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ESPN

espn.com · Media

Ranked 93 of 2,047 companies in the study

45Overall score
  • Visibility48
  • Citations1
  • Sentiment64
  • Site quality80
  • AI readiness36
What this means for ESPN

AI assistants name ESPN in 58.3% of answers, which is much more often than the typical company in the media sector at 15%. Its overall score is 45 out of 100, ranking 93rd of 2,047 companies. The website passes 4 out of 14 technical checks for how ready it is for AI tools.

We asked 15 unbranded questions about the media market: none named ESPN. AI assistants named it in 35 of 60 answers (58.3%). The typical media company is named in 15.0% of answers. By how often it is named, ESPN ranks 16 of 99 in its sector.

Named by AI in
58.3%
35 of 60 answers
Share of mentions
31.5%
compared with 5 rivals
AI readiness
4/14
technical checks passed. Typical for its sector: 3
Rank in its sector
7 of 99
by overall score, where the typical media company scores 36
How ESPN compares with all 2,047 companies

Every dot is a company in the study. Hover one to see it; click to open its report.

This companySame sectorEvery other companyNever named

What makes up the score

Five parts, each scored out of 100.

Visibility
48

How often AI assistants name the company

Citations
1

How often AI uses the company's own website as a source

Sentiment
64

How positively AI describes the company

Site quality
80

How well built the website's own pages are

AI readiness
36

How easily AI tools can read and use the website

Visibility is calculated from the answers on this page. How the score is built.

Compared with media

99 companies in this sector. The line on each bar is the typical company.

Overall score45
Ranks 7 of 99. Typical company: 36
Named in answers58%
Ranks 16 of 99. Typical company: 15%
AI readiness36
Ranks 13 of 99. Typical company: 29
What Gemini actually said

An answer that names the company

“How do sports media platforms compare for live game streaming quality?”

When comparing sports media platforms for live game streaming quality, several factors come into play, including resolution, stability, and features like multi-screen viewing. While most services offer HD as a baseline, 4K streaming for live sports is still a premium feature.

Here's a comparison of some popular platforms:

Fubo: Fubo is often highlighted for its sports-first approach, offering a deep roster of channels and a focus on features important for live games, such as 4K streaming. It has made a name for itself as a leader in 4K, consistently broadcasting major events like …

The AI’s answer as we received it, shortened and not checked for accuracy.

Also named
Yahoo Sports16Bleacher Report6Fox Sports3
Share of mentions

How the mentions in these answers were split between this company and its rivals

ESPN
33.0%
CBS Sports
19.8%
Yahoo Sports
17.0%
Fox Sports
12.3%
NBC Sports
11.3%
Bleacher Report
6.6%
Which AI assistants named the company

Answers naming it, out of answers received

Gemini
11/15
OpenAI
9/15
Claude
8/15
Perplexity
7/15
Ready for AI agents

What this website publishes for an AI agent to read, use and buy from, on a scale of six levels.

  1. 0
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5

Level 1: Basic web presence. Two of robots.txt, a sitemap and Link headers are in place.

To reach level 2:
  • Content Signals
Show every check, for your technical team
Discoverability
77 of 100
  • robots.txtPassed

    A valid robots.txt with crawl rules at the site root.

    study: 92.0%
  • SitemapPassed

    An XML sitemap listing the pages, ideally referenced from robots.txt.

    study: 86.8%
  • Link headersNot met

    Send Link headers such as rel="api-catalog" or rel="describedby" on the homepage.

    study: 0.3%
  • DNS for AI DiscoveryNot present

    Advertise agent endpoints with SVCB records under _agents.

    study: 5.5%
Content accessibility
0 of 100
  • Markdown negotiationNot met

    Return a markdown version when asked with Accept: text/markdown, for example at the CDN.

    study: 1.9%
  • llms.txtNot met

    Publish an llms.txt with a short summary and the key links.

    study: 25.1%
Bot access control
32 of 100
  • AI bot rulesPartly met

    Add explicit robots.txt groups for the main AI crawlers.

    study: 93.4%
  • Content SignalsNot met

    Add a Content-Signal line for search, ai-input and ai-train to robots.txt.

    study: 1.4%
  • Web Bot AuthNot present

    Only relevant if you run your own agents or crawlers: publish a signing key directory.

    study: 0.2%
APIs, auth and MCP
0 of 100
  • API CatalogNot met

    List public APIs in a linkset at /.well-known/api-catalog.

    study: 0.3%
  • OAuth discoveryNot met

    Publish OpenID Connect or OAuth server metadata under /.well-known.

    study: 11.8%
  • OAuth Protected ResourceNot met

    Serve protected resource metadata at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource.

