CheckAIBots is a free online tool that analyzes your website's robots.txt file and performs actual access testing to determine which AI crawlers (like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended) can access your content. It checks 29 different AI bots and provides detailed reports including robots.txt analysis, real crawler testing, server config generation, and bandwidth cost calculations.

How do I block AI bots from my website?

You can block AI bots by adding rules to your robots.txt file or using server-level blocking (nginx, Apache, Cloudflare WAF, or firewall rules). CheckAIBots provides one-click generators for all major platforms. For aggressive crawlers like Bytespider that ignore robots.txt, server-level blocking is required.

Which AI crawlers does CheckAIBots detect?

CheckAIBots detects 29 AI crawlers including GPTBot (OpenAI), ClaudeBot (Anthropic), Google-Extended, CCBot (Common Crawl), Bytespider (ByteDance), PerplexityBot, OAI-SearchBot, Baiduspider, ChatGLM-Spider, and many more from major AI companies. It covers LLM training bots, AI search engines, and data collection services.

Will blocking AI bots affect my SEO?

No. Blocking AI training bots (like GPTBot, ClaudeBot) does not affect traditional search engine crawlers (like Googlebot, Bingbot). These are separate crawlers with different user agents and purposes. Your SEO rankings will remain completely unaffected when blocking AI training crawlers.

What is the difference between robots.txt checking and actual access testing?

Robots.txt checking analyzes your robots.txt file to see which bots SHOULD be blocked based on your configuration. Actual access testing sends real HTTP requests with AI crawler user agents to verify if bots are ACTUALLY blocked. This helps detect configuration errors and crawlers that ignore robots.txt rules.

How can I save bandwidth costs by blocking AI crawlers?

AI crawlers can consume significant bandwidth by repeatedly crawling your entire site for training data. CheckAIBots includes a bandwidth cost calculator that estimates your monthly AI bot traffic and potential savings. Some websites report saving 60-75% on CDN costs after blocking AI crawlers, especially for large content sites.

What Are AI Crawlers? Everything You Need to Know in 2025

If you own a website, AI crawlers are visiting your site right now — and you probably don't even know it. These automated bots are scraping your content to train large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explain what AI crawlers are, how they work, and why you should care about them.

What Are AI Crawlers?

AI crawlers (also called AI bots or LLM crawlers) are automated programs that visit websites to collect data for training artificial intelligence models. Unlike traditional search engine crawlers (like Googlebot), which index your content to show it in search results, AI crawlers scrape your content to train AI systems.

How AI Crawlers Work

AI crawlers operate in a simple 4-step process:

Discovery: The bot finds your website (usually through links or sitemaps)
Reading: It requests your robots.txt file to see if you allow crawling
Scraping: If allowed (or even if not), it downloads your content
Training: Your content becomes part of an AI model's training dataset

The problem? Most website owners have no idea this is happening. Learn how to detect if AI crawlers are accessing your website.

AI Crawlers vs Search Engine Crawlers: Key Differences

Many people confuse AI crawlers with traditional search engine bots. Here's the critical difference:

Feature	Search Engine Crawlers	AI Crawlers
Purpose	Index content for search results	Train AI models
Examples	Googlebot, Bingbot	GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended
Benefit to You	More search traffic	None (usually)
Respects robots.txt	Always	Sometimes
Attribution	Links back to your site	Rarely
Compensation	Indirect (traffic)	None

Bottom line: Blocking AI crawlers won't hurt your SEO, but it can protect your content from being used to train AI models without compensation.

The 29 Major AI Crawlers You Should Know About

As of 2025, there are 29 major AI crawlers actively scraping the web. Here are the most important ones (see the complete list of 29 AI crawlers with blocking strategies):

LLM Training Bots (Training AI Models)

These bots collect data to train large language models:

GPTBot (OpenAI) - Trains ChatGPT and GPT models
ClaudeBot (Anthropic) - Trains Claude AI assistant
Google-Extended (Google) - Trains Bard/Gemini
CCBot (Common Crawl) - Creates massive web datasets
FacebookBot (Meta) - Trains Llama and other Meta AI
anthropic-ai (Anthropic) - Additional Anthropic crawler
cohere-ai (Cohere) - Trains Cohere's language models
Omgilibot (Omgili) - Data collection for AI training

AI Search Bots (AI-Powered Search)

These bots power AI search engines:

PerplexityBot (Perplexity AI) - AI search engine
YouBot (You.com) - AI search platform
OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI) - ChatGPT search feature

Chinese AI Crawlers

Bytespider (ByteDance/TikTok) - DANGER: Ignores robots.txt
Baiduspider (Baidu) - Chinese search and AI
360Spider (Qihoo 360) - Often ignores rules
ChatGLM-Spider (Zhipu AI) - Chinese LLM training

Data Collection & Research Bots

Diffbot - AI-powered web scraping
ImagesiftBot - Image data collection
Applebot-Extended (Apple) - Apple Intelligence training

[...and 11 more listed in our comprehensive database]

Why You Should Care About AI Crawlers

1. Bandwidth Costs

AI crawlers can consume massive amounts of bandwidth:

Wikimedia reported a 50% increase in bandwidth due to AI crawlers
Some sites report $1,500-$5,000/month in additional CDN costs
Bytespider alone generated 14GB of traffic in one day for one small site

2. Content Theft

Your original content becomes part of AI training data. Many are concerned: is ChatGPT using my content to train their models? Major publishers are taking action — 48% of news sites now block AI crawlers.

