What is OAI-SearchBot?
Definition
OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's crawler for ChatGPT search. OpenAI says sites that block it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
OpenAI runs separate crawlers for separate purposes. OAI-SearchBot "is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features." GPTBot crawls content that "may be used in training our generative AI foundation models." ChatGPT-User visits pages when a person asks ChatGPT to, and OpenAI notes that robots.txt rules may not apply to those user-initiated visits.
The distinction lets a site make two different decisions. You can allow OAI-SearchBot so your pages can appear in ChatGPT search, and decide separately whether to allow GPTBot for training. Blocking everything from OpenAI in one rule also removes you from ChatGPT search. In OpenAI's words, sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links."
Why does it matter to your business?
If your robots.txt blocks OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT search cannot cite you, however good your content is. It is a one-line check worth doing today.
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Sources, verified September 11, 2026
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