# The Southern: Agent-Direct Score C (61.5%)

Site: https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/
Report: https://directindex.org/r/thesouthern.co.uk
Scanned: 2026-10-14 (Provisional: the action test and the assistant citation check still to come; the hatched part of the bar is not measured yet.)
The Southern is partly visible to agents.
An AI assistant can open the website of The Southern. What The Southern offers is in a PDF or an image, which assistants read poorly. It finds a way to book or order directly, through ResDiary.

## Direct links
- Book directly: https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/TheSouthern/19685 (through resdiary acting for the business)
- Menu: https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/04/Southern-Food-26.pdf
- Phone: +441316628926

## What to fix first
- **No structured data for the business.** (+14 points) Add schema.org JSON-LD for the business (CafeOrCoffeeShop, BarOrPub or the closest type, with name, address, telephone and openingHoursSpecification, plus servesCuisine). It is the one block every assistant reads first; the fix kit below has it filled in. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/structured-data-restaurant
- **Menu or price list is a PDF.** (+3 points) Most agents skip PDFs or read them badly. Publish it as HTML, keep the PDF as a download. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/menu-pdf-ai
- **No llms.txt.** (no points, still worth doing) Optional today, cheap to add: a short text file describing the business for language models. Guide: https://directindex.org/guides/llms-txt-for-a-business

## Fix kit: What to paste

Structured data (JSON-LD). One block in the page's head, or in the builder's custom-code slot. Replace anything that is wrong.

```html
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BarOrPub",
  "name": "The Southern",
  "url": "https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/",
  "telephone": "+441316628926",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "South Clerk Street 22-26",
    "postalCode": "EH8 9PR",
    "addressLocality": "Edinburgh"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 55.9404684,
    "longitude": -3.180898
  },
  "openingHours": "Fr,Sa 10:00-01:00; Su-Th 10:00-24:00",
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": [
        "Friday",
        "Saturday"
      ],
      "opens": "10:00",
      "closes": "01:00"
    },
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": [
        "Sunday",
        "Monday",
        "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday",
        "Thursday"
      ],
      "opens": "10:00",
      "closes": "24:00"
    }
  ],
  "acceptsReservations": "https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/TheSouthern/19685",
  "hasMenu": "https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/04/Southern-Food-26.pdf",
  "potentialAction": [
    {
      "@type": "ReserveAction",
      "target": {
        "@type": "EntryPoint",
        "urlTemplate": "https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/TheSouthern/19685",
        "actionPlatform": [
          "http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform",
          "http://schema.org/MobileWebPlatform"
        ]
      },
      "result": {
        "@type": "Reservation",
        "name": "Reservation"
      }
    }
  ]
}
</script>
```

