See it on a real storeBots, pages and people sent by AI on an example store. No sign-up.SEO tools, run by Moz.
What is DotBot? Moz's SEO tool crawler. It can't be verified beyond its name.
Run by Moz.
Purpose: SEO tools. A visit means an SEO tool is crawling your site, either for its own index of links and pages or because someone ran an audit or test on your site.
robots.txt name: DotBot.
Name only: no published list to check a visit against.
At a glance, the facts in one table.
DotBot at a glance. Taken from SenseGap's open bot directory, the same data that sorts every visit in the dashboard.
All bots| DotBot | |
|---|---|
| Operator | Moz |
| Purpose | SEO tools |
| User agent contains | DotBot, rogerbot |
| robots.txt name | DotBot |
| Verification | Name only |
| Documentation | None listed |
Purpose, what it does and why it came.
What DotBot does. SenseGap sorts every visit by purpose. DotBot is in the SEO tools group.
DotBot is Moz's crawler that collects data for Moz's SEO tools.
What a visit means
A visit means an SEO tool is crawling your site, either for its own index of links and pages or because someone ran an audit or test on your site.
Detection, the header SenseGap matches.
How SenseGap recognizes DotBot. By its User-Agent header. A separate check then decides whether the visit is real.
Every request carries a User-Agent header naming the software that sent it. SenseGap counts a request as DotBot when that header contains any of DotBot or rogerbot, in any letter case. The header is plain text, so any script can copy it. Matching the name is where recognition starts, not where trust starts.
/DotBot|rogerbot/iVerification, how to tell a real visit from a fake.
DotBot can't be fully verified. SenseGap knows of no published IP ranges or DNS names for it, so the name is all there is.
How we verify botsNot beyond the user agent. SenseGap knows of no published IP ranges or DNS names for DotBot, so anyone can send its name. SenseGap marks these visits Unverified rather than calling them real.
robots.txt, rules you can copy.
Block or allow DotBot in robots.txt. Its robots.txt name is DotBot. Paste a group into the robots.txt at your site's root.
User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /User-agent: DotBot
Allow: /User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /private/One rule catches people out. Under the robots.txt standard (RFC 9309), a crawler that finds a group naming it follows only that group and ignores your User-agent: * rules. If you add a DotBot group, repeat in it anything from the catch-all group you still want applied.
robots.txt is a request, not a lock. To enforce a block, match the User-Agent header at your server or CDN. In nginx:
# nginx, inside a server block
if ($http_user_agent ~* "DotBot|rogerbot") {
return 403;
}SenseGap reads your robots.txt and shows, bot by bot, what you allow and which bots fetched pages you disallowed. See what you get.
Trade-off, what blocking changes.
Should you block DotBot? It depends on what you want from Moz. Here is what each choice means.
If you allow it
Your site's data in the tool stays complete, and audits you run with it keep working.
If you block it
The tool's picture of your site becomes incomplete, and its audits of your site may fail. It has no effect on how search engines rank you.
SEO tools, other bots with the same job.
Other SEO tool crawlers. Same purpose, different companies.
Browse the directoryFAQ, DotBot in short answers.
DotBot, answered plainly
What is DotBot?
DotBot is Moz's crawler that collects data for Moz's SEO tools.
Who runs DotBot?
Moz. SenseGap's directory has no documentation link for it yet.
What does a visit from DotBot mean?
A visit means an SEO tool is crawling your site, either for its own index of links and pages or because someone ran an audit or test on your site.
What user agent does DotBot use?
Its User-Agent header contains one of "DotBot" or "rogerbot". SenseGap matches any of these regardless of letter case.
How do I block DotBot?
Add "User-agent: DotBot" followed by "Disallow: /" to your robots.txt. robots.txt is a request, not a lock; to enforce it, block the user agent at your server or CDN.
Can I verify that a visit is really DotBot?
Not beyond the user agent. SenseGap knows of no published IP ranges or DNS names for DotBot, so anyone can send its name. SenseGap marks these visits Unverified rather than calling them real.
Does Moz publish IP ranges for DotBot?
No. SenseGap knows of no published list of addresses for DotBot.
What happens if I block DotBot?
The tool's picture of your site becomes incomplete, and its audits of your site may fail. It has no effect on how search engines rank you.