# Shipfound

> Shipfound turns Claude Code or Codex into your growth engineer: every day it ships the change most likely to bring you signups, and shows which paid off.

Shipfound is a plugin for Claude Code and Codex with a remote MCP server at https://api.shipfound.co/mcp. The founder's own agent does the work; every change is a pull request on a branch, and the agent never merges. An action shows Verified only after Shipfound's server checks it live.

## Key pages

- [Shipfound](https://www.shipfound.co/): what it is, what it ships and what it never does
- [What is Shipfound](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-shipfound): the facts in one page, for people and AI assistants: what it does, for whom, prices, limits and how it compares
- [For iOS apps](https://www.shipfound.co/#app-store): App Store listing audit and review to-do (free), fixes, the app's own site on shipfound.site, screenshot A/B tests, custom product pages and an Apple Ads agent that changes nothing without the founder's approval
- [Pricing](https://www.shipfound.co/#pricing): Free ($0), Builder ($59/mo), Growth ($99/mo); what credits pay for
- [Daily routine](https://www.shipfound.co/#daily): day 1, `/shipfound:audit`; every day after, `/shipfound:grow` (in Codex: "What should I do today?"), which checks what changed and what is still failing, then offers today's moves with their prices
- [FAQ](https://www.shipfound.co/#faq): supported stacks, code safety, how AI answers are checked
- [Connect your agent](https://www.shipfound.co/mcp): the MCP server and the plugin commands
- [Setup for agents](https://www.shipfound.co/setup.md): step-by-step setup a coding agent follows when asked to set up Shipfound in a repo
- [Templates](https://www.shipfound.co/templates): the command to run first for a SaaS, a content site, an iPhone app, a new site, a launch, directories, a home page or a developer tool
- [Plugin source](https://github.com/shipfound/shipfound): the Claude Code and Codex plugin

