{"slug":"rippling-nbet7v","companyName":"Rippling","domain":"rippling.com","url":"https://rippling.com","headline":"A network edge blocks five AI crawlers that robots.txt welcomes, and the API surface is undocumented, leaving agents unable to evaluate or integrate.","compositeScore":62,"humanScore":73,"agentScore":51,"doorGap":22,"humanMeasured":4,"agentMeasured":6,"percentile":48,"humanPercentile":45,"agentPercentile":41,"isPartial":false,"depth":"free","siteClass":"b2b_saas","scannerVersion":12,"scannedAt":"2026-09-08T14:15:11.517Z","unlocked":false,"mission":{"steps":[{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"ok","purpose":"reach the site at all"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/robots.txt","outcome":"ok","purpose":"find out whether machines are welcome"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"ask whether the door opens for requests carrying the AI crawlers' names"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/llms.txt","outcome":"ok","purpose":"read the site's own guide for language models"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/sitemap.xml","outcome":"ok","purpose":"find out what pages exist"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/.well-known/security.txt","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find a contact route for machines"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find a published agent interface"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/.well-known/ai-plugin.json","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find an agent plugin manifest"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find out whether verified agents are recognised"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"ok","purpose":"read the homepage as data rather than as a page"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find a machine readable API spec"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"read the developer documentation"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/en-GB/pricing","outcome":"ok","purpose":"read the prices without running JavaScript"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com","outcome":"missing","purpose":"find a comparison page worth citing"},{"url":"https://www.rippling.com/en-GB/lp/startupstack","outcome":"ok","purpose":"walk the way a visitor would, to a signup form or a product"}],"verdict":"The agent got through 7 of 15 requests, but could not ask whether the door opens for requests carrying the AI crawlers' names. It came up empty on 7 other checks too."},"observations":null,"dimensions":[{"key":"machine_discoverability","audience":"agent","score":95,"summary":"Rippling publishes a sitemap with 610 URLs, structured data on the homepage (Product, AggregateRating, Organization), and llms.txt. A real browser is served normally.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":4}},{"key":"programmatic_onboarding","audience":"agent","score":10,"summary":"The developer documentation at developer.rippling.com contains only 33 characters of text and shows no API credentials, endpoints, code samples, authentication documentation, or GraphQL support.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":3}},{"key":"pricing_legibility","audience":"agent","score":85,"summary":"Four prices are readable without JavaScript on the pricing page, all listed at $250. No tier is gated behind a sales contact or demo requirement. The pricing is legible and published, though the page does not specify what each tier.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1}},{"key":"agent_aware_instrumentation","audience":"agent","score":8,"summary":"No MCP manifest is published at the three standard paths checked (/.well-known/mcp.json, /.well-known/mcp, /mcp.json). An agent cannot discover or invoke Rippling capabilities through the Model Context Protocol, the emerging standard for.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":4}},{"key":"machine_fetchable_trust","audience":"agent","score":40,"summary":"No security.txt is published at /.well-known/security.txt. The homepage responds to automated requests, but the absence of a security contact or vulnerability disclosure policy means an agent cannot verify the company's security posture or.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":2}},{"key":"commercial_rails","audience":"agent","score":65,"summary":"Prices are published in raw HTML on the pricing page without JavaScript. A self serve signup form is reachable from the homepage in 2 steps, with 3 required fields and no payment collection at signup.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":2}},{"key":"steps_to_first_value","audience":"human","score":80,"summary":"The primary call to action on the homepage leads to a signup form in 2 steps. The form collects email address and company details. No account system is required to view pricing or product information, so a visitor can evaluate the product.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1}},{"key":"required_fields","audience":"human","score":65,"summary":"The signup form contains 3 fields, all 3 required. Each field carries a validation rule (email format, text input constraints). The form does not ask for payment, phone number, or company verification at signup, keeping the barrier to.