robots.txt for AI bots: which crawlers to allow in 2026
The 14 AI crawlers you need to know
AI engines send bots to crawl your website, just like Google sends Googlebot. The major ones are: GPTBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT), ChatGPT-User (ChatGPT browsing), ClaudeBot and Claude-Web (Anthropic/Claude), PerplexityBot (Perplexity), Google-Extended (Gemini), Bytespider (TikTok/ByteDance), CCBot (Common Crawl, used by many AI), Amazonbot (Alexa/Amazon), Apple-Extended (Apple Intelligence), and Meta-ExternalAgent (Meta AI). Use our free AI Crawler Checker at chatcite.com/tools/ai-crawler-checker to instantly see which bots your site allows.
Should you allow AI crawlers?
Yes — unless you have specific reasons not to. If you block GPTBot, ChatGPT literally cannot learn about your brand from your website. It will only know what other sites say about you. For most businesses, the upside of being crawled by AI (higher chance of recommendation) far outweighs the downside (AI using your content). The only exception: if you sell premium content (news paywalls, research databases), you might want to restrict AI crawlers to protect your revenue model.
How to configure robots.txt for maximum AI visibility
Add explicit Allow rules for each AI bot. Don't rely on the default 'User-agent: *' rule — some AI bots need to see explicit permission. Our recommendation: allow all major AI bots, but block them from your /api/ endpoints and any admin pages. Check your current configuration instantly with chatcite.com/tools/ai-crawler-checker — it tests all 14 bots in one click.
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