GUIDE

ChatGPT-User, OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot compared

OpenAI documents 4 web bots: OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, ChatGPT-User and OAI-AdsBot. ChatGPT search can take ~24 hours to adjust to robots.txt.

Updated October 30, 20265 min read

4Documented OpenAI bots as of October 2026 (OpenAI)
24hApproximate time for ChatGPT search to adjust to robots.txt (OpenAI)
200Approximate snippet character length rebuilt by FoundByChat's audit

In short

OpenAI documents four distinct web bots as of October 2026: OAI-SearchBot for search results, GPTBot for model training, ChatGPT-User for user-initiated fetches, and OAI-AdsBot for ad safety review.
ChatGPT-User handles actions triggered by a person in ChatGPT or a Custom GPT, and OpenAI states in its October 2026 documentation that robots.txt rules may not apply to it.
You can disallow GPTBot in robots.txt to tell OpenAI your content should not be used for training, while allowing OAI-SearchBot to keep your pages eligible for ChatGPT search answers.
After you update your robots.txt file, OpenAI notes as of October 2026 that it can take about 24 hours for ChatGPT search to adjust.

Sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. The bot settings are independent; disallowing GPTBot tells OpenAI the content should not be used for training.

How four OpenAI bots compare

According to OpenAI's bot documentation retrieved on October 29, 2026, the bot settings are independent of one another. To compare these against bots from other companies, see our AI crawlers list.

Bot name	Purpose	User agent substring	Obeys robots.txt	Published IP list
OAI-SearchBot	Surfaces websites in ChatGPT search results	`OAI-SearchBot/1.4; +https://openai.com/searchbot`	Yes	`openai.com/searchbot.json`
GPTBot	Crawls content that may be used to train generative AI foundation models	`GPTBot/1.4; +https://openai.com/gptbot`	Yes	`openai.com/gptbot.json`
ChatGPT-User	Handles user actions in ChatGPT and Custom GPTs	`ChatGPT-User/1.0; +https://openai.com/bot`	May not apply	`openai.com/chatgpt-user.json`
OAI-AdsBot	Checks safety of pages submitted as ChatGPT ads	`OAI-AdsBot/1.0`	Not stated; advertisers must allow it	`openai.com/adsbot.json`

OAI-SearchBot

OAI-SearchBot is used "to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features", according to OpenAI's October 2026 documentation. Sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. OpenAI's October 2026 publisher FAQ notes that ChatGPT referrals carry the utm_source=chatgpt.com parameter.

GPTBot

GPTBot crawls content "that may be used in training our generative AI foundation models", as stated in OpenAI's October 2026 docs. Disallowing GPTBot tells OpenAI the content should not be used for training. If a site allows both OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot, OpenAI notes it "may use the results from just one crawl for both use cases".

OAI-AdsBot

OAI-AdsBot checks the safety of pages submitted as ChatGPT ads and is not used to train models, according to OpenAI's advertiser guidance published on October 19, 2026. Advertisers must allow OAI-AdsBot, and allowing OAI-SearchBot is recommended.

What ChatGPT-User does and why robots.txt may not apply

In its October 2026 documentation (covered by Search Engine Journal on August 14, 2026), OpenAI states that ChatGPT-User handles "certain user actions in ChatGPT and Custom GPTs" and is "not used for crawling the web in an automatic fashion".

OpenAI's documentation states: "Because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply." OpenAI also confirms that ChatGPT-User is not used to decide whether content appears in Search.

A request identifying itself as ChatGPT-User/1.0; +https://openai.com/bot may relate to a user action in ChatGPT or a Custom GPT. Because robots.txt rules may not apply, verify or filter requests using the IP ranges published at https://openai.com/chatgpt-user.json.

Step-by-step: configure robots.txt and meta tags for OpenAI bots

You can configure your robots.txt file and meta tags to tell OpenAI not to use your content for training while keeping your pages eligible for ChatGPT search answers. Crawler access is a core part of what is generative engine optimization.

Step 1: Allow OAI-SearchBot and block GPTBot in robots.txt

To keep your pages eligible for ChatGPT search answers and tell OpenAI your content should not be used for training, add separate rules to robots.txt:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

According to OpenAI's October 2026 publisher FAQ, "Any public website can appear in ChatGPT search", and you should not block OAI-SearchBot if you want to appear.

