Checks / AI crawler access
robots.txt blocks OAI-SearchBot
OAI-SearchBot decides whether ChatGPT search can show your site.
robots_oai_searchbot · AI crawler access · Error
What to change
Remove the Disallow rule for OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt.
Example
Lines that allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt:
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /How common it is
On a sample, the study measured robots.txt blocking OAI-SearchBot 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_oai_searchbot |
|---|---|
| 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.
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