OAI-SearchBot
Last reviewed: 2026-06-14
OAI-SearchBot OpenAI's user-agent for indexing pages that ChatGPT cites in its search-grounded answers — distinct from GPTBot, which is for training.
OAI-SearchBot is the OpenAI user-agent responsible for indexing web pages that ChatGPT cites when generating search-grounded answers. It is distinct from GPTBot, OpenAI's training-data crawler, and from ChatGPT-User, which represents direct user-triggered fetches from inside the ChatGPT interface.
The practical implication: blocking GPTBot in robots.txt prevents your content from being used to train future OpenAI models, but does not block ChatGPT from citing your pages in answers. To block citation, you must explicitly block OAI-SearchBot. Blocking ChatGPT-User additionally prevents user-initiated fetches.
For most small businesses, the right configuration is to allow all three: GPTBot (training presence keeps your business in the model's understanding of your category), OAI-SearchBot (citation in ChatGPT answers), and ChatGPT-User (user-triggered fetches when someone explicitly asks ChatGPT about your business). This is the default that maximizes AI-driven discovery.
OAI-SearchBot was introduced in August 2024 alongside the launch of ChatGPT search. OpenAI publishes the official user-agent strings, IP ranges, and respective behaviors at developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots.
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