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1}},{"key":"verification_walls","audience":"human","score":65,"summary":"The signup page does not display any email verification, phone verification, or identity verification requirement. The form accepts input and carries validation rules, but no evidence of a verification step appears before access is.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1}},{"key":"error_recovery","audience":"human","score":80,"summary":"All 3 input fields carry validation constraints and descriptions. The form includes 1 live region for error messaging. No inline error containers were observed, but the validation rules are present and should catch common mistakes before.","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1}}],"issues":[{"rank":1,"title":"No developer documentation is linked from the homepage, in raw HTML or the rendered page, so integration starts with a search engine.","dimensionKey":"programmatic_onboarding","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":1},"fix":null},{"rank":2,"title":"The API documentation is empty and contains no credentials, endpoints, code samples, or authentication details, making programmatic integration impossible without a sales call.","dimensionKey":"programmatic_onboarding","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":3},"fix":null},{"rank":3,"title":"No comparison or alternatives page is published, so agents cannot see how Rippling compares to competitors when shortlisting vendors.","dimensionKey":"machine_discoverability","evidence":{"locked":true,"count":3},"fix":null}],"fixArtifacts":{"locked":true,"count":7,"summaries":[{"id":"software_offer_jsonld:pricing-page","kind":"software_offer_jsonld","title":"Pricing as Offer structured data","path":"pricing page","effort":{"minutes":20,"role":"developer"},"outcome":{"dimension":"pricing_legibility","external":["Assistants comparing vendors read the plans and prices as Offer structured data."]}},{"id":"bot_wall_guidance:notes","kind":"bot_wall_guidance","title":"Let verified assistants through","path":"notes","effort":{"minutes":60,"role":"developer"},"outcome":{"dimension":"machine_discoverability","external":["Assistant shopping and search crawlers reach the product, pricing and policy pages a buyer asks about."]}},{"id":"comparison_page_brief:compare-rippling-vs-competitor","kind":"comparison_page_brief","title":"A comparison page brief","path":"/compare/rippling-vs-competitor","effort":{"minutes":180,"role":"owner"},"outcome":{"dimension":"machine_discoverability","external":["A server-rendered comparison page exists for an assistant to cite."]}},{"id":"robots_search_bots:robots-txt","kind":"robots_search_bots","title":"robots.txt rules for AI crawlers","path":"/robots.txt","effort":{"minutes":10,"role":"owner"},"outcome":{"dimension":"machine_discoverability","external":["The assistants' search crawlers read and cite the site to buyers; training stays the owner's decision."]}},{"id":"interfaces_note:notes","kind":"interfaces_note","title":"Machine interfaces: where you stand","path":"notes","effort":{"minutes":10,"role":"owner"},"outcome":{"dimension":"agent_aware_instrumentation","external":["The developer surface is built in an order where every published pointer answers."]}},{"id":"pricing_md:pricing-md","kind":"pricing_md","title":"pricing.md","path":"/pricing.md","effort":{"minutes":20,"role":"owner"},"outcome":{"dimension":"agent_aware_instrumentation","external":["Agents read the price list directly instead of rendering the pricing page."]}},{"id":"security_txt:well-known-security-txt","kind":"security_txt","title":"security.txt","path":"/.well-known/security.txt","effort":{"minutes":10,"role":"owner"},"outcome":{"dimension":"machine_fetchable_trust","external":["Researchers and automated scanners find a disclosure address instead of guessing one."]}}]},"feedback":{"endpoint":"/api/feedback","mcpTool":"rate_fix","targets":[{"type":"report","key":"report"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"machine_discoverability","key":"dimension:machine_discoverability"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"programmatic_onboarding","key":"dimension:programmatic_onboarding"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"pricing_legibility","key":"dimension:pricing_legibility"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"agent_aware_instrumentation","key":"dimension:agent_aware_instrumentation"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"machine_fetchable_trust","key":"dimension:machine_fetchable_trust"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"commercial_rails","key":"dimension:commercial_rails"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"steps_to_first_value","key":"dimension:steps_to_first_value"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"required_fields","key":"dimension:required_fields"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"verification_walls","key":"dimension:verification_walls"},{"type":"dimension","dimensionKey":"error_recovery","key":"dimension:error_recovery"},{"type":"issue","dimensionKey":"programmatic_onboarding","checkId":"api_surface","key":"issue:programmatic_onboarding:api_surface"},{"type":"issue","dimensionKey":"programmatic_onboarding","checkId":null,"key":"issue:programmatic_onboarding:-"},{"type":"issue","dimensionKey":"machine_discoverability","checkId":null,"key":"issue:machine_discoverability:-"}]}}