## Answers

- [AI Overviews ranking factors: what Google weighs most](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/ai-overviews-ranking-factors): Google picks AI Overview sources with its core Search ranking systems, then quotes the passages that best answer the question and its related searches. What Google says counts, what studies claim, and what to fix first.
- [AI crawler tracking tools: the best for SEO](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/best-ai-crawler-seo-tools): Tools that show which AI bots visit your site, let you allow or block them, and check what they can read. Ranked by what each does best, with prices.
- [Best growth tool for Claude Code and Codex devs](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/best-growth-tool-for-claude-code-or-codex-developers): Pick by the growth you need. PostHog's plugin measures what users do in your product. Shipfound gets you found in Google and AI answers.
- [Best tool to get cited by ChatGPT as a startup](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/best-tool-for-getting-cited-by-chatgpt-as-a-startup): A low-cost tracker shows whether ChatGPT names you. Getting cited takes changes to your own pages, so pick a tool that helps you ship them.
- [How to track if ChatGPT mentions your product](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/best-way-to-track-if-chatgpt-mentions-my-product): Ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask, several times each, and count how often you are named. One check misleads, because answers change between runs.
- [What to use instead of a generic SEO dashboard for AI search visibility](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/generic-seo-dashboard-alternatives-for-ai-search-visibility): A rank tracker cannot tell you whether ChatGPT or Perplexity names you. The alternatives, from a free one-off check to dedicated AI visibility trackers and tools that act on what they find, with prices.
- [How do AI crawlers handle text, video, images and structured data?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-ai-crawlers-handle-text-video-images-and-structured-data): AI search does not score formats against each other. It retrieves pages with search ranking systems, reads their text, and reads images and video through the words attached to them. What each format needs, how the engines differ, and how to check what crawlers fetch.
- [How do I get indexed by PerplexityBot and GPTBot?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-do-i-get-indexed-by-perplexitybot-and-gptbot): Allow OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot in robots.txt, let them past your firewall, and serve pages as HTML. GPTBot is for training, not ChatGPT search.
- [How do I get my product named in ChatGPT answers?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-do-i-get-my-product-named-in-chatgpt-answers): Let OAI-SearchBot crawl your site, rank for your buyers' questions, and get other sites to name you. There is no form and no paid placement.
- [How do I know if AI crawlers are hitting my site?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-do-i-know-if-ai-crawlers-are-hitting-my-site): Check your server logs or a server-side beacon for AI user agents. Analytics scripts never see crawlers, and a user agent name can be faked.
- [How do I submit a sitemap to Bing and Google?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-do-i-submit-a-sitemap-to-bing-and-google): Put sitemap.xml at your site root, then add its URL in Google Search Console's Sitemaps report and in Bing Webmaster Tools under Sitemaps.
- [How fast do AI crawlers find a new page? Data from 24 pages](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/how-fast-do-ai-crawlers-find-a-new-page): First visits from ClaudeBot, GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Googlebot to 24 new pages on a young site, counted in days from launch.
- [Is writing an llms.txt file worth it for SEO?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/is-writing-an-llms-txt-file-worth-it-for-seo): Not for rankings. llms.txt does not move Google results or AI Overviews, and AI engines do not read it as standard. It is cheap, but your pages matter more.
- [Shipfound vs Peec AI](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/shipfound-vs-peec-ai): Peec AI is an analytics dashboard for teams that track how a brand shows up in AI answers. Shipfound runs in Claude Code or Codex and ships the fixes and pages that change those answers. Prices, engines and who each one suits.
- [Shipfound vs Semrush](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/shipfound-vs-semrush): Semrush is a suite of marketing toolkits that report on keywords, traffic, local, social and ads. Shipfound runs in Claude Code or Codex and ships the fixes, pages and listings as pull requests. Prices, limits and who each one suits.
- [What are AI crawler rules?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-are-ai-crawler-rules): AI crawler rules decide which AI bots may read your site and what they may do with it, through robots.txt and your CDN's bot settings. How they work, the newer content-use signals, and the mistake that blocks Google by accident.
- [What is a visibility run?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-a-visibility-run): A visibility run asks AI engines the same buyer questions several times and records how often your product is named. Why one check is not enough, how to run one, how to read the result, and the mistakes that skew it.
- [What is a web graph?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-a-web-graph): A web graph is the map of web pages and the links between them. What it looks like (the bowtie), how in-links and anchor text fit in, and why it matters for search.
- [What is AI search optimization?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-ai-search-optimization): AI search optimization (also called GEO) is the work of getting your brand cited in AI-generated answers. How AI search works, how it differs from SEO, and how to measure it.
- [What is an AI citation?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-an-ai-citation): An AI citation is a linked source inside an answer from an AI system like ChatGPT or Google's AI Overviews. The types, when AI systems cite and when they do not, how to earn citations, and how to check yours.
- [What is crawler efficiency?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-crawler-efficiency): Crawler efficiency is how much of a search engine's crawling goes to the pages you want found. How crawling works, what wastes it, when it matters, and how to check yours.
- [What is IndexNow?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-indexnow): IndexNow is a free protocol that tells Bing and other search engines the moment a page changes, instead of waiting for a crawler. How it works, who supports it, and how to set it up.
- [What is llms.txt?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-llms-txt): llms.txt is a Markdown file at your site root that gives AI agents a short map of your most useful pages. What goes in it, an example, and how to write one.
- [What is query fan-out?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-query-fan-out): Query fan-out is how AI search splits one question into many background searches, then merges the results into one answer. How it works, the types of fan-out queries, and what it means for your pages.
- [What is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-retrieval-augmented-generation): Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is how an AI model looks things up before it answers. How it works step by step, why it exists, how it differs from fine-tuning, and what it means for getting your site into AI answers.
- [What is Shipfound?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-shipfound): Shipfound turns Claude Code or Codex into a growth engineer for your product. What it does, who it is for, what it costs and what it never does.
- [What is site crawlability?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-site-crawlability): Site crawlability is how easily search engine bots can reach and read the pages on your site. How crawling works, how it differs from indexability, what blocks it, and how to check yours.
- [What is structured data markup?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-structured-data-markup): Structured data markup is code that labels what a page is about, in the schema.org vocabulary, so search engines can classify it and show richer results. The three formats, an example, which pages gain most, and how to check yours.
- [What is zero-click search?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/what-is-zero-click-search): A zero-click search ends without a visit to any website, because the answer is on the results page or in an AI answer. How it works, how common it is, how to spot it in your data, and what to do about it.
- [Which robots.txt and llms.txt rules does each AI crawler follow?](https://www.shipfound.co/answers/which-robots-txt-rules-do-ai-crawlers-follow): Bot by bot: the robots.txt rules GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended and the rest follow, the ones that ignore them, and where llms.txt fits.

