Short answer: GPTBot is OpenAI’s web crawler that collects publicly available pages which may be used to train its generative AI models. Blocking it is optional; it is a content-policy decision rather than an SEO fix.
- GPTBot gathers potential training data.
- OAI-SearchBot discovers pages that can appear as sources in ChatGPT search.
- ChatGPT-User visits a page when a person asks ChatGPT to open it.
Blocking GPTBot does not remove a site from ChatGPT search, while blocking OAI-SearchBot can. For many brands a balanced setup keeps OAI-SearchBot open and restricts GPTBot only on paid or proprietary sections. robots.txt is a forward-looking request, not a security control, and it does not withdraw data that has already been collected. Check OpenAI’s current documentation before changing rules and verify suspicious requests against the IP ranges the company publishes. No setting can guarantee that ChatGPT will mention a brand; visibility still depends on clear, trustworthy content. Racoun manages 14 AI crawlers, GPTBot included, within its AI visibility (GEO) service and tracks citations every month.
Talk to Racoun: we are based in Istanbul and work with brands across Türkiye. Message us on WhatsApp or email ekip@racoun.com.
