OpenAI
GPTBot
Collects web content that may be used to train OpenAI foundation models.
AI trainingAI search
OAI-SearchBot
Discovers content for ChatGPT search results.
Operated by OpenAI
See your agent traffic PurposeAI search
HTTP identifierOAI-SearchBot
IdentityVerify beyond the name
THE SIGNAL
What this visit tells you
Successful retrieval is one step toward discoverability. It does not prove that an answer cited your page or that a visitor converted.
Public-page coverage
Retrieval failures
Referrals separately
Your next move
Check whether useful product and documentation URLs return readable content. Compare failures with your intended search policy.
The technical details
MarkdownHow to identify it
Look for the OAI-SearchBot identifier in a request’s User-Agent. This is a name match, not identity verification. Version strings may change.
How to check identity
Compare the request IP with the current operator-published ranges linked in the source. A matching name alone does not verify identity.
Access and robots.txt
Disallow OAI-SearchBot to exclude content from ChatGPT search answers. Navigational links may still appear.
Optional full-site opt-out. Merge with existing rules only if intended. robots.txt does not secure private content.
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /Seeing 403 or 404 responses?
403 means access was denied; 404 means the resource was not found. Compare the public path, request time, edge security event and origin response to find the cause.
Separate intended restrictions and secret-file probes from pages that should work. A User-Agent name alone does not justify allowing a request.
SourcesReviewed 2026-09-14
Identity and purpose are based on these sources. Analytics interpretation and suggested checks are Apostl guidance.
APOSTL PulseSee OAI-SearchBot in context
See their requests. Find the pages that matter.
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Different bots, different intent
OpenAI
ChatGPT-User
Fetches pages for user actions in ChatGPT and custom GPTs.
User-requested fetch