MCP server SEO: get your server found and used
MCP server SEO starts with getting your server listed, ranked and picked across registries like the official MCP Registry, Smithery and Glama, and by AI agents once it is installed. Your rank depends on where you are listed, how well each listing reads, and how clear your tool names and descriptions are to the model. The official registry grew from 57 new servers in January 2026 to 3,886 in September 2026, so a plain listing no longer stands out.
gaintage tracks your rank in registry and directory search. It also tracks your rank in Claude, ChatGPT and Muse when your server ships as a connector or plugin.
MCP servers get found in five registries and the AI app stores Counts are from 3 October 2026.
Official MCP Registry
The source that clients and sub-registries read from. 11,787 servers in our partial pull.
Smithery
18,286 servers, per its API.
mcp.so
18,865 or more server pages in its sitemap.
Glama
221,081
/mcp/pages in its sitemap, including sub-pages, so the server count is lower.PulseMCP
43,494 server pages in its sitemap.
AI app stores
Claude's connector directory, ChatGPT's Plugin Directory and Muse list MCP servers that ship as connectors or plugins.
Find competitors fast: search the MCP server registry by name or tag.
Publish your MCP server to the official registry in five steps Our blog has the full walkthrough with screenshots.
- 01
Publish your package or deploy a remote URL.
The registry accepts npm, PyPI, NuGet and OCI packages, or a remote endpoint. Use the same package name everywhere.
- 02
Write
server.json.Give it a reverse-DNS name like
io.github.you/server, a description of up to 100 characters, and a title. - 03
Install
mcp-publisher.This is the official command-line tool for publishing.
- 04
Authenticate.
Use GitHub for an
io.github.*namespace, or DNS or HTTP checks for your own domain. - 05
Publish and check the listing.
Call the registry API and confirm your server shows up with the right description.
Each directory has different listing field limits for MCP servers The same server must follow four different sets of rules.
| Directory | Name | Short text | Description | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | 3 to 200 characters, reverse-DNS pattern | Title, 1 to 100 characters | 1 to 100 characters | Icons, remotes |
| Claude connector | 100 characters | One-liner, 200 characters | 2,000 characters | 1 to 5 categories |
| ChatGPT plugin | 30 characters | Subtitle, 30 characters | 4,000 characters | One category |
| Smithery | Not published | Not published | Not published | Check your Smithery dashboard |
Rules checked 3 October 2026. If you also list as a connector, read Claude connector optimization.
Write tool descriptions that agents actually pick These rules come from Anthropic and OpenAI docs.
Prefix related tools
Give tools that belong together a shared prefix, like
asana_searchandasana_projects_search, so the model sees the group.Start with "Use this when..."
Say when to call the tool, and say when not to call it.
Name parameters and split tools
Write
user_id, notuser, and add examples and fixed value lists (enums). Keep reading and writing in separate tools. Claude caps tool names at 64 characters.
Free: check your tool descriptions against these rules.
The official MCP Registry added 3,886 servers in September 2026 This table shows new servers by month of first publish, from a gaintage pull of the registry API on 3 October 2026.
84% of servers in the pull have a remote endpoint.
| Month | New servers |
|---|---|
| September 2025 | 226 |
| January 2026 | 57 |
| April 2026 | 647 |
| June 2026 | 942 |
| July 2026 | 1,900 |
| August 2026 | 2,316 |
| September 2026 | 3,886 |
Partial pull of 11,787 servers.
See MCP server growth by month in our data report.
gaintage tracks six metrics for every MCP server Each metric updates daily so you can measure the effect of every listing change.
Registry and directory rank
Your position for each keyword in registry search. Track registry search rank every day.
Claude and ChatGPT listing rank
Your rank when the same server ships as a connector or plugin.
Chat suggestions
How often an assistant picks your server for each chat keyword.
Competitor servers
Which servers rank above you, and what their listings say.
Listing fixes
Changes to your title, description and tool text, ranked by impact.
MCP server and API
Ask for your ranks from Claude or Cursor with the ASO MCP server, or pull them into your CI or reports through the API.
MCP server marketing beyond registries
Post in r/mcp, get into GitHub awesome lists, and keep a clear docs page that agents and people can read. Learn how to get your MCP server discovered outside registries.
gaintage is for teams that publish MCP servers
gaintage is for teams and developers who publish an MCP server and want it found, installed and used. If you list in several registries and AI app stores, gaintage shows all your ranks in one place. Listing as a ChatGPT plugin too? Start with ChatGPT app store optimization. Browse all use cases to find your platform.
gaintage is not for teams looking for MCP servers to use. For that, use the free registry search. gaintage also does not host servers or run a gateway.
Frequently asked questions
Does MCP have a registry?
Yes. The official MCP Registry at registry.modelcontextprotocol.io opened as a preview on 8 September 2025. It holds server metadata that clients and other registries read.
How do I distribute an MCP server?
Publish a package to npm, PyPI, NuGet or an OCI registry, or deploy a remote URL. Then add it to the official MCP Registry with server.json and mcp-publisher.
Where can I deploy an MCP server?
Any host that serves HTTPS can run a remote MCP server. See the Model Context Protocol docs for transport options.
How many MCP servers are there?
On 3 October 2026, Smithery listed 18,286 servers and mcp.so had 18,865 or more server pages. Our partial pull of the official registry found 11,787 servers.
Does listing in the official registry put my server in Claude's directory?
No. Claude's connector directory has its own submission and review.
How do AI agents choose between MCP servers?
They read your tool names and descriptions, and they can only pick from servers the user has installed or connected. Clear descriptions get picked more often.