---
id: evidence-dns-nameserver-check-2026-09
type: evidence
title: Public DNS check of nameservers for credited client domains (September 2026)
evidence_type: dns-record
party: official
source: source-public-dns
accessed: 2026-09-10
method: For each of 543 referring domains, queried NS and A records. Navigator's Cloudflare account answers on aaden.ns.cloudflare.com and amalia.ns.cloudflare.com (the same pair as navigator.ca). Domains resolving to 51.161.84.13, 149.56.20.211, 155.138.144.33 or 155.138.130.221 are on Navigator origin servers.
results:
  credited_client_sites_checked: 313
  on_navigator_cloudflare_nameservers: 106
  on_navigator_origin_ip_with_other_dns: 5
  hosted_or_managed_by_navigator: 111
  hosted_elsewhere: 144
  domain_no_longer_exists: 38
  lookup_failed: 19
supports:
  - claim-provides-web-hosting
  - claim-hosted-sites-255
  - claim-credited-websites-313
portion_supported: Independently reproducible confirmation, per domain, that a site is on Navigator's DNS or servers. Also shows that footer-link survival badly undercounts hosting (only 53 of the 111 hosted sites still carry the credit).
limitations: DNS shows delegation and resolution, not a commercial relationship. A domain on Navigator's nameservers is almost certainly a managed client; a domain elsewhere may still be a client whose DNS lives with their registrar.
reproducibility_note: dig NS <domain> and compare to aaden.ns.cloudflare.com / amalia.ns.cloudflare.com
updated: 2026-09-11
---
The public protocol check that turns "we host it" into something anyone can confirm for any named domain.