## What each job costs

Credits pay for search data, AI answer checks and verification. Your agent does the writing and coding on your own Claude Code or Codex plan. Every job over 5 credits states its price and waits for a yes before it runs.

- Site fixes audit: 6 credits
- Keyword research: 4 credits
- Content brief: 5 credits
- Content check: 2 credits
- Verification: 1 credit
- Re-check visibility: 15 credits
- Search positions: 2 credits
- Listing targets (10): 4 credits
- Free tool ideas: 4 credits
- Outreach targets: 4 credits
- Community discovery: 8 credits
- People with the pain: 8 credits
- Peer study: 12 credits (free once a week on Builder and Growth)
- Feature ideas study: 12 credits (free once a week on Builder and Growth)

Free: the access audit, the first baseline visibility check, the plan, the daily brief, tracking and analytics. A site fixes audit that finds nothing to fix costs nothing. Every paid plan below Growth starts with 30 days free, billed monthly, while the free month is offered.

## What access it needs

The first command, `/shipfound:audit`, checks each of these (read only, about 3 minutes). The plan is built only from what is there, so nothing is offered that needs access you do not have.

- Repo: Framework, where content lives, sitemap, robots, structured data, llms.txt, write access, branch protection. Unlocks: Site fixes, content PRs
- Hosting: Preview deploys on Vercel, Netlify or Railway. Unlocks: PRs with preview links
- Google Search Console: Property exists and is verified, sitemap submitted, coverage errors. Unlocks: Index module
- Bing Webmaster Tools: Site added and verified, sitemap, IndexNow key. Unlocks: Index module (Bing's index feeds ChatGPT search)
- Gmail: Connected, plus the sending domain (directories often reject @gmail.com). Unlocks: Inbox module, email verification for directories
- Reddit: Has a Reddit account to post from (Claude cannot open Reddit, so nothing is read there). Unlocks: Reddit posts and replies, written for you to post by hand
- X: Logged in, account age, followers, recent activity. Unlocks: X drafts
- GitHub: gh authed, relevant awesome lists. Unlocks: Awesome-list PRs
- Tracking: tracking.js on the live site, crawler middleware installed, first event and crawler hit arrived, other analytics present. Unlocks: Analytics, attribution, AI-traffic proof
- Product assets: Logo, screenshots, a 160-character description, pricing page, OG image, a privacy page. Unlocks: Directory readiness
- Marketplace fit: Has an API, MCP server, integrations, or a Chrome/VS Code extension. Unlocks: Agent and app marketplace listings (only shown when it fits)

## What a change looks like

- One pull request per theme, on its own branch named `shipfound/<module>-<theme>` (for example `shipfound/fix-structured-data`), with a preview link where the host builds one. The agent never merges.
- Posts, replies, listings and emails are filled in the founder's browser or Gmail as drafts; the founder presses post, submit or send.
- Every action is recorded as Claimed and shows Verified only after Shipfound's server checks it on the live site, from outside.

## Install

- Claude Code: `claude plugin marketplace add shipfound/shipfound`, then `claude plugin install shipfound@shipfound`
- Codex: `codex plugin marketplace add shipfound/shipfound`, then `codex plugin add shipfound@shipfound`, then `codex mcp login shipfound`