Key findings
- Half of the sites show a phone number that cannot be tapped to call (Ankara 50%, Istanbul 52%, İzmir 50%).
- About two thirds have no LocalBusiness or Organization structured data (63%, 62%, 69%).
- WhatsApp is the one real city difference: no WhatsApp link on 76% of Ankara sites, 65% in Istanbul, 68% in İzmir. In food and drink, 89% of Ankara sites lack it.
- AI crawlers are rarely blocked (3% or less in every city); 16–18% of sites publish an llms.txt file.
- Most other city differences are within the margin of error (about ±5–7 points), so we do not present them as differences.
All criteria by city
| Share of sites | Ankara (n=313) | Istanbul (n=416) | İzmir (n=208) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opens over HTTPS | 95% | 94% | 96% |
| Has a mobile viewport tag | 97% | 97% | 96% |
| No meta description | 35% | 31% | 38% |
| No H1 heading | 42% | 47% | 44% |
| No business structured data (LocalBusiness/Organization) | 63% | 62% | 69% |
| No Open Graph preview | 41% | 42% | 41% |
| Phone number is not click-to-call | 50% | 52% | 50% |
| No WhatsApp link | 76% | 65% | 68% |
| No XML sitemap | 37% | 36% | 38% |
| Has an llms.txt file | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| Blocks at least one AI crawler | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| Homepage responds in over 3 seconds | 10% | 7% | 7% |
Method
Business lists come from OpenStreetMap (businesses with a website tag within each province). Social media and marketplace URLs, public institutions, political parties, embassies, hospitals, associations, religious and educational institutions were excluded. Ankara (439 domains) and İzmir (293) were scanned in full; in Istanbul, 600 of 2,502 eligible domains were drawn with a fixed random seed. Only sites returning HTTP 200 with more than 30 words on the homepage were analysed. Scans ran on 1–2 October 2026 from Turkey.
Limitations
- The sample is not random: businesses listed in OpenStreetMap lean towards established ones.
- OpenStreetMap coverage differs by city; only the homepage was measured.
- Response time is server response, not full page load.
- Site names are not published; only aggregate rates.
Data and citation
Summary data (CSV), scanning code and methodology are open on GitHub (data CC BY 4.0, code MIT). Download the CSV directly. Please cite as: “Flatinium, Ankara–Istanbul–İzmir business websites scan, October 2026” with a link to this page. Business list © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Press contact: info@flatinium.com.