    study: 10.3%
  • auth.mdNot met

    Publish an auth.md describing how agents sign in.

    study: 0.0%
  • MCP Server CardNot met

    Offer an MCP server and publish its server card under /.well-known.

    study: 0.2%
  • A2A Agent CardNot met

    Publish an agent card at /.well-known/agent-card.json.

    study: 0.1%
  • Agent SkillsNot met

    Publish a skills index with the main tasks agents can do.

    study: 0.2%
  • WebMCPCould not check

    Register key actions such as search or cart as WebMCP tools.

    study: 33.7%
  • ARD manifestNot met

    Publish an ai-catalog.json listing every agent interface.

    study: 0.1%

Score 25 of 100 · 97% of checks could run · checked on October 5, 2026 · www.espn.com · 2,047 companies scanned

See how every company did, and how this was measured.

The checks behind the AI readiness score

4 of 14 passed. This list is for your technical team. The percentage is how many companies in the study pass each check.

These 14 checks ran during the audit and are what the AI readiness part of the overall score counts. The scan above ran later and is stricter on Link headers and Markdown, so a check can pass here and not there.

Show the 14 checks
Discoverability
  • Passedrobots.txt publishedstudy: 85.0%
  • PassedXML sitemapstudy: 73.2%
  • Not metHTTP Link headers (RFC 8288)study: 29.0%
Content Accessibility
  • Not metMarkdown content negotiationstudy: 8.3%
  • Not metllms.txt publishedstudy: 21.7%
  • PassedToken budget (page weight)study: 95.2%
Bot Access Control
  • PassedExplicit AI bot rulesstudy: 13.0%
API / Auth / MCP
  • Not metAPI Catalog (.well-known/api-catalog)study: 0.2%
  • Not metOAuth Authorization Server discoverystudy: 10.1%
  • Not metOAuth Protected Resource discoverystudy: 9.3%
  • Not metMCP Server Cardstudy: 0.0%
  • Not metA2A Agent Cardstudy: 0.0%
  • Not metWebMCP toolsstudy: 4.2%
  • Not metAgent Skills declaredstudy: 0.0%
What AI crawlers may read (robots.txt)

This website sets rules for 8 AI crawlers by name. All others follow its general rules.

Training AI
  • GPTBot*blocked
  • ClaudeBotpartly
  • Anthropic-AI*blocked
  • Google-Extended*blocked
  • Applebot-Extendedpartly
  • Meta-ExternalAgentpartly
  • FacebookBot*blocked
  • Bytespider*blocked
  • CCBot*blocked
  • Diffbotpartly
  • Omgilibot*blocked
AI search
  • OAI-SearchBotpartly
  • Claude-SearchBotpartly
  • PerplexityBotpartly
  • Applebotpartly
  • Amazonbotpartly
  • YouBotpartly
Answering questions
  • ChatGPT-User*blocked
  • Claude-Userpartly
  • Perplexity-Userpartly
  • DuckAssistBotpartly
  • MistralAI-Userpartly

Read from the website’s own rules file (robots.txt). An asterisk marks a crawler the file names. The rest follow its general rules. “Partly” means only some pages are blocked.

Websites the AI used as sources

How many times each website was listed as a source in these answers

sports.yahoo.com
25
foxsports.com
16
reviews.org
15
goal.com
14
businessinsider.com
13
youtube.com
13
cabletv.com
11
cnet.com
11
cbssports.com
11
reddit.com
10

In the study as Consumer brands. One of the most visited websites in the United States (Similarweb, August 2026). A Disney brand.

Every question, and where the company came up (12 of 15)
QuestionOpenAIClaudePerplexityGemini
  • How do sports media platforms compare for live game streaming quality?
  • How can I fix issues with live score updates not refreshing on sports websites?
  • Where can I find up-to-date sports news and live scores online?
  • Sports streaming app vs traditional TV: which is better for live event coverage?
  • Are there free options for watching live sports legally online?
  • What are alternatives to paid sports streaming services for catching live games?
  • What’s the best way to follow multiple games at once online during playoffs?
  • How can I stay updated on sports scores without a cable subscription?
  • Why do live sports streams sometimes lag or buffer?
  • Is a sports streaming subscription worth it for fans who want access to live games?
  • What are the main benefits of paying for an online sports platform?
  • Where can I find highlights and recaps if I miss a live sports event?
  • How much do most sports streaming subscriptions cost per month in the US?
  • What are the best platforms for streaming live sports in the US?
  • How can I participate in fantasy leagues through sports media platforms?
named the companyanswered without naming itdid not answer

Columns, left to right: OpenAI, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini. The AI assistants often disagree. Across the study, on 40% of the questions where a company is named, only one of the four names it.

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Overall score 45 of 100 badge for ESPN

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