GPTBot: what this bot is and how to allow or block it
GPTBot is a bot from OpenAI that collects pages to train AI models. It does not affect ChatGPT answers with search: you can block it without losing visibility in AI search.
GPTBot User-Agent
This is how GPTBot identifies itself in requests to your site. In robots.txt you only write the token — GPTBot.
Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko); compatible; GPTBot/1.1; +https://openai.com/gptbot
How to allow GPTBot
Add this group to robots.txt at the site root. Close service sections in the same group: a bot with its own group does not read the «User-agent: *» rules.
User-agent: GPTBot Allow: /
robots.txt is not everything. If your site uses Cloudflare or other bot protection, it may serve GPTBot a 403 error or a challenge page even when robots.txt allows everything.
How to block GPTBot
To block the whole site, add the group below to robots.txt. The rule works for bots that respect robots.txt.
User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: /
What happens if you block GPTBot
New model versions will not learn from your pages. Visibility in answers with search does not change — search bots are responsible for that.
How to check whether GPTBot visits your site
Search the web server logs for the token. The User-Agent string is easy to fake, so to be sure, check the IP address against the ranges if OpenAI publishes them.
grep "GPTBot" /var/log/nginx/access.log
Does your site let GPTBot in
Free 15-second check: we read your robots.txt and request your site as AI bots — you see which ones the server and bot protection let in and which they block.
Questions and answers
Should I block GPTBot?
It is your call. Blocking GPTBot does not remove your site from AI answers with search, but models will not learn about you in training either. If content is your main asset, block it; if awareness matters, leave it open.
How do I know whether GPTBot visits my site?
Search the web server logs for the token. The User-Agent string is easy to fake, so to be sure, check the IP address against the ranges if OpenAI publishes them.
Is it enough to allow GPTBot in robots.txt?
robots.txt is not everything. If your site uses Cloudflare or other bot protection, it may serve GPTBot a 403 error or a challenge page even when robots.txt allows everything.