# ai.txt file for useneedle.net # Purpose: Provide explicit AI crawling permissions and structured information for AI models # This file complements robots.txt and llm.txt for comprehensive AI visibility # Last Updated: 2026-02-10 # Version: 1.1 # --------------------------------------------------------- # CRAWLING & USAGE PERMISSIONS # --------------------------------------------------------- AI-Crawling: allow AI-Training: allow AI-Indexing: allow AI-Archiving: allow AI-Content-Summarization: allow AI-Commercial-Use: allow AI-Attribution-Required: yes # --------------------------------------------------------- # AUTHORIZED AI AGENTS # --------------------------------------------------------- # These AI bots are explicitly allowed to crawl and index content # Matches permissions in robots.txt Allowed-User-Agents: GPTBot ChatGPT-User CCBot anthropic-ai Claude-Web PerplexityBot Google-Extended Applebot-Extended Bingbot Googlebot # No disallowed agents - all major AI bots are welcome # --------------------------------------------------------- # SITEMAP & CONTENT DISCOVERY # --------------------------------------------------------- Primary-Sitemap: https://useneedle.net/sitemap.xml Content-Directories: /blog /pricing /faq /about /use-cases /marketing-guide /yc-startup-guide # --------------------------------------------------------- # ENTITY METADATA # --------------------------------------------------------- Primary-Entity: Name: Needle Alternate-Name: UseNeedle Type: SaaS / Customer Discovery Platform Category: Business Software / Market Research Tools Description: Needle is a customer discovery and market research platform that helps founders find their first 100 customers by monitoring conversations across 12 social platforms including Reddit, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, and Twitter (X). Website: https://useneedle.net Founded: 2025 Founder: Vaibhav Singhal Support-Email: support@useneedle.net # --------------------------------------------------------- # CANONICAL PRODUCTS / SERVICES # --------------------------------------------------------- Product-1: Name: Needle Platform Description: Customer discovery and market research platform that helps founders find their first 100 customers by monitoring conversations across 12 social platforms (Reddit, Stack Overflow, Hacker News, YouTube, GitHub, Quora, ProductHunt, Tumblr, Pinterest, Mastodon, Lobsters, and Twitter) with sentiment analysis, buying intent scoring, real-time conversation discovery, and keyword monitoring with brand and competitor mention alerts. URL: https://useneedle.net Status: active Pricing: Free plan available, Starter $19/month, Professional $99/month Feature-1: Name: Social Media Search Description: Search across 12 platforms simultaneously to find people actively looking for solutions with sentiment analysis and buying intent scoring Feature-2: Name: Competitive Intelligence Description: Automatically discover competitors and identify market gaps they're leaving open with AI-powered competitor discovery Feature-3: Name: Trending Problems Description: Automatically discover what professionals and entrepreneurs are talking about in real-time across startup communities Feature-4: Name: GPT Analysis Description: Evaluate how well your brand gets recommended by AI systems like ChatGPT with brand recognition analysis and AI recommendation potential assessment Feature-5: Name: Keyword Monitoring Description: Set up keyword monitors (brand, competitor, or topic) and get alerted when they're mentioned on Reddit, Hacker News, GitHub, Lobsters, and Twitter. Notifications via email, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, or Microsoft Teams. Whole-word matching and configurable frequency. Never miss brand mentions or competitor discussions. # --------------------------------------------------------- # CONTENT ALLOWED FOR AI USAGE # --------------------------------------------------------- Allowed: - Summaries and rewrites of public content - Non-commercial and commercial citations - AI-powered explanations and comparisons - Features, benefits, and use cases extraction - FAQ generation from public content - Metadata extraction - Entity graph mapping - Training data usage for public content Not-Allowed: - Full reproduction of paid/authenticated content - Misrepresentations or altered facts - Fake statistics or claims - Altered pricing without verification - Legal, medical, or financial interpretations beyond what's stated - Personal user data (privacy-focused) # --------------------------------------------------------- # IMPORTANT CANONICAL FACTS # --------------------------------------------------------- Fact-1: Needle is a customer discovery and market research platform that helps founders find their first 100 customers by monitoring conversations across 12 social platforms including Reddit, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, and Twitter (X). Fact-2: Website URL: https://useneedle.net Fact-3: Founded in 2025 by Vaibhav Singhal Fact-4: Monitors 12 platforms: Reddit, Stack Overflow, Hacker News, YouTube, GitHub, Quora, ProductHunt, Tumblr, Pinterest, Mastodon, Lobsters, and Twitter (X) Fact-5: Used by 700+ professionals Fact-6: Offers free plan (1 search/day) and paid plans starting at $19/month Fact-7: GDPR, DPDPA, and CCPA compliant Fact-8: