard screen, only with a collection key set): the plugin sends your collection key and site host to retrieve your dashboard figures.

4. **Creating a free account** (only if you click "Create your free account" and submit the form): the plugin sends the business name, website and email address you enter, to create your free AI Mention account and connect your site. You are then emailed a link to set a password.

5. **Contacting support** (only if you open "Contact support", tick the consent box and submit): the plugin sends a diagnostic snapshot of your site - WordPress, PHP and database versions, active theme and plugins, this plugin's settings (with your collection key masked), and a connectivity check - plus your message and email, so our team can help. No visitor data or passwords are included.

Your use of the AI Mention service is subject to its Terms of Service (https://ai-mention.co.uk/terms) and Privacy Policy (https://ai-mention.co.uk/privacy-policy).

== Installation ==

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Open the **AI Mention** menu in the left sidebar.
3. Click **Create your free account** and submit the short form (business name, website and email are pre-filled from your site). This creates your account and connects your site in one step. Or, if you already have an account, paste your collection key on the **Settings** tab.
4. If your site is behind Cloudflare, select it on the Settings tab so real visitor IPs are read correctly. Otherwise leave "No".

That's it. Verified AI-crawler visits start appearing on your dashboard as AI discovers your site.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Is it free? =

Yes. The visibility dashboard - which AI crawlers read your site, the visitors AI sends you, and the readiness check - is free to keep, with no card required.

= Does this slow my site down? =

No. Each request gets one quick user-agent check. Verifying crawlers (which needs network lookups) and sending data happen on a schedule in the background, never during a page load.

= Do you track my human visitors? =

No. Only AI-crawler visits, and visits that arrive from an AI assistant, are recorded. Ordinary human page views are never stored or sent, and this plugin is not an analytics tool for people.

= Do raw IP addresses leave my server? =

No. A crawler's IP is used only on your server to verify it is genuine, then discarded. Only a non-reversible token is ever sent.

= What exactly is sent to your servers? =

See the "External services" section above - it lists every case, what is sent, and when. In short: the crawler directory is downloaded; verified AI-crawler visits (never human page views) are reported; your dashboard figures are fetched; and account creation or a support request send only what you enter and consent to.

= Why is a bot missing? =

If your site is behind a CDN or full-page cache, some crawlers may be answered before the request reaches WordPress, so this plugin cannot see them. We disclose this rather than guess.

= How do I get help? =

Open the plugin and click **Contact support** on either tab. With your consent it sends us a diagnostic snapshot of your site so we can help quickly.

== Screenshots ==

1. Which AI assistants are reaching your site, and what each one is doing (training, search, or a user-triggered fetch), verified against published IP ranges and reverse DNS.
2. Verified AI-crawler activity and visitors from AI over the last 14 days.
3. The pages AI reads most on your site, broken down by assistant.
4. Real visitors that AI assistants sent you, by assistant, with the 14-day trend.
5. A "can AI read your site?" readiness check with plain-English fixes.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.0 =
* First public release: verified AI-crawler detection (IP-range and forward-confirmed reverse-DNS), background processing, Cloudflare-aware real-IP resolution, an in-WordPress visibility dashboard, one-step free-account connect, and a Contact Support tool.
