AI crawlers
Web crawling bots operated by AI companies to discover and index content for use in AI search responses and model training.
AI crawlers are automated bots deployed by AI companies to discover, access, and index web content. Unlike traditional search engine crawlers (such as Googlebot) that build a search index for link-based results, AI crawlers gather content for language model training, real-time AI search retrieval, or both.
Major AI crawlers
| Crawler | Operator | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| GPTBot | OpenAI | Training data and ChatGPT Search |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | Real-time search for ChatGPT |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Training data and search for Claude |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Real-time search retrieval |
| Google-Extended | AI training (separate from Googlebot) | |
| Amazonbot | Amazon | Alexa and AI services |
| Applebot-Extended | Apple | Apple Intelligence features |
| Bytespider | ByteDance | AI training (may not respect robots.txt) |
| CCBot | Common Crawl | Open dataset used by many AI models |
| Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | AI training for Llama models |
How AI crawlers differ from search crawlers
- Frequency: AI crawlers may visit less frequently but consume more content per visit
- Depth: They often attempt to read entire pages rather than sampling
- Purpose: Content is used for synthesis and generation, not just indexing
- Respect for robots.txt: Most major AI crawlers honor robots.txt directives, but compliance varies
Managing AI crawler access
You control AI crawler access through robots.txt:
# Allow all AI crawlers
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
The crawl access dilemma
Blocking AI crawlers protects your content from being used for training, but also prevents your content from being retrieved and cited in AI search responses. For brands pursuing AI visibility, the recommended approach is to allow crawl access to public content while monitoring how it is used.