ChatGPT may reproduce your articles almost word-for-word
No attribution or links back to your site
Lost traffic as users get answers from AI instead of visiting you
Zero compensation for your intellectual property

3. Reduced Traffic

AI chatbots answer questions directly, eliminating the need to visit your site:

A content creator reported 60% traffic drop after ChatGPT started using their content
Google Search traffic declining as users prefer AI chat
Advertising revenue lost due to fewer page views

4. Unfair Competition

AI companies profit from your work:

OpenAI charges $20/month for ChatGPT Plus
Your content trains their models for free
You bear the server costs while they make money

Real-World Impact: The Numbers

Industry data reveals the scale of AI crawling:

48% of news sites now block AI crawlers (up from 11% in 2023)
35% of top 1,000 websites block GPTBot specifically
Major publishers like New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and Vox all block AI bots
Cloudflare reports millions of AI bot requests per day across its network

Case Study: How AI Crawlers Hurt Small Businesses

Sarah's Marketing Blog (name changed for privacy):

Before blocking: 10,000 monthly visitors, $800/month ad revenue
After ChatGPT trained on her content: 4,000 monthly visitors, $320/month ad revenue
Bandwidth cost increase: $200/month extra due to Bytespider
Total monthly loss: $680

After implementing proper AI bot blocking:

Bandwidth costs reduced by 75%
Saved $150/month on hosting
Traffic stabilized (AI wasn't draining her original audience anymore)

How to Check If AI Bots Are Crawling Your Site

You have several options:

Option 1: Use CheckAIBots (Easiest)

Our free tool instantly shows you which of the 29 AI crawlers can access your website:

👉 Check Your Website Now →

Option 2: Check Server Logs

Look for these user agents in your access logs:

GPTBot
ClaudeBot
Google-Extended
CCBot
Bytespider
PerplexityBot
anthropic-ai
cohere-ai

Option 3: Analyze robots.txt

Check if your robots.txt file has rules for AI bots:

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

What Happens If You Don't Block AI Crawlers?

If you take no action:

✅ Potential Benefits:

Possible visibility in AI search results (PerplexityBot, YouBot)
Your content influences AI model outputs (with no credit)

❌ Definite Costs:

Increased bandwidth usage and costs
Content used for commercial AI training without compensation
Reduced direct traffic as AI answers questions
No attribution or backlinks
Zero control over how your content is used

Should You Block All AI Crawlers?

Not necessarily. The decision depends on your goals:

Block These (High Priority)

Bytespider: Ignores robots.txt, wastes bandwidth
360Spider: Often doesn't respect rules
Training bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot) if you want content protection

Consider Allowing These

PerplexityBot: Drives traffic through AI search
OAI-SearchBot: ChatGPT search feature with attribution
YouBot: AI search platform

Selective Blocking Strategy

Use our tool to implement a customized blocking strategy that:

Blocks LLM training bots (no compensation, no attribution)
Allows AI search bots (potential traffic source)
Blocks bandwidth-wasting bots (Bytespider, 360Spider)

Next Steps: Protect Your Website Today

Now that you understand AI crawlers, here's what to do next:

Step 1: Check Your Current Status

Use CheckAIBots to see which AI crawlers can currently access your site. The free scan takes 30 seconds and shows you exactly which bots are allowed or blocked.

Step 2: Decide Your Strategy

Read our guide: "2025 Complete Guide: How to Block AI Crawlers" to determine which bots to block based on your goals.

Step 3: Implement Blocking

Choose your method:

Easy: robots.txt configuration (works for compliant bots)
Recommended: Server-level blocking (nginx/Apache/Cloudflare)
Best: Combination of both methods

Step 4: Verify It Works

Use our verification tool to confirm your blocking is effective.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will blocking AI bots hurt my Google rankings?

A: No. AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot) are completely separate from search engine crawlers (Googlebot). Blocking AI bots has zero impact on SEO.

Q: Is Bytespider really that bad?

A: Yes. Bytespider is notorious for ignoring robots.txt rules and consuming massive bandwidth. It's responsible for millions of requests per day across the web, often causing $1,000+ in monthly costs for small sites.

Q: Are AI companies legally allowed to scrape my content?

A: This is being tested in courts right now. The New York Times sued OpenAI over this issue. Most legal experts say you have the right to block bots from your servers.

Q: How often do new AI crawlers appear?

A: We track new crawlers monthly. Subscribe to our updates to stay informed about emerging AI bots.

Conclusion

AI crawlers represent a fundamental shift in how content is consumed on the web. While search engines brought traffic to your site, AI models extract your content and serve it directly to users — with no traffic, attribution, or compensation for you.

The good news? You have control. By understanding what AI crawlers are and implementing proper blocking strategies, you can:

Reduce bandwidth costs by 50-75%
Protect your original content
Maintain control over who uses your intellectual property
Choose which AI bots to allow based on your business goals

Take action today: Check which AI bots can access your website →

Last updated: January 27, 2025

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