The Gas Index
The Gas Index is a live tracker of US fuel prices, built on AI phone verification. AI voice agents phone petrol stations to confirm the price at the pump, which no scraper can reach. It covers 170,483 stations across all 50 states and DC, holds 93,658 verified prices, and has indexed 55% of the country. The national average updates as the agents call.
The pipeline runs cheapest-first: official EIA history back to 1990, live scraped prices where they exist, then AI phone calls, the signature layer, to stations whose data has gone stale, with Bobby navigating IVR menus and asking for the cash price of regular unleaded. A crowdsourcing lane accepts pump photos, screened and priced by a vision model. It all publishes at gasindex.ai, including a Pump Pain Index and per-state pages.
Business Insider covered it as the couple who built a national price tracker by vibe-coding an agent that could call 20,000 gas stations; the practical answer is that the pattern behind the Guinndex transfers to any price the public pays but nobody indexes.
Frequently asked
Where do the prices come from?
Cheapest source first: official EIA history back to 1990, live scraped prices where they exist, then AI phone calls to stations whose data has gone stale, plus pump photos submitted by drivers and read by a vision model.
Why call stations instead of scraping?
The freshest price is behind the counter, not on the internet. Many stations post nothing online, so a phone call reaches prices a scraper cannot.
How many stations does it cover?
170,483 across all 50 states and DC, which is 55% of US stations. 93,658 verified prices so far.
How current is the national average?
It moves as the agents call. The tracker is live rather than a one-off snapshot.
Who runs the calls?
Three AI voice agents, Hank, Bobby and Peggy. Each identifies itself as an AI.
Can I find the cheapest gas near me?
Yes, at gasindex.ai, which also has a Pump Pain Index and per-state pages.
Can you build a tracker like this for another market?
Yes. The pattern behind the Guinndex and the Gas Index transfers to any price the public pays but nobody indexes. Email hello@primedirective.ai.