Request Classification System
How ZaLinkAI classifies AI Shopper Traffic to ensure fair billing based on value delivered to customers.
Overview
ZaLinkAI uses a value-based billing system that classifies every AI shopper interaction. This ensures merchants only pay for traffic that delivers real value to their customers - not for AI training, crawling, or system overhead.
Key Insight: Pay for Customers, Not AI Overhead
If an AI agent makes 50,000 discovery requests but only 1,000 result in actual customer interactions, you only pay for those 1,000. The other 49,000 are free or blocked.
Classification Tiers
Every request is classified into one of five tiers:
PREMIUM
1.0xHigh-value customer conversion actions
These actions directly indicate customer purchase intent and generate revenue.
STANDARD
0.5xNormal customer browsing and engagement
Customer engagement that may lead to conversion, charged at half rate.
DISCOVERY
Free (capped)Catalog exploration within daily limits
Allows AI agents to understand your catalog without incurring costs.
NON-BILLABLE
FreeSystem and infrastructure requests
Technical requests that don't represent customer activity.
BLOCKED
N/ACrawling, abuse, or exceeded limits
Requests blocked to protect store resources and fair usage.
Discovery Daily Caps
Free discovery requests are capped based on your tier:
100
Connect
per day
500
Manage
per day
After exceeding the cap, discovery requests are charged as STANDARD (0.5x).
How Classification Works
Request Received
An AI agent makes a request to your store via ZaLinkAI.
Pattern Analysis
The request type, session context, and patterns are analyzed.
Classification Assigned
Based on the analysis, a classification tier is assigned.
Headers Returned
Response includes X-Request-Classification and X-Billing-Multiplier headers.
Billing Applied
The appropriate billing multiplier is applied to your monthly usage.
Billing Example
Here's how classification affects your monthly bill:
Monthly Request Scenario
| Request Type | Count | Multiplier | Billable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium (checkouts, carts) | 500 | 1x | 500 |
| Standard (browsing, search) | 2,000 | 0.5x | 1,000 |
| Discovery (within cap) | 1,500 | 0x | 0 |
| Non-billable (system) | 800 | 0x | 0 |
| Blocked (crawl attempts) | 200 | 0x | 0 |
| Total | 5,000 | 1,500 |
Result: Only 30% of requests are billable
Crawl Protection
ZaLinkAI actively monitors for crawling patterns to protect your store:
When crawling is detected, the AI agent receives a warning with guidelines. Repeated violations result in blocking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my request classified as STANDARD instead of DISCOVERY?
Discovery requests that exceed your daily cap are automatically reclassified as STANDARD (0.5x) to ensure fair resource usage.
How do I know how my requests are being classified?
Check the X-Request-Classification header in every API response. Your dashboard also shows a breakdown of classifications.
What happens if an AI agent is blocked?
Blocked requests receive a 429 or 403 response with an X-Crawl-Warning header explaining the issue and linking to our agent guidelines.
Can I appeal a classification decision?
Yes, contact support with your store ID and specific request IDs. Our team can review and adjust if there's a classification error.
Do discovery caps reset?
Yes, discovery caps reset daily at midnight (UTC). Monthly billing totals reset on the 1st of each month.