The adsorption of cyanate anions at Au(111) and Au(100) single crystal electrodes has been studied spectroelectrochemically in neutral solutions. Potential-dependent in situ InfraRed Reflection Absorption spectra obtained below the onset of cyanate oxidation were compared with previously published data and analyzed on the basis of periodical Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated adsorption energies for cyanate and related species suggest that cyanic and isocyanic acid adsorb weakly at the studied gold surfaces and, thus, seems not to be at the origin of any of the adsorbate bands in the experimental infrared spectra collected in the cyanate-containing solutions. The latter features can be clearly ascribed to the asymmetric OCN stretching of N-bonded cyanate species. The observation of absorption bands in a wide spectral region, including features above 2200 cm(-1), agrees with the coexistence of N-bonded cyanate species with different adsorption sites and tilting angles. OFT calculations have revealed that although these adspecies can have significantly different frequencies, their adsorption energies are rather close. In addition, the existence of collective in-phase vibrations at relatively high cyanate coverages also contributes to the widening of the absorption bands. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.