Identity Anchor for Domain-Root AI Discovery (Semantic Anchor)
draft-popov-webbotauth-semantic-anchor-00

Network Working Group                                         M.I. Popov
Internet-Draft                                                1 Euro SEO
Intended status: Informational                               5 June 2026
Expires: 7 December 2026

     Identity Anchor for Domain-Root AI Discovery (Semantic Anchor)
               draft-popov-webbotauth-semantic-anchor-00

Abstract

   Automated clients, including Large Language Model (LLM) crawlers and
   Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, currently lack a
   deterministic mechanism to verify the canonical identity of a web
   domain's operator.  This "Identity Gap" results in attribution loss
   and prevents the automated verification of authority and expertise
   signals.  This document defines the Semantic Anchor: a protocol-level
   orchestration of a domain-root, machine-readable JSON-LD identity
   node discoverable via predictable endpoints.  It establishes a stable
   identity layer and a "Root of Trust" for AI-to-site interactions.

Status of This Memo

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 7 December 2026.

Copyright Notice

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   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
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   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Real-World Proof-of-Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  The Identity Anchor Document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1.  Core Identity Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2.  Programmatic E-E-A-T Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Discovery and Orchestration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  Protocol Header (llms.txt)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  Well-Known URI  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.3.  HTTP Response Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  The Authority Model: Triangular Chains (Non-Normative)  . . .   4
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   7.  Provenance and Prior Art (Historical Record)  . . . . . . . .   5
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Appendix A.  Author Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   Current AI discovery protocols, such as llms.txt, provide human-
   readable summaries of site content but function as "unverifiable text
   surfaces."  They describe what is on a site but fail to prove who is
   making the declaration.

   This document addresses the structural "Identity Gap" first
   identified on April 7, 2026.  It proposes a "Semantic Handshake" to
   move from probabilistic interpretation to deterministic verification
   of publisher identity.

1.1.  Real-World Proof-of-Concept

   The mechanism described herein was proven functional on April 20,
   2026, when a major LLM retrieval system (Gemini) autonomously
   discovered, fetched, and parsed a Semantic Anchor implementation at
   1Euroseo.com.  The system incorporated the verified identity node
   into its reasoning without human prompting, demonstrating backward
   compatibility with existing retrieval architectures.

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2.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119].

   *  Origin/Publisher: The legal entity or individual responsible for
      the operation of the domain.

   *  Semantic Anchor: The binding mechanism (header or directive)
      linking a protocol file to an Identity Node.

   *  Identity Node: A machine-readable JSON-LD document providing
      verifiable credentials of the Origin.

   *  Triangular Authority Chain: A structural pattern linking
      Organization, Person, and Service entities to provide programmatic
      E-E-A-T.

3.  The Identity Anchor Document

   The Identity Node MUST be expressed in JSON-LD using the Schema.org
   vocabulary to ensure interoperability with the global Knowledge
   Graph.

3.1.  Core Identity Requirements

   A conforming Identity Anchor MUST include:

   *  @context: https://schema.org

   *  @id: A persistent URI (Canonical URL) for the Origin.

   *  @type: Typically Organization or Person.

   *  name: The legal or canonical name of the Publisher.

3.2.  Programmatic E-E-A-T Support

   To enable autonomous trust-scoring, the node SHOULD include:

   *  Legal Provenance: additionalProperty containing official
      registration numbers (e.g., Irish Company Reg).

   *  Human Expertise: A nested founder or author node of type Person
      linking to verifiable EducationalOccupationalCredential nodes.

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4.  Discovery and Orchestration

   Discovery MUST be predictable for automated clients.  This
   specification defines three orchestration layers:

4.1.  Protocol Header (llms.txt)

   The llms.txt file MUST include an Identity header in the first three
   lines of the document:
   Identity: https://<domain>/identity.jsonld

4.2.  Well-Known URI

   For clients not using llms.txt, the Identity Node SHOULD be
   accessible at:
   https://<domain>/.well-known/identity.jsonld

4.3.  HTTP Response Header

   Servers MAY advertise the anchor via a standard HTTP header to
   facilitate discovery during initial crawl:
   Origin-Identity-Anchor: https://<domain>/identity.jsonld

5.  The Authority Model: Triangular Chains (Non-Normative)

   To move beyond simple entity mapping, the Semantic Anchor supports a
   three-node authority pattern:

   1.  Organization Node: Establishes corporate identity.

   2.  Person Node: Links content to credentialed human expertise (e.g.,
       MSc, Professional Certifications).

   3.  Service/Offer Node: Explicitly connects site knowledge/tools to
       the qualified Person and Organization.

   This orchestration prevents "Schema Islands" and provides the AI with
   a closed-loop graph of authority.

6.  Security Considerations

   Hosting the Identity Anchor at the domain root provides implicit
   proof of Origin control.  Clients MUST verify that the Anchor URI
   matches the domain being crawled.  Future revisions SHALL include
   support for cryptographic signing of the JSON-LD node to prevent
   identity spoofing and ensure non-repudiation.

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7.  Provenance and Prior Art (Historical Record)

   The architectural pattern and identification of the "Identity Gap"
   were first publicly disclosed (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marin-
   popov_ai-llms-mco-activity-7447224077381042176-haQk/) on April 7,
   2026.  A detailed technical rationale was published on April 8, 2026
   (LinkedIn Pulse https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-reason-llmstxt-
   adoption-stalling-what-our-tool-found-day-easfe/).  The formal
   technical specification was released on April 9, 2026 (Semantic
   Anchor v1.0 https://github.com/marin-popov/semantic-anchor).

   This document serves as the authoritative chronological record of the
   architectural lineage for domain-root discovery patterns in AI
   identity.

8.  IANA Considerations

   This document makes no IANA requests at this time.

9.  References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [WICG-295] W3C WICG, "W3C WICG Issue #295: Semantic Anchor Proposal",
              2026, <https://github.com/WICG/proposals/issues/295>.

   [IETF-Archive]
              IETF, "IETF WebBotAuth Archive: Proposal Submission",
              2026, <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/web-bot-auth/
              u5Ae0T0owgAo2HBPSnZSGQpiMMM/>.

   [Timeline] GitHub, "Forensic Timeline", 2026, <https://github.com/
              marin-popov/semantic-anchor/blob/main/related-work.md>.

Appendix A.  Author Credentials

   MSc Telecommunications

Author's Address

   Marin Ivanov Popov
   1 Euro SEO
   Galway
   Ireland
   Email: hello@1euroseo.com

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