AI LINK MONETIZATION
How do I get paid when an AI visits my link?
Last reviewed: 2026-10-10. The API guide holds the endpoint detail and the current payment hold.
A monetized link answers an automated request with a price instead of the content. The visitor's client returns a signed payment authorisation, and the resource is released only after that payment settles to the receiving address you control. You are paid per paid request, not per impression: a client that does not pay receives the price and nothing else.
The price travels with the resource, so it applies to whoever asks. A person, a crawler and an agent are quoted the same amount, and the amount is visible before anything is authorised.
Payment is one transfer per request. There is no advertising network in the middle and no impression to count: the request either pays and is served, or it does not pay and is left with the offer.
Direct answers
What does the AI visitor see?
An HTTP 402 response containing the price: the amount, the token, the network and the address that receives it.
The response is an offer, not a page, and it contains no part of the resource. A client that only fetches pages therefore learns the price but not the content.
Clients built for the x402 convention read that offer, check the amount and the receiving address, and return a signed authorisation for that exact request.
How does the money reach me?
As a USDC transfer on the configured network to the receiving address, where the transfer is publicly recorded.
There is no bank deposit and no payout schedule in this route. Settlement happens on the network, and the transfer can be inspected by anyone, including the payer.
An authorisation on its own is not settlement. The resource is released after the payment is verified, and the transfer is checked against the request rather than trusting a browser redirect or a posted amount.
Do I have to identify the visitor as a bot first?
No. The price is attached to the resource, so any client can accept it and no crawler name is required to be paid.
This site records a visitor type (AI or human) for reporting. That record is analytics only: a user-agent string is easy to copy, so it is never used to grant access or to prove identity.
Human visitors are not charged for ordinary pages. The paid route is one specific endpoint for one specific resource.
How a paid request works, step by step
- The resource sits behind an endpoint. The paid content is held at its own address instead of being printed into a page, so a visitor has to ask for it directly.
- The request arrives. A browser, a crawler or an agent asks for the resource. Nothing about the requester's name changes the price.
- The server answers HTTP 402. The reply carries the offer: the exact amount, the token, the network and the receiving address. The content is not in that reply.
- The client authorises payment. The client signs an authorisation for that exact amount and address, and returns it with the request.
- The payment is verified. A facilitator verifies the authorisation, and the site independently checks that the transfer matches the request before releasing anything.
- The resource is released. Delivery happens only after verification. A redirect, a screenshot or a browser flag is never treated as proof of payment.
What this route does not promise
A refusal is not a sale
A client that will not or cannot pay receives the price and no content. Nothing is delivered early, and no part of the resource is handed over on the promise of a later payment.
Crawler names prove nothing
Any client can copy the name of a known crawler. Paid access here depends on a verified payment rather than on the identity a visitor claims.
No guaranteed income
Nothing on this site promises a number of paying visits, a conversion rate or a monthly figure. A paid visit depends on a client that can and will pay for that resource.
Crypto settlement, not a bank payout
The paid route settles in USDC on a public network. Converting the funds, moving them onwards and their tax treatment are all outside this product.
Availability
New token payments are paused while the wallet-security review is unresolved. The price, network and receiving address stay configured, and they are not an invitation to pay.
Card checkout is open at US$19.00 USD, charged once through Stripe, with no wallet required.
Ownership of the original wallet and the original transaction are checked, and recovery never asks for a second payment.
The report area shows five synthetic views on fictional data. New report purchases are on hold.
Definitions used on this page
- HTTP 402 Payment Required
- The HTTP status code reserved for payment conditions. A server returns it to say that the requested resource is available for a price rather than for free.
- Monetized link
- A link whose response depends on a payment condition: the visitor is quoted a price, and the content is released only after that payment is verified.
- Per-request pricing
- Pricing a resource by the request instead of by an advertisement impression. The price travels with the resource, so every requester sees the same amount.
- Settlement
- The point at which a payment is recorded on the network and the funds become the recipient's. A signed authorisation on its own is not settlement.
- User-agent
- The text a client sends to identify itself. It can be copied by anyone, so it is treated as reporting data and never as identity or authorisation.
- x402
- An open convention for charging for a request over HTTP: the server answers with the price and payment details, the client returns a signed authorisation, and the resource is released once the payment settles.
All definitions lists the full set of terms in one place.
Questions and short answers
What does one paid request cost?
The price is set per resource, and the visitor is shown the exact amount before it authorises anything. The configured default price on this site is 0.01 USDC.
Do human visitors pay as well?
Not for ordinary pages. The price belongs to the protected resource endpoint, so the storefront stays free to read and only that endpoint asks for payment.
Which network and token does the paid route use?
The paid route here is configured for native USDC on Base mainnet. The offer for each request names the exact token contract, network and receiving address.
Is the paid route live today?
New payments are paused while the wallet-security review is unresolved, so no new token payment is requested. The card storefront is open and the report area is a free demo.
What happens if a payment attempt goes wrong?
Do not pay twice. Keep the original wallet, transaction hash, resource and network, and use the recovery route so the stored purchase and its receipt can be checked.
Does charging AI visitors conflict with crawl rules?
They are separate. robots.txt states which paths may be crawled, and the paid endpoint is excluded from crawling. Paying and being permitted to crawl are different conditions.
Can my own link use this layer?
Not self-serve today: the paid route serves PayPerAI's own resources. The API guide documents the mechanism, and the contact page is the way to raise a question about it.
Do I need a crypto wallet to buy the pack?
No. Card checkout runs through Stripe, is charged US$19.00 USD once, and never asks for a wallet.
Where the practical material is
The paid route is the layer that charges for a resource. The Ecommerce Supplier & Margin Pack v1 is the download that is actually on sale today: a reusable starting point for checking suppliers, organising catalogue data and calculating order economics.