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Crane Index™ Research  ›  AI Readability 2026

Crane Index™ · Annual edition

UK AI Readability 2026

In 2026 the Crane Index™ measured how readably UK business presents itself to AI engines across 21 industries and 2295 sites a machine could read. Technology and Software read cleanest, at a median of 57 out of 100; Automotive sat lowest at 40. The single most readable organisation measured was University of Kent in Universities, at 88.

What this measures. Each score reads how readably a site presents itself to AI engines: entity markup, structured data and machine resolvability. It is not a measure of design, brand or quality. A site can look excellent to a person and still be hard for a machine to read.

Every industry, ranked for 2026

Ordered by the gap between the strongest and weakest site in each field, widest first, since the gap is the clearest signal of how unevenly a sector has adapted.

IndustryMedianGapLeads the field
Universities4368University of Kent 88
Technology and Software5767Dynatrace 88
Energy and Utilities4258OVO Energy 78
Hospitality and Leisure4358Orangetheory Fitness 79
Automotive4057Vertu Motors 77
Financial Services4557Fidelity Investments 76
Insurance4457Everest 77
Telecommunications4857Wessex Internet 78
UK Ecommerce5256Interflora 76
Education4855Fettes College 78
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals4355Hologic 76
Legal Services4655LegalZoom 78
Media and Entertainment4255Faber & Faber 76
Real Estate and Property4655AppFolio 76
Consumer Goods4654Tapestry 75
Transport and Logistics4454Agility 73
Travel and Tourism4754Princess Cruises 73
Professional Services5153Cherry Bekaert 75
Manufacturing and Industrial4452Konecranes 72
FTSE 1004344GSK 65
UK Airports4742Cornwall Airport Newquay 65

Each industry links to its fixed 2026 edition, with the full ranked field, the three reads behind every score and the data to download. The live fields, re-run on the first of each month, are in the leaderboard, and the whole programme is at Crane Index™ Research.

Licensed CC BY 4.0. Cite as: The Crane Index™, UK AI readability 2026, The Crane Consultancy. https://thecraneconsultancy.com/research/ai-readability-2026/

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