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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “agent discovery”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “agent discovery”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

KP Agent Ready shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Bit Flows: AI Agent Automation & Integrations for Forms, CRM, eCommerce, Google Sheets, and More places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 64 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too low 4 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 ↓2 11 too low 5 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Bit Flows: AI Agent Automation & Integrations for Forms, CRM, eCommerce, Google Sheets, and More 1K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #20 ↓1 14 too low 7 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 WSP MCP – Free MCP Plugin for WordPress: Connect Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑5 10 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓4 13 too low 12 Conversion Agent Discovery 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑4 1 too low 14 LLMagnet – AI Visibility & AI SEO for Claude, ChatGPT & More 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 Flex MCP – Connect ChatGPT, Claude and AI agents with MCP, Undo, Abilities and Tools. 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 SD AI Agent 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 10 too high 18 AI for Home Services 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 AJ Agent Crawl Optimizer – AI Readiness Scanner & llms.txt for WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑5 20 KP Agent Ready 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Mescio for Agents 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 DiviOps Agent 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #23 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.