Perplexity-User
Fetches a page in real time when a Perplexity user's question requires visiting it directly.
| Operator | Perplexity |
|---|---|
| Powers | Live fetches for Perplexity answers |
| Purpose | User-triggered fetch |
| User-agent token | Perplexity-User |
| Respects robots.txt | Mostly |
Perplexity-User is Perplexity's user-triggered fetcher, distinct from the PerplexityBot index crawler. It fires when answering a user's query requires retrieving a specific page on demand.
Because these fetches are user-initiated, Perplexity states that Perplexity-User generally ignores robots.txt rules — a person asked for the page, so it behaves more like a browser than a crawler. To enforce a block, use server- or firewall-level filtering of the user-agent.
Full user-agent string
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Perplexity-User/1.0; +https://perplexity.ai/perplexity-user)
Allow Perplexity-User
Users asking Perplexity about your page get an answer grounded in your actual content, with a citation.
User-agent: Perplexity-User Allow: /
Block Perplexity-User
You want to prevent all programmatic access from Perplexity, including user-initiated fetches.
User-agent: Perplexity-User Disallow: /
Can Perplexity-User read your page right now?
Test any URL and see exactly what AI crawlers receive.