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

```
# The Southern

> bar or pub in South Clerk Street 22-26 EH8 9PR Edinburgh, Edinburgh cafes and bars. Phone +441316628926.

## Book or order directly

- Book: https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/TheSouthern/19685 (through resdiary acting for the business)
- Menu: https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/04/Southern-Food-26.pdf

## Opening hours

Fr,Sa 10:00-01:00; Su-Th 10:00-24:00

## About

- Website: https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/
- 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 key AI user agents.
- **AI crawlers get the page.** GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot all received a normal response.
- **Booking through resdiary on your own domain.** No marketplace commission, and the guest stays yours.
- **ResDiary works with agents through its partners.** ResDiary's consumer terms bar any robot, spider, scraper or other automatic means of access except as expressly authorised by ResDiary; Google names ResDiary as an AI Mode booking partner. Read 2026-10-15: https://www.resdiary.com/old/Terms. An assistant that is not a partner may not finish the step there; a direct path on your own domain works for all of them.

## Where it stands
167 of 373 in Edinburgh cafes and bars. Top 45% of the sites scanned in this index.

| What the top tenth of the index does | Top 10% | This site |
|---|---|---|
| Take bookings or orders on their own domain | 100% | yes |
| Publish the menu or price list as HTML | 79% | no |
| Let AI crawlers in (no edge block, no robots.txt block) | 89% | yes |
| Structured data with address, phone and hours | 37% | no |
| Have an llms.txt | 24% | no |

Nearest places in the index: Zero/Zero (C, 16 m, https://directindex.org/r/zerozerowines.co.uk); Lady & The Bear (B, 99 m, https://directindex.org/r/ladyandthebear.co.uk); The Abbey (B, 132 m, https://directindex.org/r/abbeybar.co.uk); Cafe Refresh (D, 197 m, https://directindex.org/r/edinburghleisure.co.uk); Cult Coffee Roasters (F, 209 m, https://directindex.org/r/cult-espresso.com); The Doghouse (D, 271 m, https://directindex.org/r/thedoghouseedinburgh.co.uk); Yi Fang Tea (D, 284 m, https://directindex.org/r/yifangteaglobal.com); The Auld Hoose (F, 338 m, https://directindex.org/r/theauldhoose.co.uk); Brass Monkey Grange (D, 408 m, https://directindex.org/r/brassmonkeygrange.co.uk); Victor Hugo Deli (B, 412 m, https://directindex.org/r/victorhugodeli.com).

## What assistants answer
Not asked yet. Assistants are asked about the top-ranked businesses in each city index, and about every claimed business the moment it is claimed; claim this page to be included.

Against its peers: Sites built with WordPress 58% (29% A or B, 36926 sites); Sites using ResDiary 63% (32% A or B, 79 sites); This site 61.5%.

See what an AI agent reads on this site: https://directindex.org/r/thesouthern.co.uk/agent-view

## Businesses like The Southern in Edinburgh cafes and bars

| Group | Sites | Avg score | A or B | This site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses of the same kind in Edinburgh cafes and bars | 373 | 52% | 31% | 61.5% |
| Sites built with WordPress in Edinburgh cafes and bars | 120 | 63% | 44% | 61.5% |
| Sites using ResDiary in Edinburgh cafes and bars | 5 | 63% | 20% | 61.5% |
| Sites built with WordPress and using ResDiary in Edinburgh cafes and bars | 4 | 65% | 25% | 61.5% |

The best of the sites built with WordPress and using ResDiary in Edinburgh cafes and bars: Fruitmarket Cafe (B 73.8%, https://directindex.org/r/fruitmarket.co.uk); OX184 (C 61.5%, https://directindex.org/r/ox184.co.uk); The Holyrood 9A (C 61.5%, https://directindex.org/r/theholyrood.co.uk).

With the two fixes above (No structured data for the business; Menu or price list is a PDF) the score would be about 87.7%: 14th of 373 in Edinburgh cafes and bars, up from 167th.

## The direct record
What agents get for The Southern, as JSON: https://directindex.org/api/direct/thesouthern.co.uk
- Book: https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/TheSouthern/19685 (vendor on own site: ResDiary; found by the scan of 2026-10-14, not yet tested)
- Order: none on record
- Menu: https://www.thesouthern.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/04/Southern-Food-26.pdf (pdf; from the scan)
- Hours: Fr,Sa 10:00-01:00; Su-Th 10:00-24:00 (open now) (from OpenStreetMap)
- Phone: +441316628926
- Stable links that count: https://directindex.org/go/thesouthern.co.uk/book, https://directindex.org/go/thesouthern.co.uk/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): not measured
- ACP discovery document (/.well-known/acp.json, OpenAI and Stripe's Agentic Commerce Protocol): not measured
- 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): not measured
- Vendor terms for agents, ResDiary: Through partners. ResDiary's consumer terms bar any robot, spider, scraper or other automatic means of access except as expressly authorised by ResDiary; Google names ResDiary as an AI Mode booking partner. Read 2026-10-15: https://www.resdiary.com/old/Terms

Not measured at this scan; the next scan measures it.

## Score breakdown
| Component | Points | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Reachable | 25 | 25 |
| Readable | 5 | 25 |
| Actionable | 10 | 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/thesouthern.co.uk
- 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: no

Keep watching this business (https://directindex.org/r/thesouthern.co.uk/plan): the assistants asked again every month, with what changed; 2 EUR a month or 19 EUR a year.
Deep report: https://directindex.org/r/thesouthern.co.uk/deep. Ten questions the way people ask, each assistant's full answer, the eight nearest similar places, the fix plan and a PDF: 5 EUR, one-off. 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=thesouthern.co.uk&force=1