AI Search Crawler Check

Product Introduction

1. AI Search Crawler Check is a diagnostic tool that analyzes website crawlability for AI search engines and traditional search engines in 10 seconds. It identifies robots.txt misconfigurations blocking crawlers like GPTBot, Claude-Web, and Googlebot while providing actionable fixes. The tool verifies access for 12+ AI and search crawlers through automated testing and server response analysis.
2. The core value lies in preventing unintentional visibility loss across AI-driven search interfaces used by 30% of searchers. It future-proofs websites by detecting CMS defaults, wildcard blocks, and outdated rules that inadvertently restrict emerging AI crawlers. Immediate technical reports enable rapid correction of crawlability issues impacting organic visibility.

Main Features

1. The tool performs multi-crawler validation by simulating requests using official user-agent strings for ChatGPT (GPTBot, ChatGPT-User), Claude (Claude-Web), PerplexityBot, and seven other AI/search engines. It verifies actual HTTP response codes (200/403/404) rather than just robots.txt syntax.
2. Configuration error detection identifies six critical issues: disallowed wildcard patterns (*), conflicting Allow/Disallow directives, missing sitemap declarations, CMS-generated restrictions, and improper path formatting (e.g., /admin vs /admin/). The system flags directives that unintentionally block all crawlers through User-agent: * Disallow: / patterns.
3. Actionable remediation provides code-level fixes for robots.txt files, including proper syntax for allowing AI crawlers while blocking malicious bots. It generates CMS-specific guidance for WordPress, Shopify, and Wix users to override default restrictions without breaking existing SEO configurations.

Problems Solved

1. The product addresses accidental content invisibility caused by robots.txt rules designed for traditional SEO that inadvertently block AI crawlers. Many sites using pre-2023 robots.txt templates lack directives for GPTBot, Claude-Web, and other new AI user-agents.
2. Primary users include SEO specialists managing enterprise websites, marketing teams optimizing for AI-driven traffic, and web developers implementing crawlability controls. Regulatory compliance officers use it to audit content exclusion from AI training datasets.
3. Typical scenarios include pre-launch website audits, post-migration crawlability checks, and ongoing monitoring for CMS updates that reset robots.txt configurations. E-commerce platforms use it to verify product page accessibility across AI shopping assistants.

Unique Advantages

1. Unlike standard robots.txt validators, this tool tests actual crawl behavior rather than just file syntax. It differentiates between protocol-level blocks (robots.txt disallows) and server-side restrictions (firewalls, IP bans) affecting AI crawlers.
2. The crawler simulation engine updates weekly with new AI user-agent strings and crawling patterns, including Applebot-Extended and Google-Extended. Real-time testing accounts for geographic restrictions and CDN configurations that impact regional crawlability.
3. Competitive superiority comes from 10-second analysis speed using parallelized crawler simulations, compared to manual methods requiring 48+ hours of log monitoring. The system automatically prioritizes fixes by traffic impact, calculating potential visibility loss percentages per blocked crawler.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Do AI crawlers follow the same robots.txt rules as Google?
   AI crawlers adhere to robots.txt protocols but require explicit user-agent allowances. GPTBot, Claude-Web, and PerplexityBot operate as distinct user-agents needing separate directives. Legacy rules blocking "Googlebot" don't affect AI crawlers, while wildcard (*) blocks impact all agents.

2. Should I block or allow AI crawlers in robots.txt?
   Allowing AI crawlers is recommended unless handling sensitive data. Blocking requires specifying each AI user-agent (e.g., GPTBot) with Disallow: / directives. Partial blocking can be implemented using path exclusions while maintaining visibility for AI search features.

3. Does blocking GPTBot prevent all ChatGPT access?
   Blocking GPTBot only restricts content from OpenAI's training datasets. ChatGPT-User (real-time browsing) and OAI-SearchBot (search results) require separate blocks. Full exclusion needs three directives: User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: /, User-agent: ChatGPT-User Disallow: /, and User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Disallow: /.