Checks / AI crawler access
robots.txt blocks PerplexityBot
PerplexityBot builds Perplexity's index. Blocked, you are not cited there.
robots_perplexitybot · AI crawler access · Error
What triggers it
robots.txt does not let PerplexityBot fetch your home page (a Disallow rule in its own group, or in the * group when no group names it), and it leaves no other path open for it.
What to change
Remove the Disallow rule for PerplexityBot in robots.txt.
Example
Lines that allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt:
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /How to confirm the fix
- Open https://example.com/robots.txt: no group that names PerplexityBot (or the * group, if none does) disallows the home page
- Run a new crawl: the AI crawler table lists PerplexityBot as allowed
About PerplexityBot
PerplexityBot is Perplexity's crawler for surfacing and linking websites in its search results. Perplexity says it is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. It follows robots.txt, changes can take up to 24 hours to apply, and Perplexity publishes 8 IP ranges for it.
Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot in robots.txt and permitting requests from its published IP ranges if you want to appear in its search results. It also says changes to your robots.txt can take up to 24 hours to be reflected in its systems, so a check made an hour after an edit proves little.
Job: Search. Follows robots.txt: Yes, it follows robots.txt.
PerplexityBot: operator, user-agent string and address list
How common it is
On a sample, the study measured robots.txt blocking PerplexityBot on the homepage's site: 0 of 294 Show HN sites (0%), and 0 of 67 Lovable sites (0%).
Fetched 20 and 21 Oct 2026 as CitedBot, robots.txt obeyed, no JavaScript. Study: Launch crawl 2026-10 (English).
About this check
| Check ID | robots_perplexitybot |
|---|---|
| Report section | AI crawler access |
| Severity | Error |
| How it is decided | Measured: read directly from the page or the server's response. |
| Added | Before 19 Oct 2026 (versions 1 and 2), or a site-wide check with no version date yet |
| Status | Measured in every report |
| Report gives the code | Yes, one block for the site |
Settings by platform
For robots.txt, where the setting lives differs by platform. Our guides cover 13 of them: AI crawler settings by platform.
Related checks
- robots.txt keeps PerplexityBot out of your home page and most of the site
- robots.txt blocks Perplexity-User
- Your firewall or CDN refuses AI search crawlers
- No llms-full.txt (optional)
See whether it applies to your site
Paste your address and we crawl up to 10 pages and show every issue we find, with its fix. No account, no card.
Every plan crawls up to its page limit and lists these checks with the fix: plans.
How an audit works: method