How we decide what makes it on the site

KidPaths exists because most family-activity sites are scrapers. They republish the same Google Maps photo, the same auto-translated description, and the same outdated hours, then layer ads on top. Parents end up at the wrong place or paying for something the site made sound better than it was. We built this directory to be the opposite of that. The standard below is what stops a listing from going live.

The photo standard

Every listing's hero photo has to clear a six-point rubric. We run the rubric on each listing before it can be indexed, and we re-run it on the entire active catalog with a vision model audit. The most recent full-catalog audit cleared 96 percent of indexed listings at the top tier. Anything that fails is hidden from search and from the public city pages until a real photo is sourced.

1. Authenticity. A real camera photo of the actual venue. Not a logo, not an icon, not a Google Maps screenshot, not an AI render, not a 3D model rendering, not a watermark-defaced stock photo.
2. Venue-specific. The photo shows this named venue. Not a same-name franchise in a different city, not a generic landmark substituted in, not a stock skyline of the city the venue happens to be in.
3. Kid context. For kid-activity venues (playgrounds, museums, indoor play, water parks), the photo shows what families with kids actually see when they walk in. Pure-tourism venues get a lighter version of this check.
4. Resolution. At least 1200 by 630 pixels after resize. JPEG, PNG, or WebP. File size between 8 KB and 12 MB. Blurry or tiny images are rejected.
5. Unique. No two listings share a hero photo. We check this with a content hash. If two listings end up with the same image, both go to manual review and the one that doesn't legitimately own it is replaced or hidden.
6. City correct. The venue's coordinates have to be within 50 miles of the city we've assigned it to. Portland, Maine venues do not appear in the Portland, Oregon city page.

The content standard

A photo isn't enough. Each indexed listing also has to carry a real description that names the things parents need to know before they go. The minimum is roughly 200 words of original copy that covers age fit, what an actual visit looks like, what to bring, what it costs, and at least one detail you would not find on the venue's own website. Listings under that bar are hidden from search and from city pages until the description is filled out.

City pages and category pages have their own bar. A city only earns a dedicated landing page when it has at least 5 indexable listings, and a city × category landing page only appears when it has at least 3. We would rather show a tight Denver page than a padded one.

How AI fits in

We use AI for two things. First, to help sift through thousands of candidate venues and flag the ones worth a closer look. Second, to assist with first-draft writing on city guides and blog posts. We do not use AI to generate listing photos, to fabricate parent tips, or to manufacture reviews. The editorial standards above are enforced by humans, and the AI-assist on writing always sits behind a final read by Kit before anything goes live. If a piece of content doesn't add something a parent couldn't get from the venue's own website, we don't ship it.

What gets hidden

Listings that fail any of the standards above are not removed from the database. They're flagged and hidden from the public site, so they don't appear in search results, on city pages, in sitemaps, or on category pages. They reappear automatically once they pass the rubric again, usually when we source a better photo or finish the description. That's also why our catalog says 5,800+ activities while the live site shows a smaller indexed pool. We'd rather have a smaller, accurate site than a bigger one where half the pages are wrong.

Corrections

If you spot a listing that has the wrong photo, the wrong city, a closed venue, or a description that doesn't match reality, email hello@kidpaths.com with the listing URL and what's off. We try to act on corrections inside 24 hours. The faster correction loop is the single biggest reason this directory stays useful as a place to actually plan a day from.