TL;DR
Allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, and ChatGPT-User in your robots.txt if you want your products and content to surface in ChatGPT Shopping and other OpenAI-powered answer boxes. Add a simple Allow: / block for each crawler, test with live log pings, and enrich product pages with Product, Offer, and AggregateRating schema to unlock rich citations.
Why GPTBot Matters to Revenue
Large-language-model shopping journeys now start inside chat interfaces. From May 2024 to May 2025, GPTBot traffic exploded by 305% and overtook ClaudeBot as the fastest-growing AI crawler. Retailers who opened the door early are already seeing new revenue from “Gen-AI first” shoppers.
Key 2025 Stats & Trends
| Metric | Value | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| AI/LLM crawler request share | 18% of all crawls | Non-human visits rival human traffic |
| Top-10K ecommerce sites allowing GPTBot | 61% | Majority see ChatGPT Shopping value |
| ChatGPT Shopping cards | Global rollout | Live price & stock from merchants |
Meet OpenAI's Crawlers
GPTBot vs OAI-SearchBot vs ChatGPT-User
| Purpose | User-agent | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Model training | GPTBot | Broad, steady crawl |
| Search & Shopping | OAI-SearchBot | Burst traffic tied to queries |
| Real-time browsing | ChatGPT-User | Low-volume, user-initiated pulls |
All three ignore crawl-delay but honour Retry-After headers.
How to Spot Them in Logs
grep -E "GPTBot|OAI-SearchBot|ChatGPT-User" access.logRobots.txt Configuration (Step-by-Step)
Quick-Start Allow Block
# — Enable OpenAI crawlers —
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /Place this above any wildcard User-agent: * group to avoid overrides.
Optional Throttling & Compliance
Use CDN rules to cap bursts above 10 req/s—GPTBot respects 429 Retry-After. If you only want search visibility without model training, replace Allow for GPTBot with Disallow while keeping OAI-SearchBot allowed. Each crawler obeys its own rule set.
Testing & Troubleshooting
- Add rules to robots.txt
- Test:
curl -A "GPTBot" https://yoursite.com/robots.txt - Observe logs for ChatGPT-User hits within 24 hours
- Burst >10 req/s? Enable 429 gating or CDN rate caps
Schema & Content Optimisation
Must-Have JSON-LD for Product Pages
Embed Product, Offer, and AggregateRating schema. Keep snippets under 32 KB—GPTBot truncates larger payloads:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Eco-Blend Running Socks",
"sku": "ECO-SOCK-001",
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"price": "18.00",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
},
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.8",
"reviewCount": "127"
}
}Blog & Support Docs
Add Article plus FAQPage schema to how-to posts. ChatGPT cites these in answers, making them prime real estate for your messaging.
Cross-Industry Micro-Wins
| Vertical | Tactic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| D2C Retail | Expose variant params & inventory schema | 9% lift in ChatGPT-referral sessions (GWA client) |
| B2B SaaS | Allow GPTBot on public API docs, rate-limit | 40% cut in bot bandwidth, citations retained |
| Healthcare | Peer-review citations & HIPAA disclaimer | Higher EEAT signals in medical queries |
Risk Management & Legal Considerations
Bandwidth — GPTBot can burst; use Retry-After or IP-based rate limiting.
IP Allow-lists — OpenAI publishes ranges weekly; whitelist to avoid false 403s.
Licensing — Add explicit “AI training permitted for search only” language in your Terms if you allow OAI-SearchBot but block GPTBot.
Implementation Checklist
- Back up current robots.txt
- Insert Allow block for OpenAI agents
- Verify with
curl -A "GPTBot" - Monitor logs for ChatGPT-User hits
- Update GA4 with
utm_source=chatgpt.com - Schedule quarterly crawl audit — AI crawler landscape shifts ~14% each quarter
- Book an expert SEO Audit to benchmark AI readiness
FAQs
What is GPTBot?
GPTBot is OpenAI's primary web crawler. It collects publicly available data to refine language-model training and power features like ChatGPT Shopping.
Is GPTBot safe for SEO?
Yes—allowing GPTBot does not affect Google rankings because Googlebot follows its own rules. Proper schema may even increase branded visibility in ChatGPT answers.
How can I block GPTBot?
Add User-agent: GPTBot plus Disallow: / to robots.txt. This also blocks your content from appearing in ChatGPT Shopping.
Where do I see GPTBot traffic in GA4?
Create a custom dimension filtering utm_source=chatgpt.com or parse server logs for the GPTBot user-agent.
Does GPTBot ignore crawl-delay?
Yes. Use HTTP 429 Retry-After or CDN rate controls instead.
Is Your Site Ready for AI Search?
Configuring robots.txt is just one piece of the puzzle. Our AI Search Optimization service ensures your site is structured, cited, and visible across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Get a Free AI Search AuditNext Steps
Ready to translate crawler visibility into measurable revenue? Start with a comprehensive SEO Audit—our technical team benchmarks crawl health, schema coverage, and AI readiness in under two weeks. Need content that converts? Explore our data-driven SEO programs that turn insights into high-ROI pages.