What is OAI-SearchBot?

OpenAI's search crawler. It builds the index OpenAI uses to show sites in AI search results. Intent: search index. Stores your pages so they can show up in search results.

What is the OAI-SearchBot user agent?

Requests from OAI-SearchBot carry "oai-searchbot" in the User-Agent header (matching is case-insensitive). The full string includes a version number that changes over time; OpenAI's documentation lists the current one. In robots.txt, the token is OAI-SearchBot.

How do I verify OAI-SearchBot?

OpenAI publishes the IP ranges OAI-SearchBot uses. A request is real when its IP is inside that list. Paste an IP into HadoSEO's free bot verifier to check it against the published data.

How do I block OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt?

Add "User-agent: OAI-SearchBot" followed by "Disallow: /" to your robots.txt. Blocking OAI-SearchBot does not block GPTBot or ChatGPT-User: each has its own token and its own rule. robots.txt is a request, not a lock: a scraper using OAI-SearchBot's name ignores it, which is why verification matters.

Can I see when OAI-SearchBot visits my site?

Yes. HadoSEO logs every OAI-SearchBot request by page, checks it against OpenAI's published data, and flags requests that use the name from IPs OpenAI doesn't own. For a one-off look, the free log file analyzer reads a week of your server logs in the browser.

[ search crawler · OpenAI ]

OAI-SearchBot: OpenAI's search crawler.

OpenAI's search crawler. It builds the index OpenAI uses to show sites in AI search results. Its intent is search index: stores your pages so they can show up in search results.

search indexverifiable by published IP ranges

IP ranges last updated Oct 25, 2026

Check a OAI-SearchBot IP All AI crawlers

[ technical facts ]

operator: OpenAI
intent: search index
user agent contains: oai-searchbot
robots.txt token: OAI-SearchBot
verification: published IP rangesverified
official IP list: openai.com/searchbot.json
ranges in registry: 14 ranges loaded
last updated: Oct 25, 2026
operator docs: platform.openai.com/docs/bots

[ verify ]

How to verify a real OAI-SearchBot request.

OpenAI publishes the IP ranges OAI-SearchBot uses. A request is real when its IP is inside that list.

01Check the User-Agent header contains "oai-searchbot" (case-insensitive). That is only a claim: anyone can send it.
02Download OpenAI's published list (https://openai.com/searchbot.json) and check the request IP falls inside one of its ranges.
03Inside the list: the real OAI-SearchBot. Outside it: a request using OAI-SearchBot's name from someone else's server.

Skip the lookups: the free bot verifier checks one IP against the same registry, and the log file analyzer checks every OAI-SearchBot request in a week of access logs. Requests that fail are flagged as spoofed, not hidden.

[ robots.txt ]

Block or allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt.

Add one of these groups to the robots.txt at your domain root. The token matches case-insensitively. OpenAI runs other crawlers with their own tokens, so a rule for OAI-SearchBot leaves GPTBot (training) and ChatGPT-User (answer fetch) untouched.

block OAI-SearchBot

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /

allow OAI-SearchBot

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

robots.txt only binds crawlers that choose to follow it. A scraper sending OAI-SearchBot's user agent from its own servers won't, which is why HadoSEO checks the IP behind every request.

[ questions ]

OAI-SearchBot, answered.

[ free scan ]