Allowed in robots.txt but blocked by the server? A Python script checks AI crawler access
A robots.txt file that permits GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot shows only what a site allows, not what its server actually returns. A WAF or CDN rule can answer a crawler with a 403 even when the file welcomes it. The author shares a Python script that checks both layers, comparing each bot's robots.txt permission against the HTTP status returned when the request carries that bot's user agent. In a test against a local server, OAI-SearchBot received a 403 despite being allowed, which the script flags. The author cautions that the check sends requests from the tester's own IP, so real crawlers verified by IP or reverse DNS may see different results, and recommends confirming with server logs.
This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.

Discussion (0)
Log in to join the discussion and vote.
Log in