Listing Guidelines

Who Automation-List is for

Automation-List is a curated directory of industrial automation solution providers: companies that design, build, integrate, or engineer automation systems. Our goal is a directory an engineer or buyer can trust. When you find a company here, it does real automation work, not just sell parts.

That focus is what keeps the directory useful. A list that includes every hardware reseller and marketplace storefront becomes noise. So we hold a clear line, and we review every submission manually against it.

Who we list

Your company fits if automation is part of what you do, not just what you sell:

  • System integrators: you design and commission automation systems for clients
  • Machine builders and OEMs: you build machines with integrated control systems
  • MES, SCADA, and PLC vendors: you provide the platforms that run production
  • Automation and control software: you develop software for manufacturing, control, or industrial data
  • Engineering and automation consultancies: you plan, specify, or advise on automation projects
  • Control-system component manufacturers: you manufacture automation components and maintain a genuine engineering presence (documentation, application engineering, support)

Who we don't list

  • Commodity hardware resellers and distributors whose role is shipping products, with no automation engineering involvement
  • Generic component sellers (actuators, cables, connectors, enclosures) sold as catalogue products with no system-level offering
  • Marketplace and drop-ship storefronts: product-grid sites, "add to cart" catalogues, no engineering or services content
  • Companies with no mappable automation category. If what you do doesn't fit one of our categories, it isn't a fit for the directory

The line we draw

The test isn't "hardware vs. software". Plenty of hardware companies belong here. The test is your role in the automation stack: do you engineer, integrate, or build automation, or do you resell components? A company that manufactures PLCs and supports the engineers deploying them belongs here. A storefront reselling the same PLCs alongside cables and enclosures, with no engineering role, does not.

A few examples:

  • A firm that sells linear actuators and designs custom motion systems for machine builders → listed (they engineer)
  • A storefront selling linear actuators from a product catalogue → not listed (they resell)
  • A distributor that also does panel building and commissioning → listed (they add engineering value)
  • A distributor that only warehouses and ships → not listed

Before we review

A few things are checked before we look at your company at all. They take seconds on our side and save you a wasted submission:

  • A working website with real content. We need to be able to see what you build. Parked domains, placeholder pages, and template sites with no substance are declined without further review.
  • A usable contact address. Free providers (Gmail, Outlook, and similar) are fine and are never a reason for rejection. Disposable and throwaway addresses are not accepted. If the address you submit from doesn't belong to your company's domain, we confirm the listing with an address published on your own website (for example info@ or sales@) before it goes live.
  • Jurisdiction. We currently cannot accept listings for companies based in Iran or Russia. This is a decision about where we operate, not a judgement about individual companies, and it isn't something a submission can address.

What makes a submission easy to approve

We look for evidence that the automation work is real. The strongest submissions show at least some of this, either in the form or on your website:

  • Named projects, references, or case studies, even briefly described
  • Concretely described services rather than a list of industry keywords
  • Platforms and technologies you actually work with
  • Team, engineering, or support presence that matches the claims

Generic copy that could describe any company in the industry is the most common reason a genuine automation company ends up on hold instead of published.

Not sure if you qualify?

Submit anyway. Include a short description of what you actually build or deliver, not just your product range. We review every entry by hand, and if you're a borderline case, that description is what tips the decision. If you're a genuine automation company, err toward submitting.

How submissions are handled

  1. You submit your company and confirm your email, a one-click step that verifies the submission is real.
  2. Your entry enters our manual review queue.
  3. We check it against these guidelines and reach one of four outcomes.
  4. You hear back either way, normally within 1 to 2 business days.

The four outcomes:

  • Published. Your listing goes live in the free directory.
  • Supplier Listing offered. You manufacture components or parts rather than deliver automation solutions. The free directory isn't the right place, but a paid Supplier Listing is available. We'll reply with the details.
  • On hold, evidence requested. We can see a real company but not enough to place it, or we couldn't load your website at all (this happens with JavaScript-only sites and with servers that block automated access). We'll write and ask. Nothing is rejected for being technically hard to read.
  • Declined. Either your company falls outside what this directory covers, in which case a new submission won't change the outcome, or it was close and something specific was missing. We say which, and if it was close, you're welcome to submit again once that's addressed.

If you're declined and believe it was an error, reply to your confirmation email and tell us what we missed.

Ready to apply? Submit your company.