See it on a real storeBots, pages and people sent by AI on an example store. No sign-up.AI search index, run by Perplexity.
What is PerplexityBot? Perplexity's crawler for AI search answers. Verifiable by IP ranges.
Run by Perplexity, 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: PerplexityBot.
Verifiable by IP ranges.
At a glance, the facts in one table.
PerplexityBot at a glance. Taken from SenseGap's open bot directory, the same data that sorts every visit in the dashboard.
All bots| PerplexityBot | |
|---|---|
| Operator | Perplexity |
| Purpose | AI search index |
| User agent contains | PerplexityBot |
| robots.txt name | PerplexityBot |
| Verification | IP ranges |
| Documentation | docs.perplexity.ai |
Purpose, what it does and why it came.
What PerplexityBot does. SenseGap sorts every visit by purpose. PerplexityBot is in the AI search index group.
PerplexityBot is Perplexity's crawler that builds the index Perplexity uses to find pages for AI search answers. Perplexity says PerplexityBot finds and links websites in Perplexity's search results, and is not used to crawl content for AI foundation 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 PerplexityBot. 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 PerplexityBot when that header contains PerplexityBot, 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.
/PerplexityBot/iVerification, how to tell a real visit from a fake.
How to verify PerplexityBot. Perplexity publishes its IP ranges, so a real visit can be proven.
How we verify botsperplexitybot.json
Published by Perplexity at perplexity.com. A real PerplexityBot 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 PerplexityBot. 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 PerplexityBot in robots.txt. Its robots.txt name is PerplexityBot. Paste a group into the robots.txt at your site's root.
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /User-agent: PerplexityBot
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 PerplexityBot 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 ~* "PerplexityBot") {
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 PerplexityBot? It depends on what you want from Perplexity. 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.
Perplexity, every bot it runs.
More bots from Perplexity. Perplexity runs 2 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, PerplexityBot in short answers.
PerplexityBot, answered plainly
What is PerplexityBot?
PerplexityBot is Perplexity's crawler that builds the index Perplexity uses to find pages for AI search answers. Perplexity says PerplexityBot finds and links websites in Perplexity's search results, and is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models.
Who runs PerplexityBot?
Perplexity. Perplexity documents it at https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots.
What does a visit from PerplexityBot 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 PerplexityBot use?
Its User-Agent header contains "PerplexityBot". SenseGap matches it regardless of letter case.
How do I block PerplexityBot?
Add "User-agent: PerplexityBot" 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 PerplexityBot?
Perplexity publishes the IP ranges PerplexityBot uses (perplexitybot.json), so check that the visiting address falls inside one of them. SenseGap runs these checks on every visit.
Does Perplexity publish IP ranges for PerplexityBot?
Yes, at https://www.perplexity.com/perplexitybot.json.
What happens if I block PerplexityBot?
Your pages become less likely to appear, or to be described accurately, in that company's AI answers.