Should I block AI crawlers?

Choose bot rules by purpose. You can allow AI search while restricting training use. OpenAI's search and training permissions, for example, are independent. Check each provider's documentation and server access before changing rules.

Published 2026-08-29 Updated 2026-09-07 SeoScore

Decide what you want to allow

Wanting recommendations in AI search does not mean you must allow every use of your content. Decide separately about search citations, model training and a visitor asking an assistant to open a page.

Different purposes

OpenAI documents search, training and user-initiated access separately. OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot settings are independent. Do not infer another provider's bot names or rules from similar wording; use its documentation.

Robots.txt is not access control

It gives instructions to cooperating crawlers. It does not secure private content or ensure successful access. Login requirements, firewalls, CDN rules and server errors are separate layers.

Changing a bot name in your own request does not make it a genuine provider request. A real bot may encounter different rules based on its IP address or other characteristics. Check server logs using the provider's official identity verification method.

A practical change process

Save your current robots.txt and CDN rules.
Write down the uses of your content you want to allow.
Choose rules for specific bots using their documentation.
Check a representative public URL and server logs after the change.
Monitor indexing and citations separately.

Do not treat declarations about content use as substitutes for technical permissions. There is no basis for assuming every provider supports additional fields in the same way.

Where an audit helps

A GEO audit helps identify rule and public content problems. It cannot prove that every genuine AI bot has already visited or that an assistant will choose the page.