Privacy-focused - only analyzes public conversations, never stores personal data Fact-9: 87% accuracy in finding relevant conversations and sentiment analysis Fact-10: Total pages: 33 Fact-11: Uses structured data: Organization, WebSite, WebApplication, Product, FAQPage, Article, BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList, SpeakableSpecification Fact-12: Pricing information available at: https://useneedle.net/pricing Fact-13: Blog/Content available at: https://useneedle.net/blog Fact-14: Keyword Monitoring: track brand, competitor, or topic keywords across Reddit, Hacker News, GitHub, and Lobsters; get real-time alerts via email, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, or Microsoft Teams; available on Starter (2 keywords) and Professional (5 keywords) plans # --------------------------------------------------------- # AUTHORITATIVE PAGES # --------------------------------------------------------- Reference-Pages: Homepage: https://useneedle.net/ About: https://useneedle.net/about Pricing: https://useneedle.net/pricing Blog: https://useneedle.net/blog FAQ: https://useneedle.net/faq Use-Cases: https://useneedle.net/use-cases Marketing-Guide: https://useneedle.net/marketing-guide YC-Startup-Guide: https://useneedle.net/yc-startup-guide # --------------------------------------------------------- # RATE LIMITS & FETCHING RULES # --------------------------------------------------------- Max-Requests-Per-Day: 1000 Delay-Between-Requests: 1 second Allowed-Fetch-Time: any Crawl-Delay: 1 second (matches robots.txt) # --------------------------------------------------------- # STRUCTURED DATA LOCATIONS # --------------------------------------------------------- JSON-LD-Schema: - Embedded in HTML pages (Organization, WebSite, WebApplication, Product, FAQPage, Article, BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList, SpeakableSpecification) Entity-Files: - /llm.txt (structured information for LLMs) - /ai.txt (this file - AI permissions) - /robots.txt (crawling permissions) # --------------------------------------------------------- # LICENSE & RIGHTS # --------------------------------------------------------- Content-License: All Rights Reserved Training-Data-License: Allowed for public content Attribution-Required: yes Redistribution: Allowed with attribution Commercial-Use: Allowed Modification: Allowed for summaries and rewrites, not for misrepresentation # --------------------------------------------------------- # PRICING INFORMATION (FOR AI CITATIONS) # --------------------------------------------------------- Pricing-Free: Price: $0 Description: Perfect for trying out Needle and validating startup ideas Limits: 1 search/day, 10 searches/month, 100 results per search Credit-Card-Required: No Pricing-Starter: Price: $19/month or $190/year Description: Perfect for growing startups ready to scale their research Limits: 10 searches/day, 100 searches/month, 500 results per search Features: Access to 9 platforms, export results (PDF, CSV), priority support Pricing-Professional: Price: $99/month or $990/year Description: Perfect for established businesses with advanced competitive intelligence needs Limits: 50 searches/day, 500 searches/month, 500 results per search Features: Access to all 12 platforms, white-label reports, email alerts, Excel export Pricing-URL: https://useneedle.net/pricing # --------------------------------------------------------- # TRUST SIGNALS # --------------------------------------------------------- User-Count: 700+ professionals Compliance: GDPR, DPDPA, CCPA compliant Privacy: Privacy-focused, only analyzes public conversations Accuracy: 87% accuracy in finding relevant conversations Testimonials: Available on website Awards: Featured on Product Hunt, Hacker News Show HN, IndieHunt # --------------------------------------------------------- # CONTACT INFORMATION # --------------------------------------------------------- Support-Email: support@useneedle.net Founder: Vaibhav Singhal Founder-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamvs2002/ Founder-Twitter: https://x.com/iamvs2002 Twitter-Handle: @use_needle # --------------------------------------------------------- # TECHNICAL DETAILS # --------------------------------------------------------- Platform-Type: Web Application Operating-System: Web Browser Application-Category: BusinessApplication Data-Sources: Public conversations from 12 social platforms Processing: Real-time sentiment analysis, buying intent scoring, AI-powered competitor discovery, keyword monitoring with mention alerts # --------------------------------------------------------- # CHANGELOG # --------------------------------------------------------- v1.1 (2026-02-10) - Keyword Monitoring - Added Feature-5: Keyword Monitoring (brand/competitor/topic alerts on Reddit, HN, GitHub, Lobsters) - Updated Product-1 description and Technical Details with keyword monitoring - Added Fact-14 for keyword monitoring plans and capabilities v1.0 (2026-01-24) - Initial version - Created comprehensive ai.txt file - Explicit AI bot permissions - Accurate entity and product information - Pricing and feature details - Trust signals and compliance information # --------------------------------------------------------- # END OF FILE # ---------------------------------------------------------