Crawlability and AI-crawlers – how to ensure GPTBot finds you.

AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity can only mention your brand if they have access to your content. But while most websites are optimized for Google and Bing, many forget to grant access to AI-crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and CCBot. This guide shows you precisely how to ensure that AI systems can find, crawl, and understand your website.

Why AI-crawlers are different from search engines

Traditional search engines like Google and Bing crawl the web to build an index of pages. AI systems do something similar, but with different purposes and methods:

• GPTBot (OpenAI) crawls the web to train future versions of ChatGPT and improve the model's knowledge

• ClaudeBot (Anthropic) collects data for Claude's training and updates

• CCBot (Common Crawl) builds an open archive of the web that many AI models train on

• Perplexity Bot crawls live to answer user queries in real-time

The key point is: If you block these crawlers, AI systems will have limited or outdated knowledge about your brand. They cannot cite content they've never seen.

Check if AI-crawlers can access your website

Before you change anything, you need to know where you stand. Here are three ways to check your current crawlability:

Method 1: Check your robots.txt

Your robots.txt file controls which crawlers have access. Check it at:

Are you looking for lines like these?

If you see these lines, you're blocking AI-crawlers. This needs to be changed.

Method 2: Analyze your server logs

Check your server logs to see if AI-crawlers are actually visiting your site. Search for these user agents:

If you don't see these, there are two possibilities: You're blocking them, or your site isn't prioritized in their crawl queue yet.

Method 3: Test with Bing Webmaster Tools

Many AI systems (including ChatGPT) use Bing's index. Check your Bing crawlability:

1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools

2. Add your website

3. Look under "Crawl Control" and "URL Inspection"

4. Verify that Bingbot can access your important pages

How to configure robots.txt for AI-crawlers

Now comes the practical part. Here's how to grant access to AI-crawlers without losing control.

Scenario 1: Grant full access to all AI-crawlers

If you want maximum AI visibility, use this configuration:

Pro tip: Apple's Applebot-Extended is used for Apple Intelligence. Include it if you want to be visible in Apple's AI features.

Scenario 2: Allow AI-crawlers but protect sensitive areas

If you have areas you don't want crawled (e.g., admin, internal tools, or outdated pages), you can block them selectively:

Scenario 3: Block AI-training but allow live retrieval

Some want to block training data but still be visible in live queries (like Perplexity). This is difficult but can be approximated:

Warning: This strategy is not perfect. ChatGPT uses Bing's index, so if you allow Bingbot, your content can still reach ChatGPT. There is no 100% way to distinguish between training and retrieval.

Test your configuration

After you've updated robots.txt, you need to verify that it works:

1. Test with Google's robots.txt Tester

Although it's Google's tool, you can use it to validate syntax:

1. Go to Google Search Console

2. Select "robots.txt Tester" (under legacy tools)

3. Enter specific URLs

4. Test with different user agents

2. Manual test with curl

Simulate an AI-crawler with curl:

If you get a 200 response, the page is accessible. A 403 means it's blocked.

3. Validate with robots.txt parsers

Use online tools like:

• Google Robots Testing Tool

• Technical SEO Robots.txt Tester

Optimize your website for AI-crawling

Robots.txt is only the first step. Here's how to make your site easier to crawl:

1. Improve your site structure

• Clear URL hierarchy: Use logical URL structures (/blog/article-name/ instead of /p?id=12345)

• Internal linking: Link between related pages so crawlers can discover all your content

• Breadcrumbs: Implement breadcrumbs to show hierarchy

2. Reduce crawl barriers

AI-crawlers have limitations. Remove these common obstacles:

• JavaScript dependency: Ensure that critical content is available in HTML, not just via JavaScript

• Infinite scroll: Offer pagination as an alternative

• Login walls: Make public content accessible without login

• CAPTCHAs: Avoid CAPTCHA on public pages

3. Optimize response times

Crawlers abandon slow sites. Ensure:

• Server response time: Under 500ms (ideally under 200ms)

• Time To First Byte (TTFB): Under 600ms

• Gzip compression: Compress your content

• CDN: Consider a Content Delivery Network for faster loading

Advanced crawlability techniques

Implement an XML sitemap

A sitemap helps crawlers find all your content. Create one at:

Include:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://yourwebsite.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://yourwebsite.com/products/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-14</lastmod>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Update lastmod when content changes, so crawlers know what's new.

Use crawl-rate limiting wisely

If your site is small, too many crawl requests can overload the server. Consider:

This sets a delay between requests (in seconds). Only use it if necessary.

Common mistakes to avoid

Monitor AI-crawler activity

Once you've opened your site, you need to track whether AI-crawlers are actually visiting:

Set up log analysis

Analyze your server logs regularly. Look for:

• Number of visits from each AI-crawler

• Which pages they crawl

• Error codes (4xx, 5xx)

• Crawl frequency over time

Use Bing and Google Webmaster Tools

Although they don't show GPTBot directly, you can:

• See Bingbot activity (proxy for ChatGPT access)

• Identify crawl errors

• Check which pages are indexed

• Get notified about crawl issues

Implementation checklist

Use this checklist to ensure proper crawlability:

1. Check current robots.txt – Are AI-crawlers blocked?

2. Update robots.txt – Grant access to GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, etc.

3. Create/update sitemap.xml – Include all important pages

4. Test configuration – Use robots.txt tester

5. Remove crawl barriers – JavaScript, login walls, CAPTCHAs

6. Optimize response times – TTFB under 600ms

7. Implement internal linking – Make content discoverable

8. Add structured data – JSON-LD schema markup

9. Set up monitoring – Analyze server logs

10. Test regularly – Verify that crawlers still have access

Conclusion

Crawlability is the foundation for AI visibility. Without access for AI-crawlers, your brand will remain invisible in ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity – regardless of how good your content is. Start by opening your robots.txt, optimize your site structure, and monitor continuously. It takes less than an hour to implement, but the impact on your AI visibility is significant.

Remember: AI systems are evolving rapidly. New crawlers appear, and existing ones change behavior. Make it a habit to review your crawl configuration quarterly and adjust as needed.