# The Gas Index

Real-time gas prices across America. Free to use. Operated by Prime Directive AI Ltd. Website: https://gasindex.ai. X/Twitter: @gasindexai.

## What it does
- Tracks the price of regular unleaded gasoline at stations across the US. Station counts vary by page: llms.txt says 126,000+ stations across 48 states; the homepage data and press kit say 170,000+ stations across all 50 states (the press kit gives 170,483 across all 50 states plus DC); one press kit passage says 125,000+.
- Search by zip code, city, state, current location or address to find the cheapest gas nearby.
- National average price updated daily; state-by-state rankings and comparisons.
- Historical EIA price data from 1990 to present.
- Brand comparisons (Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Costco, BP and others).
- Station ownership data (American-owned vs foreign-owned) for 60+ brands.
- Crude oil import origins by PADD region.
- 2024 election overlay showing gas price pain against political margins.
- Homepage interactive US map with 3 overlays (prices, election, pump pain).

## Data sources
1. EIA weekly government survey (state-level, back to 1990) and EIA crude oil imports by PADD district.
2. Google Places API station-level prices, ratings, addresses.
3. AI voice agents (ElevenLabs and Twilio) that call gas stations directly to verify prices.
4. Crowdsourced photo submissions (pump photos, with Claude Vision price extraction).

## Features
- Pump Pain Index: combines gas prices above the national average with 2024 election margins to identify politically vulnerable states.
- Crude Oil Origins: shows where each state's gas comes from by PADD region (Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and others).
- Brand Ownership: American-owned vs foreign-owned for 60+ brands.
- Worth the Drive Calculator ("Is It Worth the Drive?"): enter car MPG and tank size to see whether a cheaper station saves money after the fuel cost to get there.
- War impact calculator: shows what the Iran war costs a user personally per fill-up.
- My Garage: save vehicles and up to 5 locations (home, work and so on) for personalised calculations.
- NearYou: localStorage-based personalisation remembering zip code and vehicle type.
- Photo contributions: snap the pump display, station sign or receipt; AI geolocates the station, extracts prices and updates them in real time. Contributions earn points ("Snap, Share +100pts"). No account needed to add a price.
- Price Changelog (/changelog): every price update is public, traceable and transparent; suspicious entries are flagged for review.
- SMS: text a zip code or address to (561) 831-7886 for nearby prices, distance and savings calculations; optional price alerts.
- Page types: /states (all 50 states), /{state} pages (station map, city breakdown, brand comparison, cheapest and priciest stations, crude oil origins), /station/{slug} pages (price, brand ownership, nearby comparison, price history).
- State pages seen include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Florida.

## Common questions
- Cheapest states typically: Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma (homepage FAQ), because gas prices vary by state tax rates and supply logistics.
- The national average fluctuates daily.

## Press kit facts (press release dated New York, 6 April 2026)
- Gas topped $4.07 nationally; the press kit says each fill-up costs nearly $17 more than before the war in Iran began.
- By the numbers: $4.07 national average regular unleaded; $1.13 increase per gallon since the Iran war began; 98.6% of stations above pre-war prices; 170,483 stations tracked across 50 states plus DC; 93,650 stations with verified prices (55% coverage); 19,216 stations dialled by The Hills; 12,786 calls completed; 75+ hours on the phone; about $3,000 total cost to build (API credits, no developer salaries); 0 cars owned by the founders.
- Built over one weekend using Claude Code and ElevenLabs. The press release claims it is more full-featured than its nearest competitor built in 26 years and a more complete data set than Google.
- Origin: after launching The Guinndex for Ireland, Cortland's mother in New Jersey asked why they could not do something about gas.
- The Hills: AI voice agents named after King of the Hill. Bobby and Hank have Southern accents; Peggy is a backup in Spanish. All disclose they are AI in the first sentence. Bobby's opening line: "Hey, I'm Bobby from Gas Index, I'm an AI. What's regular goin' for today?"
- Google Maps has fuel prices for only about 50% of US gas stations, mostly missing smaller independents; station owners cannot add their own prices through Google. Fleming: "That's nearly 85,000 stations invisible to the platform most Americans use to find gas."
- Regional response: Minnesota 80% of stations gave the price, Kansas 73%, Missouri 70%. New Jersey was least helpful at 20%, mostly due to Wawa's apparent no-price-over-phone policy.
- 17 chains appear to have company-wide or location-level policies against giving prices by phone. Examples: Wawa, H-E-B Fuel, Murphy USA (directs to the Murphy Drive app), Kwik Star, Circle K, OnCue. All refusals were polite.
- Hostility: of 12,786 completed calls, 18 contained profanity (0.14%, about 1 in 700). Bobby's reply: "No worries, thanks anyway."
- About 1 in 5 calls included the follow-up "Who do customers blame when prices go up?"; most attendants did not engage.
- Example helpful attendants: Bon Secour Pic-N-Pay, Foley AL ($3.67); Fort Collins CO ($3.69); ARCO Las Vegas ($4.49); Dillons Fuel Center, Wichita KS ($3.24); Oak Street Station, Inwood IA ($3.519); bp, Perham MN ($3.29); Food City Gas 'N Go, Kingsport TN ($3.59).
- Press materials: transcripts, live stats and regional analysis at gasindex.ai/press and by state/city at gasindex.ai/press/states. Matt Cortland and John Fleming are available for interview. Media contact: press@gasindex.ai.

## The Guinndex
- Guinndex (guinndex.ai) is Ireland's pint price index by the same team, launched over St. Patrick's weekend. An AI agent named Rachel called 3,000 pubs across all 32 counties. Covered by Fortune, Vice, the BBC and AI newsletters and influencers.

## People
- Matt Cortland: American AI engineer from New Jersey; creator of The Gas Index and the Guinndex. Former US-Ireland Alliance Scholar (George Mitchell Scholarship) and Henry Luce Scholar. https://mattcortland.com, https://linkedin.com/in/matthewcortland, https://x.com/mattcortland
- John Fleming: Irish AI and neurotech researcher. PhD research in computer modelling for neurological disorders and closed loop deep brain stimulation; now works on AI safety research. https://johnfleming.io, https://linkedin.com/in/johnflemingai, https://x.com/johnflemingai
- Cortland and Fleming are husbands, live in London in a basement flat and own no car (they say their first will be electric).

## Contact
- Website: https://gasindex.ai
- SMS: (561) 831-7886
- Press: https://gasindex.ai/press
- Press and AI agent email: press@gasindex.ai (the Gas Index does not take calls from AI agents).

## Sources
- https://gasindex.ai
- https://gasindex.ai/states
- https://gasindex.ai/changelog
- https://gasindex.ai/press
- https://gasindex.ai/privacy
- https://gasindex.ai/terms
- https://gasindex.ai/alabama
- https://gasindex.ai/florida