Agent Experiences

Admin Guide to AXO

Admin's Role in AXO

Site administrators establish governance policies, maintain crawlability settings, and ensure consistent content quality that enables reliable agent access while maintaining security and performance standards.

As a site administrator, you're responsible for creating and maintaining the infrastructure that supports Agent Experience Optimization. This guide covers governance, security, and maintenance practices that ensure your site remains accessible and valuable to LLM agents.

Website Governance for Agents

Content Governance Policies

Establish clear policies for content that will be consumed by agents:

Content Lifecycle Management

Implement processes for managing content from creation to retirement:

  1. Content Creation: Review new content for AXO compliance before publication
  2. Regular Audits: Schedule periodic reviews of existing content accuracy
  3. Update Tracking: Maintain logs of when content was last modified
  4. Deprecation Process: Properly redirect or remove outdated content

Crawlability Configuration

Robots.txt Optimization

Configure robots.txt to balance agent access with site performance:

{{ ... }}

Allow beneficial crawling

User-agent: * Allow: / Allow: /api/content/ Allow: /llms.txt

Prevent crawling of non-content areas

Disallow: /admin/ Disallow: /private/ Disallow: /_next/ Disallow: /api/auth/

Specify sitemap location

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml


{{ ... }}

Crawl Rate Management

Monitor and manage how frequently agents access your site:

Site Maintenance for AXO

Content Freshness Monitoring

Implement systems to track and maintain content currency:

Content Freshness Impact

LLM agents prioritize recent, well-maintained content. Sites with outdated information are less likely to be cited or referenced in agent responses.

Performance Optimization

Ensure your site performs well under agent crawling:

# Monitor key performance metrics
- Page load times < 3 seconds
- Server response times < 500ms
- Uptime > 99.5%
- Error rates < 1%

Security Considerations

Balance accessibility with security:

Quality Assurance Processes

Content Quality Standards

Establish and enforce quality standards for agent-consumed content:

  1. Factual Accuracy: All claims must be verifiable
  2. Clear Structure: Proper heading hierarchy and organization
  3. Complete Information: Avoid incomplete or placeholder content
  4. Proper Attribution: Clear sourcing and authorship
  5. Current Information: Regular updates to maintain relevance

Automated Quality Checks

Implement automated systems to maintain quality:

# Example quality check configuration
quality_checks:
  - missing_metadata: Check for pages without proper meta tags
  - broken_links: Scan for broken internal/external links
  - outdated_content: Flag content not updated in 6+ months
  - missing_schema: Identify pages without structured data
  - poor_structure: Check for improper heading hierarchy

Monitoring and Analytics

Agent Activity Tracking

Monitor how agents interact with your site:

Citation Monitoring

Track when your content is referenced by AI systems:

Technical Infrastructure

Backup and Recovery

Ensure content availability and recovery capabilities:

Scalability Planning

Prepare for increased agent traffic:

Admin Checklist

Administrator AXO Management Checklist

  • Content governance policies established and documented
  • Robots.txt configured for optimal agent access
  • Content freshness monitoring system in place
  • Regular quality audits scheduled and performed
  • Performance monitoring for agent crawling impact
  • Security measures balanced with accessibility needs
  • Backup and recovery procedures tested
  • Staff training on AXO best practices completed
  • Citation and mention tracking systems active
  • Scalability plans documented and tested

Common Administrative Challenges

Balancing Access and Performance

Finding the right balance between agent accessibility and site performance:

Content Quality at Scale

Maintaining quality standards as content volume grows:

Security vs. Accessibility

Protecting your site while allowing beneficial agent access:

Measuring Success

Track key metrics to evaluate your AXO administrative efforts:

References

  1. Robots.txt Specification - robotstxt.org
  2. Web Performance Best Practices - Google Web.dev
  3. Content Management Best Practices - Contentful

Effective AXO administration requires ongoing attention to content quality, site performance, and agent accessibility. Start with governance policies and crawlability configuration, then build monitoring and quality assurance processes.