Check your access logs for crawler user-agent tokens, verify the requests where the operator provides a verification method, then choose a targeted response. A robots.txt rule tells cooperative crawlers what you prefer; a server or WAF rule enforces a block. Keep search, training, and user-triggered crawlers separate so you do not disable more than you intend.
Decide what you want to stop
“AI crawler” does not describe one purpose. A crawler may gather pages for search, fetch a page after a user asks an assistant a question, or collect content for potential model training. You may also be dealing with abusive scraping rather than a crawler whose operator publishes a clear policy.
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OpenAI documents three distinct identities: OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search, GPTBot for potential model-training use, and ChatGPT-User for user-initiated page visits. OpenAI says the controls are independent, so you can disallow GPTBot while allowing OAI-SearchBot. Its guidance is at OpenAI’s crawler documentation. Blocking OAI-SearchBot means your site will not appear in ChatGPT search answers, though it may still appear as a navigational link.
Before changing a rule, decide whether your goal is to opt out of training, retain AI-search visibility, prevent user-triggered retrieval, or stop traffic that is overloading or scraping the site. A blanket block can have effects beyond the one you mean to prevent.
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Identify likely crawlers in your logs
Search your web server or CDN access logs for user-agent tokens such as GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, and PerplexityBot. These names are clues about what the request claims to be, not proof of who sent it. User-agent strings can be spoofed; Google specifically warns that its own Googlebot user-agent is often imitated.
Cloudflare’s verified-bots reference, updated April 23, 2026, lists additional tokens and distinguishes identities that serve different purposes, including Anthropic’s ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, and Claude-User, and Perplexity’s PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User. Operators can change identifiers, so check the relevant operator’s current documentation rather than treating any list as permanent.
Verify an identity when possible
For Googlebot, Google recommends either performing a reverse DNS lookup on the request’s source IP or checking that address against Google’s published Googlebot IP ranges. Follow Google’s verification instructions; the page was last updated February 3, 2026.
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OpenAI publishes IP ranges for its documented crawlers in its crawler documentation. Cloudflare says its bot identification can combine declared user agents, dedicated IP ranges, and detection signals that help identify spoofed identities; see Cloudflare’s verified-bot guidance. Use a provider’s verification approach only for the identity it covers. Do not assume that a familiar token or an IP address outside a published list identifies a particular operator.
Anthropic says a source IP on its published list indicates its crawler is coming from Anthropic. It also cautions that blocking Anthropic IPs can interfere with its ability to read your robots.txt file and may not reliably maintain an opt-out. For an opt-out, use its documented robots.txt directive rather than relying on IP blocks alone.
Choose the right control
| Method | What it does | Strength and limitation | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
robots.txt |
Publishes crawler-specific access preferences. | Clear and lightweight for compliant crawlers; does not stop clients that ignore it. | Signaling opt-out preferences to known, cooperative bots. |
| Server or WAF rule | Rejects requests at your origin server or network edge. | Can enforce a block, but depends on careful configuration and reliable identity or classification signals. | Blocking verified or classified abusive traffic. |
| Authentication or authorization | Restricts access to the content itself. | Provides an actual access control, but changes how people and bots can reach protected pages. | Private or restricted material. |
noindex |
Requests that a page be excluded from search indexing. | Addresses indexing, not fetching; a crawler can still access the page. | Pages that may be fetched but should not appear in search results. |
Google explains the distinction between robots.txt, crawling, indexing, and password protection. Blocking a crawler from fetching a URL does not necessarily prevent that URL from appearing in search results. If the content itself must not be accessible, use authentication or authorization rather than a crawler directive.
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Set a crawler-specific robots.txt rule
Place a crawler’s directive in the site’s top-level robots.txt file, served from the relevant host. For example, Anthropic documents this rule to block ClaudeBot across a site:
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User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /Anthropic advises repeating the opt-out in the top-level robots.txt file for each subdomain you want covered. Its instructions are at Anthropic’s website-crawling guidance.
For OpenAI, use the exact user-agent token that matches your decision. Disallowing GPTBot signals that your content should not be used for potential training; manage OAI-SearchBot separately if you want to retain eligibility for ChatGPT search. OpenAI says changes to OAI-SearchBot’s robots.txt access can take approximately 24 hours to adjust in its search systems. Consult OpenAI’s current crawler guidance for the relevant directives and IP ranges.
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A robots.txt rule is a public instruction, not a password or firewall. Cloudflare aptly describes it as an “honor system” in its robots.txt and AI crawlers article. Cooperative crawlers may follow it; a client that ignores it can still request public pages.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Enforce a block when a preference is not enough
If a crawler is abusive or the pages must not be fetched, add a rule at the web server or CDN/WAF to reject matching requests. Prefer a verified identity or a dependable bot classification over a user-agent-only rule: a simple token match can block a legitimate crawler while an impersonator can change its declared name. Protect sensitive pages with authentication and authorization independently of crawler policy.
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Cloudflare says updated defaults for new domains took effect September 15, 2026: Training and Agent bots are blocked on pages displaying ads, while Search remains allowed; mixed-purpose crawlers are included in AI-training blocks. Defaults are provider- and date-specific, so check the live setting in your dashboard rather than assuming your zone uses a particular policy.
Check the live result after changing policy
- Confirm that the live
robots.txtresponse contains the intended crawler group and is served from the hostname you meant to cover. A rule on one subdomain does not automatically cover another. - Review CDN, WAF, and server rules for overlapping actions. An edge policy can affect requests independently of the origin’s robots.txt.
- Check access logs after deployment to see whether requests continue and what response your site returns. A robots.txt opt-out is not proof that requests are blocked; a WAF rejection is an enforcement action.
- If you intended to preserve search visibility, verify that you have not disallowed the relevant search crawler along with a training crawler. For OpenAI, changes to OAI-SearchBot access may take approximately 24 hours to adjust in its search systems.
Cloudflare’s bot analytics documentation describes analytics for crawler activity. The exact signals and controls available depend on your hosting and edge setup.
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