Step 2: Allow OAI-AdsBot if you run ChatGPT ads

If you submit pages as ChatGPT ads, OpenAI's October 19, 2026 advertiser guidance states you must allow OAI-AdsBot:

User-agent: OAI-AdsBot
Allow: /

Step 3: Use noindex to prevent bare links from third-party search providers

OpenAI's October 2026 publisher FAQ explains that a URL blocked in robots.txt but learned from a third-party search provider may still show as a bare link and page title. Adding a noindex tag that is readable by the crawler prevents that.

Step 4: Verify bot IP addresses in your firewall

Check your firewall rules against OpenAI's published JSON files:

https://openai.com/searchbot.json for OAI-SearchBot.
https://openai.com/gptbot.json for GPTBot.
https://openai.com/chatgpt-user.json for ChatGPT-User.
https://openai.com/adsbot.json for OAI-AdsBot.

How to check if OAI-SearchBot can access your pages

After a robots.txt change, OpenAI's October 2026 documentation notes that it can take about 24 hours for ChatGPT search to adjust.

You can use our free GEO audit, which needs no account and allows 5 audits a day. It fetches your page the way OpenAI's search crawler does (with the OAI-SearchBot user agent), rebuilds the title and the snippet of about 200 characters that ChatGPT's search keeps, looks the page up in ChatGPT, and lists what to fix. Its checks cover page response, bot protection, access for OAI-SearchBot, text present in the HTML without JavaScript (see our guide on JavaScript SEO), llms.txt, robots.txt rules for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and ChatGPT-User, noindex, and the sitemap, returning a score out of 100 with a letter grade.

To track your pages over time, FoundByChat asks ChatGPT the questions your customers ask with web search on, every 2 hours, as a user in the United States (English) or the Netherlands (Dutch). It records whether ChatGPT's search found one of your pages ("Found"), whether ChatGPT cited one of your pages in its answer ("Cited"), and the usual position of your pages among the search results. It also lists your "Pages in ChatGPT's index" with the title and short snippet ChatGPT keeps, and emails you on "New in the index", "Snippet changed", or "No search results" when ChatGPT returns no web results three checks in a row. The first check sets the baseline. FoundByChat is free to start with Google or an email link.

Common mistakes when managing OpenAI bots

Blocking GPTBot thinking it removes you from ChatGPT search. Disallowing GPTBot tells OpenAI the content should not be used for training; OAI-SearchBot is used for ChatGPT search results.
Blocking OAI-SearchBot when you only wanted to block training. Sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Using both robots.txt Disallow and a noindex tag on the same URL. If robots.txt blocks the crawler from reading the noindex tag, a URL learned from a third-party search provider may still show as a bare link and page title.
Expecting robots.txt to stop ChatGPT-User. Because a user initiates these actions, robots.txt rules may not apply.

FOUNDBYCHAT

Know the moment ChatGPT picks up your pages

We ask ChatGPT your questions every 2 hours and mail you what its index picked up or rewrote. Free to start: sign in with Google or an email link.

Start free Or run the free GEO audit

Questions

Does blocking GPTBot remove my website from ChatGPT search?

No. According to OpenAI's October 2026 documentation, GPTBot is used for training generative AI foundation models, while OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT's search features, and the settings are independent.

Why is ChatGPT-User ignoring my robots.txt file?

OpenAI states in its October 2026 documentation that ChatGPT-User handles actions initiated by a user in ChatGPT and Custom GPTs, and is not used for automatic web crawling. Because a user triggers the action, robots.txt rules may not apply.

How long does it take for ChatGPT search to respect a robots.txt change?

According to OpenAI's bot documentation retrieved in October 2026, it can take about 24 hours after a robots.txt change for ChatGPT search to adjust.

Why does my page title still appear in ChatGPT after I blocked OAI-SearchBot?

OpenAI's October 2026 publisher FAQ states that a URL blocked in robots.txt but learned from a third-party search provider may still show as a bare link and page title. A noindex tag that is readable by the crawler prevents that.

How can I verify that a request is really from ChatGPT-User or OAI-SearchBot?

Check the request's IP address against OpenAI's published JSON files at https://openai.com/chatgpt-user.json for ChatGPT-User and https://openai.com/searchbot.json for OAI-SearchBot.