AI crawlers retrieve web content for different purposes. Some support search, some support user-requested retrieval, and others collect material for model training.
They work much like search crawlers: they follow links, fetch pages and respect robots.txt. Access rules differ by provider and bot; blocking training is not the same as blocking search.
How they behave
- They follow links. Fetching pages much like Googlebot does.
- They obey robots.txt. At least, the well-behaved ones do.
- They prefer clean HTML. Fast, text-based pages over heavy scripts.
How to help them
- Choose by purpose. OAI-SearchBot and Claude-SearchBot support search. GPTBot and ClaudeBot collect training material; their settings are separate.
- Keep content in HTML, not locked behind JavaScript.
- Stay fast and crawlable, with a clear page structure.
Check the whole path: Review robots.txt, CDN bot rules, authentication, and server responses. A crawler can be allowed in robots.txt yet still be blocked by the firewall.
Frequently asked questions
Can I block AI crawlers?
Use the provider’s documented bot-specific controls. You can restrict training crawlers independently of search crawlers. User-requested retrieval can follow different rules, so check the provider documentation.
Do AI crawlers read JavaScript?
They prefer clean, text-based HTML. Content locked behind heavy JavaScript may not be read, so keep important text in the HTML.
Are AI crawlers the same as Googlebot?
They behave similarly, following links and respecting robots.txt, but they are separate bots run by AI companies for their own models.
Further reading: OpenAI crawler roles; Anthropic crawler roles.