# Merchant & Trade: Agent-Direct Score C (67.7%)

Site: http://www.merchantandtrade.com/
Report: https://directindex.org/r/merchantandtrade.com
Scanned: 2026-10-23 (Provisional, with the action test and the assistant citation check still to come. The hatched part of the bar isn't measured yet.)
Merchant & Trade is partly visible to agents.
An AI assistant can open Merchant & Trade's website. It can read what Merchant & Trade offers. It can't find a link to book or order online.

## Direct links
- Menu: https://www.merchantandtrade.com/menus
- Phone: +1-704.445.2550

## Nearby, also direct
Places near Merchant & Trade that take a booking or an order on their own website, with no marketplace in between.
- The Cotton Room at Belfast Mill (60 m): https://directindex.org/r/belfastmillclt.com
- Ink N Ivey (70 m): https://directindex.org/r/inknivy.com
- Knowledge Perk Coffee Company (80 m): https://directindex.org/r/knowledgeperk.com

## What to fix first
- **No booking or ordering link on the website.** (+15 points) There's no link on the site for an agent to follow. If you take bookings or orders through a platform, link to it from the site so agents can find it. Add a booking or ordering page on your own domain. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/book-direct-on-your-own-website
- **Structured data is incomplete.** (+3 points) Missing: opening hours. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/structured-data-restaurant
- **No llms.txt.** (no points, but worth doing) Optional for now and cheap to add. It's a short text file that describes the business for language models. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/llms-txt-for-a-business

## Fix kit: What to paste

Structured data (JSON-LD). Paste it as one block in the page's head, or in the builder's custom code box. Change anything that's wrong.

```html
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BarOrPub",
  "name": "Merchant & Trade",
  "url": "http://www.merchantandtrade.com/",
  "telephone": "+1-704.445.2550",
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 35.2263163,
    "longitude": -80.8463119
  },
  "hasMenu": "https://www.merchantandtrade.com/menus"
}
</script>
```

llms.txt. Save as /llms.txt at the root of the site.

```
# Merchant & Trade

> bar or pub in Charlotte cafes and bars. Phone +1-704.445.2550.

## Book or order directly

- Menu: https://www.merchantandtrade.com/menus

## About

- Website: http://www.merchantandtrade.com/
- This file follows llms.txt (https://llmstxt.org): a short plain-text description for language models.
```

## Already right
- **robots.txt lets AI crawlers in.** No rule blocks the main AI user agents.
- **AI crawlers get the page.** GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot all got a normal response.
- **Structured data found (Restaurant).** address, phone
- **Menu or price list is an HTML page.** Agents can read the items and prices.

## Where it stands
145 of 405 in Charlotte cafes and bars. Top 36% of the sites scanned in this index.

| What the top 10% of the index does | Top 10% | This site |
|---|---|---|
| Take bookings or orders on their own domain | 100% | no |
| Publish the menu or price list as HTML | 95% | yes |
| Let AI crawlers in (no block at the server or in robots.txt) | 98% | yes |
| Structured data with address, phone and hours | 54% | no |
| Have an llms.txt | 34% | no |

Nearest places in the index: Metropolitan Cafe and Catering (F, 57 m, https://directindex.org/r/cafemetropolitan.com); The Cotton Room at Belfast Mill (B, 57 m, https://directindex.org/r/belfastmillclt.com); Istanbul Hookah Lounge (F, 61 m, https://directindex.org/r/istanbulloungeclt.com); Ink N Ivey (B, 66 m, https://directindex.org/r/inknivy.com); Knowledge Perk Coffee Company (C, 75 m, https://directindex.org/r/knowledgeperk.com); The Palace (D, 218 m, https://directindex.org/r/palaceon4th.com); Brads (D, 237 m, https://directindex.org/r/bradglobal.org); Tilt on Trade (F, 246 m, https://directindex.org/r/tiltontrade.com); Paper Mill Pub (C, 249 m, https://directindex.org/r/papermillpubuptown.com); Búho Bar (F, 260 m, https://directindex.org/r/grandbohemiancharlotte.com).

## What assistants answer
The assistants haven't been asked about this business yet. They're asked about the top-ranked businesses in each city index, and about any business as soon as it's claimed. Claim this page to be included.

