See it on a real storeBots, pages and people sent by AI on an example store. No sign-up.AI search index, run by OpenAI.
What is OAI-SearchBot? OpenAI's crawler for AI search answers. Verifiable by IP ranges.
Run by OpenAI, which documents it.
Purpose: AI search index. A visit means your page is being added to, or refreshed in, an index that AI answers draw on.
robots.txt name: OAI-SearchBot.
Verifiable by IP ranges.
At a glance, the facts in one table.
OAI-SearchBot at a glance. Taken from SenseGap's open bot directory, the same data that sorts every visit in the dashboard.
All bots| OAI-SearchBot | |
|---|---|
| Operator | OpenAI |
| Purpose | AI search index |
| User agent contains | OAI-SearchBot |
| robots.txt name | OAI-SearchBot |
| Verification | IP ranges |
| Documentation | platform.openai.com |
Purpose, what it does and why it came.
What OAI-SearchBot does. SenseGap sorts every visit by purpose. OAI-SearchBot is in the AI search index group.
OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's crawler that builds the index OpenAI uses to find pages for AI search answers. OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot to find and show websites in ChatGPT's search answers. It is not used to train OpenAI's models.
What a visit means
A visit means your page is being added to, or refreshed in, an index that AI answers draw on. Nobody asked a question at that moment; it is preparation for future answers.
Detection, the header SenseGap matches.
How SenseGap recognizes OAI-SearchBot. 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 OAI-SearchBot when that header contains OAI-SearchBot, 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.
/OAI-SearchBot/iVerification, how to tell a real visit from a fake.
How to verify OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI publishes its IP ranges, so a real visit can be proven.
How we verify botssearchbot.json
Published by OpenAI at openai.com. A real OAI-SearchBot visit comes from an address in this list.
Open the listChecked on every visit
SenseGap runs this check on every visit that claims to be OAI-SearchBot. A pass is marked Real. A visit that sends the name and fails is marked Fake, and stays out of your other reports.
robots.txt, rules you can copy.
Block or allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt. Its robots.txt name is OAI-SearchBot. Paste a group into the robots.txt at your site's root.
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
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 OAI-SearchBot 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 ~* "OAI-SearchBot") {
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 OAI-SearchBot? It depends on what you want from OpenAI. Here is what each choice means.
If you allow it
Your pages can be found, cited and linked in that company's AI answers.
If you block it
Your pages become less likely to appear, or to be described accurately, in that company's AI answers. OpenAI says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as plain navigational links.
OpenAI, every bot it runs.
More bots from OpenAI. OpenAI runs 4 bots in the directory, each with its own job.
AI search index, other bots with the same job.
Other AI search crawlers. Same purpose, different companies.
Browse the directoryFAQ, OAI-SearchBot in short answers.
OAI-SearchBot, answered plainly
What is OAI-SearchBot?
OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's crawler that builds the index OpenAI uses to find pages for AI search answers. OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot to find and show websites in ChatGPT's search answers. It is not used to train OpenAI's models.
Who runs OAI-SearchBot?
OpenAI. OpenAI documents it at https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots.
What does a visit from OAI-SearchBot mean?
A visit means your page is being added to, or refreshed in, an index that AI answers draw on. Nobody asked a question at that moment; it is preparation for future answers.
What user agent does OAI-SearchBot use?
Its User-Agent header contains "OAI-SearchBot". SenseGap matches it regardless of letter case.
How do I block OAI-SearchBot?
Add "User-agent: OAI-SearchBot" 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.
How do I know a visit is really OAI-SearchBot?
OpenAI publishes the IP ranges OAI-SearchBot uses (searchbot.json), so check that the visiting address falls inside one of them. SenseGap runs these checks on every visit.
Does OpenAI publish IP ranges for OAI-SearchBot?
Yes, at https://openai.com/searchbot.json.
What happens if I block OAI-SearchBot?
Your pages become less likely to appear, or to be described accurately, in that company's AI answers. OpenAI says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as plain navigational links.