AI.MD FORMAT SPECIFICATION

The structured ten-section format for comprehensive, format-neutral AI rights declarations. Suited to platform operators and organisations that want depth without CIP namespace dependency.

What ai.md is

ai.md is a structured rights declaration file organised into ten named sections. It sits between the full depth of cip.md (which uses the CIP namespace throughout) and the brevity of llms.md (which uses flat key-value pairs).

The format uses standard Markdown headings (##) to structure content into human-readable sections, with prose descriptions rather than machine-parseable key-value pairs. This makes it comprehensive but format-neutral — it does not require adoption of the CIP namespace specifically.

Deploy it at the root of your domain: yourdomain.com/ai.md

When to use ai.md

For platforms and operators — who want a comprehensive declaration that is not tied to the CIP namespace. Useful for organisations that participate in multiple rights frameworks.
For human readability — where the declaration needs to be understood by legal teams, compliance officers, and policy staff who may not be familiar with CIP field names.
As a complement to cip.md — for organisations already using cip.md, ai.md provides a more narrative version that can be referenced in board reports, partner communications, and compliance documentation.

For machine-parseable declarations that AI systems can process automatically, use cip.md (full) or llms.md (lightweight) alongside ai.md.

The ten sections

Each section is introduced by a level-two Markdown heading (##). Sections should appear in this order. All sections are optional — include those relevant to your organisation.

Section 1

Operator

Who is making the declaration. Organisation name, domain, contact details, legal entity type, and address.

Section 2

Content Description

What content the declaration covers. A prose description of the content types published on the domain — articles, documentation, media, datasets, etc.

Section 3

Rights Status

What rights subsist in the content. Copyright status, moral rights, database rights, and any other relevant IP rights.

Section 4

Training and Ingestion

Whether the content may be used for AI model training, fine-tuning, or ingestion into training corpora. Include conditions if use is conditional.

Section 5

TDM Opt-Out

Text and data mining opt-out status under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and EU AI Act Article 53.

Section 6

Permitted Uses

A list of uses that are explicitly permitted — summarisation, translation, citation, research analysis, search result display, etc.

Section 7

Prohibited Uses

A list of uses that are explicitly prohibited — commercial training, misrepresentation, redistribution without attribution, etc.

Section 8

Attribution

Whether attribution is required and the specific format to use.

Section 9

Provenance

Whether the content is human-authored, AI-assisted, or AI-generated. Information about the authorship and creation process.

Section 10

CIP Declaration

If a full cip.md declaration exists, provide the path and the CIP specification version being used.

Example ai.md file

# AI Rights Declaration — example.com

## Operator

Name: Example Creative Agency Ltd
Domain: example.com
Contact: rights@example.com
Type: Limited company (England & Wales)

## Content Description

This website publishes portfolio work, case studies,
client briefs, and industry commentary for the creative
and advertising sector.

## Rights Status

All content is original, human-authored work. Copyright
subsists in all published materials. Moral rights are
asserted.

## Training and Ingestion

Commercial AI model training using content from this
domain is prohibited without a written licence.

## TDM Opt-Out

This site opts out of commercial text and data mining
under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and EU AI
Act Article 53.

## Permitted Uses

- Summarisation with attribution
- Translation with attribution
- Citation and quotation under fair dealing

## Prohibited Uses

- Commercial AI model training without licence
- Removal of attribution or provenance information
- Misrepresentation of agency positions

## Attribution

All uses require attribution:
"Source: Example Creative Agency Ltd"

## Provenance

All content is human-authored. No AI-generated content
is published on this domain.

## CIP Declaration

Full declaration: /cip.md
CIP Spec Version: 1.0

Deployment

Create a plain text file called ai.md using the ten sections listed above. Include only the sections relevant to your organisation.
Write each section as prose rather than key-value pairs. The format is designed for human comprehension first, machine parsing second.
Place the file at the root of your domain so it is accessible at yourdomain.com/ai.md. In a Next.js project, place it in the public/ directory.
Deploy cip.md and llms.md alongside it for full machine-parseable coverage. The ai.md file provides the narrative; cip.md and llms.md provide the structured data.

← llms.md Format Specification All reference documents →