## Trust lives in consistency

AI systems rarely know your intent. They see public evidence and infer from there. Trust signals are the pieces of public evidence that help them decide whether your site is coherent enough to use.

## Core trust inputs

- Update history
- Stable content model
- Definitions that stay consistent
- Directory fields that match the rest of the site
- Public source files that agree with rendered pages
- Topic focus over time

## Freshness matters differently now

Freshness is not just about posting more. It is about whether the site shows clear signs of maintenance. A glossary updated recently, directory entries with current details, and report pages with visible revision patterns all help.

## Strong trust is boring in the best way

The strongest trust signal is that everything lines up. Nothing feels improvised. Every route has a reason. Every content type has a role. Every machine-readable file reinforces the same picture.