Recommended when people ask: "A rooftop bar for sunset drinks, reserve a table for two." (ChatGPT, Gemini)


See what an AI agent reads on this site: https://directindex.org/r/merchantandtrade.com/agent-view

## Named by ChatGPT and Gemini for "A rooftop bar for sunset drinks, reserve a table for two" in Charlotte cafes and bars, October 2026
- "A rooftop bar for sunset drinks, reserve a table for two." (2026-10-19): ChatGPT with a link to this site; Gemini with a link to this site. https://directindex.org/city/charlotte-cafes-bars/recommended/rooftop-bar
Named by 2 of 2 assistants asked. Badge: https://directindex.org/badge/named/merchantandtrade.com.svg

## Businesses like Merchant & Trade in Charlotte cafes and bars

| Group | Sites | Avg score | A or B | This site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses of the same kind in Charlotte cafes and bars | 405 | 55% | 33% | 67.7% |

The best of the businesses of the same kind in Charlotte cafes and bars: CRAZY LEGS Sports Cafe' (A 100%, https://directindex.org/r/crazylegsclt.com); Carolina Ale House (A 100%, https://directindex.org/r/carolinaalehouse.com); Fox & Hound Charlotte (A 100%, https://directindex.org/r/foxandhound.com); The Craic (A 100%, https://directindex.org/r/thecraicclt.com); Omb At Charlotte Douglas International Airport (A 96.9%, https://directindex.org/r/ombbeer.com).

With the two fixes above (No booking or ordering link on the website; Structured data is incomplete), the score would be about 95.4%. That would be 6th of 405 in Charlotte cafes and bars, up from 145th.

## The direct record
What agents get for Merchant & Trade, as JSON: https://directindex.org/api/direct/merchantandtrade.com
- Book: none on record
- Order: none on record
- Menu: https://www.merchantandtrade.com/menus (html_page; from the scan)
- Hours: none on record
- Phone: +1-704.445.2550
- Stable links that count: https://directindex.org/go/merchantandtrade.com/menu

## Can an agent transact?
Measured, not scored (the score stays at spec v1.0).
- UCP profile (/.well-known/ucp, Google and Shopify's Universal Commerce Protocol): no
- ACP discovery document (/.well-known/acp.json, OpenAI and Stripe's Agentic Commerce Protocol): no
- MCP server card (/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json): no
- Ordering vendor that takes agent orders (Square, Toast, or a vendor whose terms allow agents): no

## Score breakdown
| Component | Points | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Reachable | 25 | 25 |
| Readable | 19 | 25 |
| Actionable | 0 | 15 (the action test: pending) |
| Cited | 0 | 0 (the assistant citation check: pending) |

## Agent readiness (Cloudflare)
Level 1 of 5, Basic Web Presence. Cloudflare's report: https://isitagentready.com/merchantandtrade.com
- Link headers on the homepage: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/link-headers/SKILL.md)
- sitemap.xml: yes
- AI bot rules in robots.txt: yes
- Content Signals in robots.txt: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/content-signals/SKILL.md)
- Markdown on Accept: text/markdown: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/markdown-negotiation/SKILL.md)
- llms.txt: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/llms-txt/SKILL.md)
- API catalog (RFC 9727): no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/api-catalog/SKILL.md)
- MCP server card: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/mcp-server-card/SKILL.md)
- A2A agent card: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/a2a-agent-card/SKILL.md)
- Agent Skills index: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/agent-skills/SKILL.md)
- OAuth or OIDC discovery: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/oauth-discovery/SKILL.md)
- OAuth protected resource metadata: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/oauth-protected-resource/SKILL.md)
- auth.md: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/auth-md/SKILL.md)
- Web Bot Auth key directory: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/web-bot-auth/SKILL.md)
- ARD capability manifest: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/ard/SKILL.md)
- DNS-AID records: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/dns-aid/SKILL.md)
- WebMCP tools on the page: no (how: https://isitagentready.com/.well-known/agent-skills/webmcp/SKILL.md)
- JSON-LD for the business: yes

Keep watching this business (https://directindex.org/r/merchantandtrade.com/plan): the assistants are asked again every month, and you see what changed. 2 EUR a month or 19 EUR a year.
Deep report: https://directindex.org/r/merchantandtrade.com/deep. Ten questions phrased the way people ask them, each assistant's full answer, the eight nearest similar places, the fix plan and a PDF. 5 EUR, paid once. Reading and scanning stay free. These few euros pay for the questions sent to the assistants and for the servers.
Methodology: https://directindex.org/methodology · Rescan now: https://directindex.org/scan?url=merchantandtrade.com&force=1