Hand agents the Markdown, not the layout
Serve a Markdown copy of each content page when a request asks for text/markdown, or at the same path plus .md. Keep the words identical to the HTML, send Vary: Accept so caches keep the two apart, and name the HTML page as canonical in the Link header. Agents get a clean read, and nothing competes with the original.
By The Marketinque TeamReviewed June 2026
Step 1.3.3.6 Serve a Markdown version of each content page to agents that ask for it in the SaaS launch checklist · phase 1, Ship-ready
The play
When an agent fetches a page for its user and asks for Markdown, answer with the same text as plain Markdown instead of the full HTML. It reads your words rather than your menus and scripts, and the copy stays tied to the HTML page as its canonical.
How to run it
- Render the Markdown from the same source as the HTML, so the two cannot drift.
- Answer Accept: text/markdown on the page URL, and the same path plus .md, with Content-Type text/markdown.
- Send Vary: Accept on both versions, so a cache never hands the Markdown to a browser.
- Add an HTTP Link header naming the HTML page as canonical. A Markdown file has no head to put the tag in.
- List the .md URLs in llms.txt, and keep the Markdown out of the sitemap.
- Test it: request a page with the header and confirm the type, the Vary header and the canonical.
Watch out for
- Never add words to the Markdown that the HTML lacks. A version only machines see is cloaking, whatever the format.
- This helps agents read you. It is not a ranking lever, and no search engine documents ranking on it.
Best for
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Plays like this one
- Ship llms.txt: a crib sheet for AI crawlersAdd an llms.txt file and a plain-language facts page stating what the product is, who it serves, pricing, and honest differences from alternatives, written in flat quotable markdown. AI crawlers assemble answers from whatever they can parse; giving them a canonical crib sheet makes the version they repeat the version you wrote.
- Build the page an answer engine can quoteWrite the page so any passage still reads correctly once it is lifted out: a plain definition and one dated number at the top, comparisons as HTML text rather than images, a source linked beside each claim, quotes from named people, and a real author in the markup. Then make sure the search indexes behind the engines can fetch it.
- Author the honest "best [category] tools" list yourselfPublish a genuinely fair "best [category] tools" ranking on your own domain, including real competitors, their strengths, and who each option suits, with yourself placed honestly. AI engines and searchers both favor ranked lists; authoring the definitive one means the comparison happens on your turf, framed by your criteria.
- Say the same sentence everywhere a machine looksWrite one sentence naming your category and your buyer, then propagate it verbatim across your homepage, listings, review profiles and community answers. Retrieval systems assemble a picture of you from many sources at once; when they all agree, the claim reads as consensus, and when they contradict each other the model hedges or leaves you out.
Sources
Compiled by The Marketinque Team to our editorial standards.