OAI-SearchBot
OpenAI's search crawler. Controls whether your pages can surface and be cited in ChatGPT Search.
| Operator | OpenAI |
|---|---|
| Powers | ChatGPT Search results and citations |
| Purpose | Search & answers |
| User-agent token | OAI-SearchBot |
| Respects robots.txt | Yes |
OAI-SearchBot indexes pages so they can appear as sources in ChatGPT's search experience. Unlike GPTBot, its purpose is discovery and citation rather than model training.
Blocking OAI-SearchBot is different from blocking GPTBot: you can opt out of training (GPTBot) while still allowing your pages to be surfaced and linked in ChatGPT answers (OAI-SearchBot), or vice versa.
Allow OAI-SearchBot
You want your pages eligible to appear as cited sources when ChatGPT answers a relevant query — a growing referral channel.
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: /
Block OAI-SearchBot
You don't want your pages surfaced inside ChatGPT's answer interface.
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Disallow: /
Can OAI-SearchBot read your page right now?
Test any URL and see exactly what AI crawlers receive.